If you’re struggling to overcome limiting beliefs, or want to instill an attitude of success and prosperity within you, then autosuggestion is a powerful technique you should consider.

More than a self-help tactic, autosuggestion is a fundamental tool we can use to determine the beliefs we wish to hold and, in turn, have a positive impact on the world we experience.

In this post we’ll take a look at what auto-suggestion is, and how you can use positive suggestion influence your subconscious mind.

What Is Autosuggestion?

Autosuggestion is a term used to describe the interaction between your thoughts and your beliefs.

Put simply, it is the idea that a thought, repeated many times, will eventually form into a belief. If you understand this principle and know how to apply it, then you can use it to create for yourself any belief you choose, and, by extension, live the life you feel inspired to live.

Autosuggestion was popularize by many great science of mind thinkers and teachers of the law of attraction, including Napoleon Hill, Ernest Holmes, and Emile Coue.

In Napoleon Hill’s classic, Think and Grow Rich, autosuggestion is listed as the third step towards riches. Hill writes:

“All suggestions are self-administered stimuli that reach your mind through your five senses. Stated in another way, autosuggestion is self-suggestion.”

Hill argues that autosuggestion is an indispensable principle for creating a positive influence over your life. He goes so far as to say that no thought, regardless of whether it is a positive thought or a negative thought, could enter the mind without the use of autosuggestion.

The question is whether or not you are using this tool consciously, by setting deliberate intentions, or unconsciously, through happenstance and chance.

How Autosuggestion Works

The principle is firmly rooted in neuroscience. Thoughts are literally electrical connections in your brain. When you think a thought, a synapse fires. As this thought leads to other thoughts, your brain draws connections, constantly wiring itself using a concept known as neuroplasticity.

The more you repeat a thought, the stronger it becomes. Eventually, it forms into a belief, which in turn has a strong power over how you act and respond to the world around you.

Consistently think positive thoughts, and you will develop positive, empowering beliefs. You’ll feel confident, capable, and inspired to action. If you consistently think negative thoughts, however, you’ll wind up feeling worthless and depressed.

This is the same principle that underlies many empowerment techniques, including the use of positive affirmations and visualization techniques, as the fundamental idea is to continue to re-assert desired goals until they become beliefs.

The choice is yours. The question is: do you know how to leverage this tool?

Ted Talk by Tim Crouch

You can apply the principles of autosuggestion to any subject or desire, whether it’s personal relationships, business, or art. For a great perspective on how to apply it to your life, listen to this great Ted talk by award-winning director Tim Crouch.

In the next post in this series, I’ll outline specific Autosuggestion Techniques and Examples you can use to apply this concept to your life.