Unconscious Rationalization (For Better And Worse)

Our unconscious mind is constantly influencing everything we do - from the choices we make, the way we feel, and the meaning we assign to different events. Last week in the same day I was aware of two instances where my unconscious mind was shaping my life behind the scenes, one good and one not so good. I'd like to share both.

First, the not so good. Every day as part of my daily goal setting system I outline my goal for the day. It’s important to me that I do it because it’s one of the criteria I use to see if I “win the day”.

Explicitly written, the goal was to record two videos. But once I recorded the first, and it took longer than it should... And it wore me out more than I expected... I started to challenge my commitment to record the second. Thoughts like “It’s not as important as the first” and “They’re both similar enough, maybe I just use the first video for the same purposes as the second”.

My mind was trying to logically convince me to not do what I committed to, and in the moment it was compelling. But I knew in reflection I’d have a different opinion, so I chose to suck it up and do it anyway. I’m glad I did.

The other, empowering example happened when I was on a run. It was the same route I normally go on but as I reached a certain part of it, the road was closed because of construction. I run in a neighborhood so there weren’t that many other places to go.

I checked my timer and I had another 2 minutes to go before turning around and heading back. The first thought that came into my mind was “It’s only a few minutes, you can turn around early” but then my mind overruled it and said “No you committed to this full workout so you’re going to do this full workout.”

It took no effort on my part to convince myself to do a loop in a cul de sac and head back down a hill, only to retrace my steps once I hit the halfway point and began my way back. In this case my mindset prevented me from considering anything less than what I was expecting, even when unexpected circumstances came up.

The lesson in both of these stories is the same - Your thoughts need to be questioned. The unconscious mind influences your rational thinking in ways that you aren’t aware of, leading you to draw conclusions you otherwise wouldn’t have. Sometimes it’s helpful, sometimes it’s not, but every time it’s there.