Our Subconscious Mind

Picture an iceberg floating in the middle of the ocean. We've all heard that 90-95% of an iceberg is hidden beneath the surface of the water, while only 5-10% is visible above the surface.

Scientists at Stanford, MIT and other esteemed academic institutions have determined through rigorous research that the human mind functions in much the same way. Just like an iceberg floating in the ocean, your mind is comprised of two parts: the part that's visible above the surface and the part that's hidden below the surface.

Instead of the water line, let's call the line that separates the two parts in the mind the Line of Consciousness. And we'll call the 5-10% that's visible above that line the Conscious, and the 90-95% that's below the Line of Consciousness we'll call the Subconscious.

Another word for Conscious is intentional – that means the part of your mind that represents CHOICE. According to scientific research, this Conscious mind makes up less than 10% of your total brain function. That means that the Subconscious or unintentional aspect of your mind represents more than 90% of your total brain function.

Your Subconscious mind is a vast collection of unintentional, habitual thoughts, behaviors, actions and processes that are not the product of your choice-making process. Therefore, the two-word phrase that best describes the Subconscious mind is NO CHOICE.

Look around the room you're in right now. What if I came in to the room you're in and turned out all the lights. Now it's pitch dark and you can't even see the words on this page. What would happen if I now asked you to re-arrange the furniture? How successful would you be at rearranging the furniture in a room that's completely dark?

Answer: not very.

Now, because you can't rearrange furniture in a place where you can't see anything, does that mean you're incapable of rearranging furniture? Of course not! You are perfectly capable of rearranging furniture – when the lights are on and you can see what the heck you're doing.

It's just like that with the human mind. Our Subconscious mind is like that totally dark room. We don't know what's in there because we simply can't see it – it's hidden beneath the surface like the bottom 90% of an iceberg. And when you can't see something, it's awfully hard to change it.