Our brain requires a great deal of energy to operate
particularly when we have to concentrate and think about something
problem solving, or making a decision not only uses more brain energy
it also can be a slow process
so our brain seeks to conserve energy by developing
efficient ways of operating
one way it does this is through conscious and subconscious processing
our brain seeks to automate much of what we do to save us time and brain energy
these are our brain's subconscious processes
they take care of our basic life functioning
our fight or flight response and our learned behaviours and habits
we don't really think about these things, they just happen on auto-pilot or it becomes second nature
in fact up to 95% of all our behaviours and reactions happen at the subconscious level
our subconscious is also involved in the recording and storing of our experiences and knowledge, forming our memories
these are stored in our brain like photos in a picture album, which we can refer back to later
the way we think and feel about these experiences forms a frame around the photo
this is how we give people, objects, or events meaning
over time, this is how our attitudes develop
for the most part, our subconscious processes help us navigate the world efficiently
yet sometimes we might develop unhelpful habits or attitudes that prevent us from achieving our goals
this is where more conscious thinking can benefit us
our conscious processing involves our higher thinking capacity
where we can be more mindful and considered in what we think, feel and do
we can use conscious thinking to reprogram our subconscious and change our thoughts, attitudes and habits
while thinking consciously takes more energy
it is how we take greater control of our brain and achieve our goals