I’m not going to get all ethereal here and go into a bunch of philosophy, so don’t get nervous. However, it’s obvious that a big component of goal achievement is mental. Look at athletes – despite how physical their pursuits are, they will all readily admit that the biggest part of success is mental. It’s no different in business. What goes on in your mind is a huge determinant of your success.      
      
       The key is to understand how your mind works, and harness its power for your advantage. You don’t have to get an advanced degree, you just need to know the basics. Look at it as having basic info about how your car works – you don’t have to be a mechanic, but you do need the essentials to get the most out of your car’s performance. You wouldn’t expect it to run without gasoline, without changing the oil regularly, without taking it in for the required maintenance.         
      
       So let’s take a look at your mind. We’re not really talking about your brain, although the brain’s pretty important. It tells your body what to do to survive, breathe, pump blood, and move muscles. But every animal on the planet’s got a brain – while the mind is something only humans have. The mind is essentially made of two components – the conscious and the sub-conscious.       
      

       Our minds are the center of goals, dreams, hopes, imagination, problem-solving, empathy, and much more. Our minds contain every resource we need to bring about the circumstances and results we want. Successful people learn how to harness the power of their minds, to keep their thoughts orderly and purposeful.               
 
      The first part of our minds is the conscious mind. This is the part that makes plans, sets goals, makes decisions, and chooses what to think about. Your conscious mind is constantly processing what you experience – rating, evaluating, interpreting. It’s the home of focus, of solution-seeking. You choose the ideas that you allow to stay in your mind. Your conscious mind is like the captain of a ship – making every choice, plan, and decision.              
      
       Your subconscious mind is another story entirely. This is an untamed giant, the powerhouse, the brute force that works without ceasing. However, it is unthinking, unreasoning, and absolutely compliant. It obeys without exception, whatever your conscious mind commands. It makes no attempt to differentiate truth from lies, reality from dreams. It’s like the guys in the bottom of a Viking ship – rowing with all their might, without a break, without ever questioning where they’ve been told to go.
      
       Your subconscious mind works its effects through your entire being – every cell of your body. When the conscious mind says, “Jump!” it only asks, “How high?” It is completely impressionable.        
      
       The thoughts you focus on frequently are virtually burned into the subconscious, and take on a life of their own. The subconscious makes every attempt to obey and bring about whatever commands you give it, with no thought whatsoever given to how likely, possible, realistic, or desirable your commands are.              
      
       This is great, if you know about it. If you don’t recognize this power, you’re in trouble. For example, if you issue the command, “I drive a white Mercedes Benz,” your subconscious mind goes to work to make it so. On the other hand, if you issue the command, “I really stink at sales,” your subconscious obeys that order, too.                
      
       Now here’s the beauty part – you get to choose your thoughts. You get to choose your focus. This is where your goals get turbo-charged. By concentrating on them through repetition, re-writing, and reviewing them on a daily basis, you’re issuing commands from your conscious mind to your subconscious.
      
       Because this command is coming through loud and clear, and repeated so frequently, your subconscious is in overdrive. It’s like the ship captain sounded an air horn before issuing the orders – then screamed it over and over, as if it were an emergency. Your subconscious summons everything needed to obey, to make it so.
 
James Villepigue