The CEO in the shadows: Understanding your conscious and subconscious mind

7 januari 2026

(Global Heart) Conscious vs subconscious mind: Unlock your potential by aligning your conscious thoughts with your “inner CEO.” Discover how these two minds interact and learn a 5-minute exercise for lasting change and mental peace.

Conscious vs subconscious mind

Have you ever felt like you’re in a tug-of-war with yourself? Perhaps you’ve decided to start a new habit, like waking up at 5:00 AM, only to find yourself hitting the snooze button repeatedly the next morning. To understand why this happens, you need to look at the two distinct “operating systems” running in your head: your conscious and your subconscious mind.

By learning how these two forces interact, you can stop feeling torn and start living with a sense of peace, focus, and achievement.

What exactly is your conscious mind?

Think of your conscious mind as the part of you that is “awake” right now. If you are aware of a thought, a sound, or a sensation, it’s happening in your conscious mind. Sigmund Freud described this as the “knowable” part of our personality—the part we can talk about and analyze rationally.

Your conscious mind is an environment powered by your senses, observations, and dreams. It is the “doer” and the “Mr. Fixit” of your life. Through your thoughts, you are in charge here. You can decide to adjust your line of reasoning or change your perspective on a situation at any moment.

How your conscious mind works for you

The rational thinker: It uses logic and “if-then” reasoning. It sets goals, makes plans, and weighs pros and cons.
The gatekeeper of senses: It processes everything you see, hear, smell, taste, and touch in the present moment.
Making sense of the world: It constantly filters data from your five senses—sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch—to help you navigate your surroundings.
Information access: Before you make a choice, your conscious mind benchmarks new experiences against what you’ve learned in the past.
The decision maker: When you decide to cross the street or choose what to eat for lunch, your conscious mind is at the wheel.
Self-perspective: It creates your sense of “I.” It’s the lens through which you interpret your immediate world.
Social coordination: It is the home of your personality and your awareness of others. It helps you act appropriately in social settings.

While these conscious functions help us navigate our day, they only represent the surface level of our potential. To understand why we often fail to follow through on our best intentions, we have to dive deeper into the part of the mind that truly holds the reins.

Your subconscious: The boss behind the scenes

While the conscious mind feels like it’s in charge, it is actually the subconscious that acts as the “CEO” of your life. Imagine an iceberg: the small tip visible above the water is your conscious mind, while the massive, powerful structure beneath the surface is your subconscious.

Your subconscious is a limitless storage facility for every memory, impression, and belief you have ever encountered. Its primary function is to store and recover information, ensuring that you act in a way that is consistent with your “self-concept”—the identity you formed mainly during your childhood through the influence of parents and teachers.

The unique roles of your subconscious

It never sleeps: While your conscious mind switches off at night, your subconscious is always running, controlling your breathing, digestion, and blood circulation.
It is your comfort zone: It works hard to keep you in familiar patterns. This is why it feels like a battle to change a habit; your subconscious is simply trying to keep you “safe” in what it already knows.
Survival instincts: The “fight, flight, or freeze” response is initiated here. In a moment of danger, your subconscious takes over to save your life before you even have time to think.
The power of consistency: It ensures that your outward behavior matches your inner beliefs. If you believe you are “bad with money,” your subconscious will subtly guide your actions to make that belief true.

The language of the deep mind

One reason we struggle to change is that the conscious and subconscious speak different languages. Your conscious mind speaks in logic and rationale, but your subconscious speaks in images and emotions.

To speak to your subconscious, you have to break the boundaries of logic and use your imagination. This is why visualization and affirmations are so powerful. By vividly imagining a new reality or repeating positive truths, you are sending a new “program” to your subconscious. Over time, it accepts these new images as the truth and begins to adjust your behavior to match them.

Finding balance

The conscious mind is the thinker and the planner, but the subconscious is the driver of your willpower. When these two parts are out of alignment, you feel stressed and stuck. However, when they work together, every goal becomes attainable without a struggle.

By understanding that your subconscious is instinctual and subjective—meaning it accepts whatever you tell it most often—you can begin to take control. Use your conscious mind to feed your subconscious better images and thoughts, and you will eventually unlock the unlimited potential that has been waiting beneath the surface all along.

Understanding these concepts is the first step, but how do you actually start the reprogramming process? The most effective way to communicate with your inner CEO is through a dedicated practice of ‘emotional alignment.‘ Here is a step-by-step exercise to help you bridge the gap.”

Visualization exercise

This visualization exercise is designed to bypass your logical mind and speak directly to your subconscious using senses and emotions.

Since your subconscious cannot distinguish between a real event and a vividly imagined one, repeating this exercise daily will help “overwrite” old habits with your new desired behavior.

Emotional alignment: Tuning your internal guidance system

Find a quiet place where you won’t be interrupted for about 5 to 10 minutes. Sit or lie down comfortably and follow these steps:

1. The physical reset

Close your eyes. Take three deep breaths, exhaling slowly. As you breathe out, imagine any tension leaving your body. Your goal is to move from the active “thinking” state into a relaxed state where your subconscious is more open to suggestions.

2. Step into the scene

Instead of watching yourself on a movie screen, step into your own body within the vision. See the world through your own eyes.

If your goal is to be a confident public speaker, see the audience from the stage.
If your goal is a healthier lifestyle, see yourself preparing a fresh meal or lacing up your running shoes.

3. Engage your five senses

The subconscious loves detail. Make the vision as “thick” as possible by adding sensory data:

Sight: Notice the colors in the room or the brightness of the sun.
Sound: Hear the murmur of the crowd, the sound of your own steady breathing, or the “clack” of your shoes on the floor.
Touch: Feel the temperature of the air on your skin or the weight of an object in your hand.
Smell/taste: Is there a scent of coffee in the air or the fresh smell of rain?

4. Amplify the emotion

This is the most important part. Your subconscious is fueled by feelings. Focus on the pride, the peace, or the excitement you feel in this moment of success. Let that feeling grow in your chest until it feels real. Smile physically—this sends a signal to your brain that this “experience” is positive and safe.

5. The “anchor” statement

While holding that peak feeling, repeat a short, present-tense phrase in your mind three times. Keep it simple:

“I am capable and calm.”
“I am disciplined and strong.”
“This is who I am.”

6. The return

Take one more deep breath, carrying that feeling of success back with you into the room. When you are ready, open your eyes.

Pro-tip for success

The subconscious is programmed through repetition. Try to do this exercise at the same time every day—ideally right before you fall asleep or right after you wake up. These are the moments when the “veil” between your conscious and subconscious mind is at its thinnest.

Just remember: to create a statement that your subconscious will actually accept, you need to make it Personal, Present-tense, and Positive.

To lock in the progress you make during your visualization, you can use a ‘power phrase.’ Below are several examples of anchor statements categorized by goal. Choose the one that resonates most with your heart.

1. For overcoming procrastination & building discipline

“I take action with ease and focus.”
“I am the master of my habits and my time.”
“I finish what I start with joy.”

2. For confidence & social ease

“I am naturally confident and comfortable in my own skin.”
“My voice is valuable, and I speak with clarity.”
“I radiate calm and certain energy.”

3. For anxiety & inner peace

“I am safe, grounded, and at peace.”
“I trust the flow of my life.”
“My mind is calm, and my body is relaxed.”

4. For wealth & abundance

“I am a magnet for success and opportunity.”
“I am worthy of the abundance I create.”
“Money flows to me in creative and expected ways.”

How to use your Anchor Statement:

To make this stick, try the “3-3-3 Rule”:

Repeat it 3 times when you wake up (while your mind is still “soft”).
Repeat it 3 times during a moment of stress or doubt.
Repeat it 3 times right before you drift off to sleep.

Trusting your internal compass

Ultimately, aligning your conscious and subconscious minds is about more than just “mind power”—it is about mastering your Emotional Guidance System. As Esther and Jerry Hicks often describe, your emotions serve as a real-time compass, indicating whether your current thoughts are in harmony with your deeper desires. When you feel “torn” or anxious, it is simply your guidance system telling you that your conscious plans and your subconscious beliefs are out of alignment.

Book tip: If you want to dive deeper into this concept, I highly recommend the book The Astonishing Power of Emotions: Let Your Feelings Be Your Guide by Esther and Jerry Hicks. It explains how your feelings act as a real-time compass for your life.

By using the visualization and anchoring techniques above, you tune your frequency to a state of peace and achievement. When your two minds speak the same language, you stop fighting the current and begin to flow effortlessly toward the life you were meant to live.

Source: Global Heart

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