The Power of Subconscious Thinking: How it Shapes Our Habits

Our habits play a critical role in our daily lives, influencing everything from our productivity to our overall health and well-being. However, many of our habits are deeply ingrained and automatic, often driven by our subconscious thinking. Understanding the impact of our subconscious on our habits is essential for developing new, healthy behaviors and breaking old, unhealthy ones. In this article, we'll explore how our subconscious thinking impacts our habits and provide verified scientific evidence to support these claims.

Our subconscious thinking is a powerful force that often operates below the level of our conscious awareness. According to a study published in the journal Neuron, our habits are encoded in the basal ganglia, a part of the brain that plays a critical role in the formation of automatic behaviors. This means that our habits are deeply ingrained and difficult to change, especially when we rely solely on willpower and conscious effort.

Another study, published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, found that our attitudes and beliefs play a significant role in the formation of our habits. For example, if we believe that exercise is enjoyable and beneficial, we are more likely to make it a habit. On the other hand, if we believe that exercise is boring and unpleasant, we are less likely to stick with it. This demonstrates the power of our subconscious beliefs in shaping our habits.

Our emotions also play a crucial role in the formation of our habits. When we experience stress, anxiety, or other negative emotions, we often turn to our habits as a way to cope. This can lead 

to unhealthy behaviors, such as overeating, smoking, or excessive alcohol consumption. A study published in the journal Appetite found that emotional eating is driven by both conscious and unconscious processes, highlighting the role of our subconscious in this behavior.

Moreover, research has shown that our habits can become even more automatic when they are associated with specific environmental cues. For example, if we always eat junk food while watching TV, our brain will associate the TV with junk food, making it difficult to break the habit. A study published in the journal Health Psychology found that changing the environment can be an effective way to break unhealthy habits, as it disrupts the automatic association between the habit and the environmental cue.

So, how can we use this knowledge to develop new, healthy habits and break old, unhealthy ones? One approach is to work on changing our subconscious beliefs and attitudes about the habit. For example, if we want to start exercising regularly, we can work on developing a positive belief about exercise and its benefits. Visualization and positive affirmations can also be helpful tools in this process.

Another approach is to focus on changing the environmental cues that trigger our habits. This could involve rearranging our living space or changing our daily routine to eliminate the cues that lead to unhealthy behaviors.

Our subconscious thinking plays a powerful role in shaping our habits and impacting our daily lives. Understanding the mechanisms behind our habits can help us develop new, healthy behaviors and break old, unhealthy ones. By working on our subconscious beliefs and changing environmental cues, we can make lasting changes that promote better health and well-being.