This is a question I get asked over and over again. Since the epic movie "The Secret" people have come to believe that you can say affirmations over and over again and all your dreams will come true. Well, will affirmations work at all? The answer is both yes and no! And here is the real science based information on what needs to happen for your affirmations to work.

In your mind, there are 2 parts: the conscious mind which runs 10% of everything and your subconscious mind which runs 90% of the show. Viewing that distribution, who would you say is in charge? You got it - your subconscious mind is the captain of the boat. Your conscious mind is the crew on the boat running around completing orders from the captain.

Then you would ask: How can I get affirmations to work for me - so that I can achieve my dreams? Now that's the big question you need to be asking.

First and foremost, your conscious mind and your subconscious mind need to be CONGRUENT with the same information! That takes some internal work but yes it can be done and I do it for my clients all the time. So take heart.

Let me explain in more detail. While you have control over your conscious mind, your subconscious is a different matter. Your subconscious mind is currently running off the blueprint of a 6 year old child. So while you are busy repeatedly saying your affirmations over and over again, there is the voice of a small child in your subconscious that disagrees.

For example: A popular affirmation is: "I earn over 6 figures or more this year." And people say this over and over again. Here your conscious mind is in agreement (yes you do want to make 6 figures) but while that is going on your subconscious mind has a very different opinion.

The subconscious is a tape player. In that tape player, there are good tapes and there are bad tapes. Here is the kicker. All the tapes were recorded and installed by the age of 6. So you are literally running tapes from when you were a child. While you are saying all these great affirmations, your subconscious is running a much different tape. It could have been recorded when you got an answer wrong in Pre-K and all the kids laughed at you. You could have interpreted that as: "Gosh I got got the answer wrong and if I try again, they will all laugh at me." Remember this is a child setting up his subconscious with programming (tapes). Keep in mind that your whole environment when are were a young child contributed to your programming.

So what is happening is that every time you say affirmations of changes you desire, your subconscious is running old tapes that are not congruent with your affirmations. The result is that nothing happens. Every thing stays the same.

First step is to find out what areas your subconscious is not congruent with the desires you want. Hint: If you are not living the life of your dreams or at the very least headed in the right direction you are living at 'effect' not 'cause' You always want to be living at 'cause'. Take out a paper and pen, get quiet and listen to your internal programming. Don't influence, just listen and write it down. Then you will know what programming needs to be changed. To learn more about How the Mind Works please visit my website: www.dramaticlifechanges.com

Author's Bio: 

Chrissy Smith, is a NLP Practitioner and Certified Clinical Hypnotherapist residing in Delray Beach, Florida. She is best known for her radio show, speaking engagements, webinars and tele-conference calls. Her company is Dramatic Life Changes, website is www.Dramaticlifechanges.com