Waking Up From Unconscious Habit

In order to feed the flame inside of us we need to bring our attention to what is important for us. Many of our conscious thoughts are aligned with our deepest desire and goals, but this gets buried from the unconscious habit that we keep repeating from the past. There are two concepts of maps that we follow: Vision Map and Default Map.

Vision is the map that gives a deliberate plan for the future. This is what brings you closer to what you want to be in life. An action that will guide you to your greatest potential and your gift. While the default map is the unconscious decision that keeps us stuck from the past because of the bad habit that we keep repeating in our daily lives. It is a map that doesn’t move us closer to our dream and something that doesn’t nourish the flame inside of us, that desire to have a charismatic character. 

A great example for a default map is our eating pattern. If we want to lose weight we need to choose healthy food, but when we are operating in our unconscious decisions we don’t think about the ice cream and junk food that we eat. If we shift that attitude from Default to a Vision and bring our attention to what is empowering us, then we are most likely to achieve that goal. 

There’s a story from Debbie, an author of Embracing Your Shadow. She made a choice to start attending a Karate Class near by her home because it has always been a goal of hers to experience what it’s like to be in a Martial Arts Class, but each time she gets home from work she makes an excuse of “I’m too tired” or “I don’t have the energy.” These were the unconscious habits that she had been doing until she never had a chance to do it. During this moment she could’ve asked herself “Should I Do It” or “How Do I Feel.” These are good questions to ask, but a better way to rephrase these questions are “Will going to a karate class empower me or dis-empower me” or “Will going to the Karate Class bring me closer to my goal or keep me stuck in the past.”

In my own personal journey in life I have experienced many of these circumstances. A funny example of this is making the right decision whether reading a book or watching Netflix series. Before it was so easy to fall into a rabbit hole from doing an unproductive task because I wasn’t asking the right questions and I wasn’t operating with my Vision Map. I always told myself that I will read after I watch one episode. This was a trap because if you watch just one episode it will be hard to resist, hard to not watch the next one because of lack of discipline at the time.

By bringing our conscious mind and aligning ourselves to a vision map as our benchmark we can live a more fulfilling lifestyle and an essential practice we can do to increase our conscious awareness is in the morning because that is when there is less distraction and your mind is fresh.

List things out in a journal of what you want to do in life, and why you want to go there. Allow yourself to think and dream big because the result will also be big. Remember that your journey is more important than the destination.