The Law of the Mind is a behavioral law that applies to thoughts and the beliefs, behavior and emotions created by thought. Prolonged thought will eventually lead to beliefs and those beliefs will eventually produce and justify behaviors. All people act on what they believe whether those beliefs are productive or destructive-good or bad. Once they believe something, it is hard to get a person to violate or abandon those beliefs.

This is one reason it is so important to know what you believe and do not validate and protect a belief that does not produce positive behavior, results and good fruit in your life. Each person has the authority and power to insert, by design, certain beliefs into their belief system. (See chapter on “Beliefs”). Beliefs will produce behavior, which will produce corresponding emotions.

Many of us have been able to make short term changes, breaking out of a destructive thought pattern (s) for a period of time. But if the change in thinking patterns is short-term, the corresponding behavior change will also be short-term. That’s why so many people go on a “diet” and lose weight only to gain it back again. Diets are by nature short-term behavior modification. 

The only long lasting results in weight loss or health management come from a change in lifestyle, which starts out with a change in thoughts and beliefs until it becomes behavior that is practiced until it is ingrained along with the thoughts into our character as automatic. When you understand the law of the mind, you can put it to work for you.

Start reprogramming your thought patterns, renewing your mind, and make a decision that your change in thinking will be a permanent one. When you do that, only one thing can happen: your change in thinking will bring about new lasting emotional and behavioral changes that will produce the results you desire. If you work on your thought world, you will get the results manifested in your behavior. If you do the work, it will work for you. Remember, when you change your thoughts, you must then force yourself (if necessary), to practice the physical corresponding behavior until the new thoughts and behavior become automatic.

Some people change their thoughts on any given subject and embrace and even believe it is good for them. But they still do not experience lasting behavior changes because they did not cross the “action barrier” and behaviorally put into practice those new thoughts. I say again, thoughts that are practiced over time will download from the conscious level of the mind to the subconscious and eventually to the unconscious. Thoughts that are unwanted and that produce unwanted behaviors and emotions, must be “red flagged” and not automatically validated or obeyed just because they are active or familiar to you. Remember the law of the mind guarantees that those practiced thoughts will become automatic thoughts and eventual behavior.

Once you recognize unwanted, negative or destructive thoughts (ways of thinking), you must decide that those thoughts are no longer valid or acceptable so that you can intervene into them or even prevent them in advance. Then replace them with new thoughts and behaviors and keep practicing and renewing your mind to them until it gets easier. Remember the old phrase; “practice makes perfect”. That does not mean that you will be perfect, but it does mean that you can do it with excellence, ease and comfort. The more you practice, the easier and more comfortable you will get with it and the more efficient you will become.

There are three levels of the mind. Thoughts that are practiced over time eventually download from the conscious mind into the sub-conscious and eventually the un-conscious mind. These three levels include:
A. Conscious Mind: Thought activity that is operating on the surface level, present-tense, or in “real time” (camera terminology). These are thoughts that you are more aware of and can access more readily, more quickly and with more ease. These thoughts are usually thoughts that are associated with the task at hand and stay active in the forefront of the mind or thought world. Other words that represent conscious level thinking include real time, cognitive thinking and present-tense thoughts.

B. Sub-conscious Mind: Thought activity that is operating just below the surface level, in the past tense, in your memory, and has been downloaded from the conscious level mind after being practiced for about 30 days. These thoughts are not as readily or easily accessed without much personal evaluation. These thoughts are habit (habitual) on this level, and usually serve as promoters or the actual justifiers of the conscious level thoughts. Example: a wife may be angry at her spouse for not wiping off the microscopic coffee spot on the counter after asking him to do so several times. Her anger level rises and she can’t stop thinking about it and even begins to watch for it. She thinks that the reason she becomes obsessed over this issue is because it is very important to her and therefore feels justified in her rising anger and obsession. However, the actual subconscious reason for her continued anger and obsessing, is related to something else the husband did previously, that offended her (such as a personal insult), which she has stored in her memory (intentional or not). This subconscious, unresolved offense makes the present coffee violation more internally intense, which serves as the real and actual promoter of the level of anger she feels toward her husband. The insult that she suppressed makes the coffee spot bigger and more personal, even though she may not be realizing cognitively that the insult is driving the intensity of the coffee spot issue.

C. Unconscious Mind: All experiences (especially the more emphasized ones), in the spirit, mind, emotions or body (good or bad), that have been consistently repeated for at least 6 months, sometime in the past, which integrate into and become the character (automatic behavior). These experiences form their personal view of self, the world and others. The unconscious serves as a “backdrop” for a person’s view, perceptions, and life assumptions. The unconscious operates automatically and constant. It is like a streaming video that never stops projecting its influence into the person’s sub-conscious and conscious thought activity, emotions, spirit and body. The unconscious picture stays in place VS the sub-conscious thoughts which are activated by periodic triggers and associations in the present tense. Unconscious thoughts and behaviors function on a level that is a generalized backdrop of perceptions and experiences that integrate into the person’s personal world and self view. The unconscious mind “influences” all of the surface and below- the- surface perceptions.

The Bible tells us in Romans 12:2 that we are changed/transformed (progressively changed) by the renewing of our minds. This obviously means that we must work on the way that we think. The word “renew” in the Scripture means to remove the old thinking and put in the new thinking. Renewing the mind also involves knowing what specific thinking patterns you are targeting for removal and replacement. Then once you have removed and replaced, then reinforce the new way of thinking by practicing it until it becomes normal. You cannot change negative, unwanted or destructive thinking by working on it periodically. You proactively attack the old thinking including the old beliefs that support the old. Do not wait until you have a hard time with the old thinking. See it as your enemy and remove it and replace it with aggression every day. God will anoint you to change and improve. He is aware of your needed improvement and is prompting you to recognize (or admit) it and take action. Faith without works is dead being alone. So don’t just believe that God wants you to change, take action today…right now. Make a decision to improve. Quit hiding behind the worn out excuse that “nobody’s perfect”. This is not a legitimate reason, it is an excuse. You don’t have to pray about doing what the Scripture tells you to do. Renew your mind today. God is with you and will help you. Continue to be encouraged.

Dr. Mark Jones, LMFT
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