Our minds work on basically two levels; the conscious and the sub-conscious. Our conscious mind is what we are aware of at any one moment, whereas our sub-conscious mind is like a store of information that is, at any one time, outside of our immediate awareness. The sub-conscious mind also has another part to it called the creative sub-conscious. The creative sub-conscious has four functions which combine to make us the person that we are and, more importantly, as we see ourselves. Put another way, it maintains our reality or self-perception. A simple example here would be if you think youre not a confident public speaker, when put in the situation of speaking in public youll end up speaking poorly as thats how you see yourself and that's what you believe.

Other functions of the creative sub-conscience include goal creation, the drive to achieve those goals and solving our problems. So, a thought should occur here that, if in my sub-conscience I thought I was a poor public speaker I would have a problem to solve. So, in my sub-conscience I can create the goal of over-coming my poor public speaking and that same sub-conscience will help me achieve the goal. Sounds pretty simple eh?

Its a known fact that we can train our sub-conscious to eliminate negative thoughts and replace them with positive and constructive ones; this is called making a positive affirmation. For example, I know if I stand in front of a mirror and tell myself I am a good public speaker and repeat it over and over daily, next time I have to speak in public Ill have lost at least some of that self-doubt about my own abilities and be much more confident about public speaking than before.

If you like Ill convince myself I can speak in public, then when I have to do it Ill be more relaxed and thereby more able to cope with the situation. I will have changed my self-perception in my creative sub-conscience, from one of not being able to do something to being entirely comfortable with it. The change in my self-perception might even mean that I seek help in public speaking or join a debating society so I can practice public speaking, all of which will reinforce my new positive self-image.

In essence that is Positive Affirmations, being positive about yourself, whatever your self perception might be, if its a poor one you can change it. As the old song goes Accentuate the positive, Eliminate the negative. Another tip with positive affirmations is; dont just say them to yourself, write them down and read them to yourself. Put a copy of them in your planner or diary, somewhere that youll not see and read them once day, but frequently throughout the day. Then when youve achieved one goal - set yourself another.

One last comment; I know that my feelings also depend on my thoughts, so think positive and you will feel good too.