When we were children, our parents always told us to be careful who we hung around. Little did they know how right they were. While their intentions were to keep us from spending time with those who could potentially get us into trouble, their warnings had a much greater meaning on a psychological level.

The problem has less to do with the actual people you associate with and more with how our subconscious processes the input. Our subconscious mind runs 95% of what we do every day and is always looking to assimilate information. Unfortunately, our subconscious does not have filters regarding right or wrong it only produces actions based on the information that went in.

Everything from what you watch on television, the music you listen to, or people who gain your attention gets deposited on your subconscious and it responds to every scenario based on the information it must draw from.

If you look at it from the perspective of a professional athlete, they must have a high level of skill, but it’s the coaching that makes the difference when it comes to competing. If the coaching staff prepares them with consistent programming on a variety of scenarios, the players will not have to think through critical decisions but execute the plays that have been deposited in their subconscious.

So, what is the purpose of this article? As entrepreneurs we must constantly feed our subconscious with vision, purpose, and affirmations that cause our every action to move in the direction of our ultimate goals. We must plant our vision and purpose so deep in our subconscious, that we can see the future.

This is also true of those we associate with or have access to our minds. We must surround ourselves with people and activities that move our businesses forward. There is no room for those who tell us what we cannot achieve, how difficult it will be, or offer advice for levels they have never reached. This is not being selfish or self-serving but creating an infallible impression on our subconscious that will allow us to move past internal and external challenges.

The strategy is to have our subconscious fed by input and strategies from a wholistic balance of mind, body, and business development. Use a combination of reading, podcasts, coaches, and mentors to create an environment of continuous improvement and accountability.  Constantly challenge activities that don’t move your business forward and dedicate time everyday for personal and professional growth.

#1 – The success you desire is already there. You do not have to create it, just plan your path to it.

#2 – The only thing keeping you from the success you want is you!

#3 – 90% of everything we do is handled by our subconscious

With those precepts in mind, let’s discuss getting you to the level of success you desire. As we go through life, the experiences we have are moved from the consciousness of when we go through them to a memory in our subconscious. Those memories are used to build beliefs, values, and functions.

For example, as a toddler, taking your first steps happens in your conscious mind. As your parent moves you through the process your mind grabs the new data and stores it in your subconscious, which is why you begin to run soon after you’ve learned to walk. You no longer rely on the previous pattern of thinking through steps but use what you have already learned to try new variations.

In life and business, the same thing is true. When I first began bowling, I understood the concept of rolling the ball down the lane to knock over as many pins as possible. As I practiced more, I noticed subtle variants that affected my ability to accomplish the goal of knocking down pins with the fewest tries. Things like how the floor was oiled, whether my ball was clean, where I stood on the floor, whether the lanes were wood or synthetic, etc. Each variation was stored in my subconscious so that when I became a sanctioned professional bowler and traveled to a new bowling alley, I would instantly recognize which type of “house” we were in and which ball to use, where to stand, etc.

Your success journey is no different. After you have identified and visualized the level of success you want, you plan your journey and take advantage of the many experiences that are designed to move you forward. The key is being aware of what happened when the results were less than desirable and reprogramming your subconscious with the new data.

It is here that we must be aware of the power of “doubt”. If you had an experience that was very painful (emotionally or financially) it can cause you to question your abilities and cast doubt into your subconscious. This doubt can manifest itself in many traits including over analysis, hesitance, fear, and indecisiveness. I’m sure you have heard of the conditions “fear of failure” and “fear of success”. Both can be traced back to an experience that caused doubt or in some cases a lose of self-confidence.

I don’t want to seem as though I am downplaying the seriousness of either condition and I am a huge supporter of mental counseling, but I would like to leave you with a few strategies to help you move towards the success you seek.

1. Read books, listen to podcasts, or watch videos of people who have achieved the level of success you aspire to and take notes. Make sure they share the same values because you can only be you, not them.
2. Begin writing down your plan and start each day with a goal of accomplishment. This is the beginning of replacing the negative experiences in your subconscious with new data on how it can be done more effectively (conscious effort).
3. Give your plan a timeline. Hold yourself accountable to improving and implementing the new data.

To show you how powerful subconscious programming is, I’ll share with you one of my stories. In professional bowling, one of the highest honors is bowling a perfect score (300) during league or tournament play. A 300 game is 12 consecutive strikes. I have missed a 300 during league play by one strike a dozen times. Of that dozen times, 10 happened where I would bowl eight strikes in a row and in the ninth frame leave one pin, then bowl three more strike in the 10^th. What proves it was a subconscious block is the fact it was always the same pin (#10). Knowing what I know now, I should have taken steps to reprogram my mind about the 9^th frame, but that is why I am posting this to help you get pass your block and reach your highest level of success.

Asking the wrong questions in business usually leads to less than desirable outcomes and sometimes painful financial loss, but using the “growth mindset”, they can also be the foundation for asking the right questions.

“In a growth mindset, people believe that their most basic abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work—brains and talent are just the starting point. This view creates a love of learning and a resilience that is essential for great accomplishment.” (Dweck, 2015)

Simply stated, the growth mindset looks at every decision we make and experience we have as an opportunity to improve ourselves as human beings and in this context, businesspeople. Following this line of thinking, being wrong on a strategy or other business decisions should lead to a certain level of curiosity. This curiosity will cause you to ask questions about what went wrong. You will also ask yourself what you could have or should have done differently. This openness will usually inspire you to research those who have accomplished what you aspire to, which invariably leads to your growth.

The bottom line is we should always be growing as individuals and that growth spills over into everything we do personally and professionally. The more we seek to expand our knowledge base and ask questions, the greater the opportunities for long-term sustainable success.

I’ll leave you with a quote from one of my favorite authors, “If failure is not an option, then neither is success.” (Seth Godin).