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The Conscious Mind vs The Unconscious Mind

Most sports people perform at their best when they are not thinking about what they are doing, but when they have 'no mind' and let their subconscious really take hold of their game. It is the same for everyone else, if you try to overanalyse what you are doing, under pressure, you will not perform at your best. One's conscious mind often does not trust one's natural innate abilities. It is based on a belief system that you don't believe that you are really do it unless your rational, conscious mind railroads the proceedings and controls and monitors everything. If you really believe you can do it, you just get on with it and don't think about it. This is why people often over analyse what they are doing when they are learning something, but do it without thinking when they are confident, i.e. when they believe they can do it. Positive visualisation helps greatly in getting into this zone and not relying solely on one's conscious mind to try to do it, which is invariably not as effective or fluid. So getting into the 'zone' of peaceful mind is not only where we have the greatest/unlimited creativity, but also where the power of unlimited abundance can flow into our lives.

Let us take motorsport as an example. Professional racing and rally drivers not only visualise their race prior to stepping into the car, but also have a firm belief that they can do it easily and that they will win. And when they are racing, they are not worrying about their performance or trying to 'make up' for a few poor laps. They are not overanalysing what they are doing, nor are they beating themselves up about a mistake that they did several corners ago. They are totally relaxed and driving as fast as is possible in an effortless manner. They have a clear mind and utilising their not linguistic faculties. They are aware when their car hits the same square centimetre of tarmac on each lap on a particular part of a corner. They are aware of their optimal corner entry speed and of the exact optimum amount of braking required and when to do it. Their driving style uses the minimum of inputs and is effortless and smooth and they appear to glide around the track. They are in a relaxed state of no mind. They do not feel fear when reaching their braking point at their maximum velocity. They are not going in too fast into the corners, having to break heavily, coming on the throttle too soon and too hard on the exit of a corner and breaking traction and fishtailing, they are not wrestling with the steering wheel. They are not being overly aggressive.

The same goes for rally driving. The fastest drivers are often those who use the minimum of steering input, steer with the throttle, are totally relaxed and 'in the zone'; who don't drive in an overly aggressive manner, don't try to cut corners too much (as sooner or later as Colin McCrae could have testified, you will hit a 'bump' and flip the car over - a pic of Colin McCrae overcooking it below).

The fastest drivers are those who cannot 'make up time' as they are driving at the limit all the time anyway; who use just the right amount of angle and turn in just at the right time, carrying their cars at seemingly impossible speeds on loose surfaces. Yet it is all so effortless. There is no wrestling with the steering wheel going on; no turning one way and another to keep the car on the track. It just looks too easy.

Many lesser drivers work much harder behind the wheel, but lack the smoothless and the speed of great drivers. Most of the skill in track racing and rally driving is about emotional management and basic psychology. Those who reach their real potential in life usually do so with the minimum of fuss and effort, doing what is required and when in a relaxed manner and not trying too hard. Do not try, do.

Rationalisation, verbalisation and abstraction clearly has its place but our society's obsession and imbalance in this area is clearly not healthy. Balance is clearly required. We need to have some periods of silence in our minds and not just a constant stream of thoughts and rubbish without a pause. In the natural world, instinct is more effective than relying on abstraction. Animals don't rationalise their actions, they act on instinct. They tap into their senses and utilise their non-tangible, non-rational faculties. Clearly developing man relied on his instincts as well as rationalisation, but somewhere along the line, we have lost touch with our instincts and calmness of mind. Do animals worry about where their next meal is coming from? Or whether they will be eaten? So why should we? We are supposed to be 'more intelligent' than that! Our rational mind is our ego, and often it is obsessed with lack, what it doesn't want and negative thoughts. But even a constant noise of positive thoughts isn't so helpful either. Too much reliance on the ego and not enough of our instincts and our 'soul' and getting into the 'zone' or in touch with the infinite creative abundance of the universe (which could be interpreted as God) is not good! Visualising is however not the same as rational thought, which is worth remembering and you can never positively visualise enough. Remember that not all forms of expression of emotion are positive, and not all come from that positive creative place. There are many negative 'creative' and emotional outlets which are not conducive to connecting with this positive force of abundance and positive visualisation. Some of us however choose such forms of expression in our media/movie/music viewing/listening for various ego reasons. It is a personal choice. Ultimately we are all subject to cause and effect, whatever that may be.


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