Suggestion, subtle as it is, is one of the most powerful things in the world; it registers in your subconscious.

 

A suggestion is an idea or plan put forward for consideration, something that implies or indicates a certain fact or situation. It can also be the action of calling up an idea in someone’s mind by associating it with other things.

 

A suggestion, subtle as it is, is one of the most powerful things in the world; it registers in your subconscious. You don’t even know it’s there, but it is, building castles, informing decisions, and steering actions. It can be as simple as a billboard you saw briefly in traffic, a 5-second popup advertisement on the internet, a single word heard in passing.

 

The definition of a suggestion is a proposal made or an idea that has been put forth. You can influence the actions of a desired person(s) by suggesting a course of activity. For example, in the movie Focus, gambler Lyuan Tse was ripped off millions of dollars by suggestions. The number 55 had been suggested to him all day; in the decorative lights, bellhop’s lapel pin, and the elevator/hallway song, everywhere. This suggestion was so subtle that he did not notice, but when the time came for him to pick a number on a player on the football field, the move that would determine whether he won or lost, he chose 55, losing a lot of money to the con man who planned it all from the start.

 

The power of suggestion is based on the psychological mechanism that whatever the subconscious accepts, it acts on. So, the whole idea of using the power of suggestion is finding ways to communicate to the subconscious. Most often than not, suggestions spring out of an idea. Ideas are the products of various occurrences. As long as there are occurrences, there are suggestions.

 

How do you sneak suggestions past the critical conscious mind – the ‘bouncers’ or ‘guards’ of the subconscious? One method to enhance the power of suggestion is repetition. In the example I used above, the suggestions were strategically and repeatedly placed. On Lyuan’s way into the hotel he stayed in, on his way out, on the road to the football stadium, in traffic, on the placards people carried, he had even seen the player whose number he chose in traffic. It was repeated enough times for him to have been familiar with both the number and the face without even being conscious of it.

 

In the same way that you can suggest things to others, and vice versa, you can suggest things to yourself.  For example, when I find that I believe untrue things about myself, or an unwanted behaviour/idea has taken root in my mind, I go to the mirror and speak to myself. I tell myself the truth repeatedly, then I start to believe it, and my belief reflects in my actions. All I need is for the idea to take root in my subconscious, and the rest will work itself out, usually.

 

Suggestions can be either good or bad; in a world where suggestions are made to us every day, most of it without our permission, we need to be alert and watchful about what we allow to take root in our hearts.

Tagged: POWER OF SUGGESTION; CONSCIOUS MIND; IDEA;