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The Law of Reversed Effect – Are you trying too hard?

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There are many physical laws that we live by. Jump off a building (that’s not a suggestion!) and you’ll experience the physical law of
gravitation. As we have physical laws there are also mental laws. These laws are just as real and we can use them for either our
benefit or detriment. When it comes to the mind, especially the subconscious mind, one of the most important mental laws to get to
grips with is ‘The Law of Reversed Effect’:

The Law of Reversed Effect states; “The greater the conscious effort, the less the subconscious response” or understood another way
“Whenever the will (conscious mind) and imagination (subconscious) are in conflict, the imagination (subconscious) always wins.”

It’s helpful to understand that the subconscious is infinitely more powerful than the conscious and it is your ‘inner protector’. Its
primary function is to prevent you from getting hurt and it learns and remembers rules and behaviours in order to do exactly this.
These rules and behaviours are created from emotional responses to events which, more often than not, occurred in childhood. Each
situation that reminds the subconscious of the childhood event gets treated according to the rule that was created back there, back
then. This rule is then reinforced and becomes a habit, something you just do automatically without thinking.

The Law of Reversed effect means that any conscious, will-driven attempts to change the habit (the subconscious automatic
response), get ferociously resisted, because that would mean abandoning the ‘rule’ (the subconscious learning). Because the
subconscious mind wants to protect you it’s not about to abandon that rule because then ‘you will get hurt’. So when you try to
change the automatic habit response, it is regarded as an attack by the subconscious, and is resisted. The more pressure you apply
the more resistance is generated. This is the Law of Reversed Effect.

Every client that comes to see us is presenting with a ‘subconscious’ problem. If the problem were a conscious one they would have
decided to change it there and then and done it. They might consciously want to do something or stop doing something but their
subconscious has very different ideas. This has often gone on for many, many years with the client believing that if only they try
harder they will be able to change it, but of course the harder they try the more stubborn the issue becomes. They are often
extremely frustrated at not being able to master their issue and move forward using sheer will alone, but this is exactly the Law of
Reversed Effect at play.

A great example of this is the insomniac. Sleep is an entirely subconscious process, and ‘willing’ yourself to or ‘trying’ to sleep has
exactly the opposite effect. The more you grit your teeth to ‘get’ to sleep the more awake you become!

The Law of Reversed Effect has an incredibly potent effect on our self-talk too, and It’s important to know that whatever we tell
ourselves we must or mustn’t do, feel or think the opposite occurs. ‘I must sleep’ leads to a night of tossing and turning, ‘I mustn’t feel
anxious’ will reinforce that anxious state.

The wonderful thing with Hypnosis is that you can bypass the Law of Reversed Effect by making powerful and positive changes
without trying.

Imagine trying to find that previously familiar anxious feeling, but finding it has simply gone. In fact, the harder you try to find that
feeling the harder it is to remember what it actually felt like. By shifting the subconscious focus we can easily start to utilise the Law
of Reversed Effect in a positive way.

Using conscious effort to make changes, can be futile and let’s face it more than a little ‘trying’. True change resides in the
subconscious…and when motivated in the right way it can occur with very little e ort indeed.

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This entry was posted in Hypnosis on September 12, 2014 by Zoe Clews.

About Zoe Clews

Zoe is a Senior Qualified Hypnotist registered with the General Hypnotherapy Standards Council, an Advanced EFT Practitioner & Trainer and NLP
Practitioner. Zoe first obtained her Hypnotherapy diploma from the European College of Hypnotherapy over 10 years ago, however her training
continues as she consistently acquires new knowledge and the latest cutting-edge techniques in order to help her clients free themselves of 'old
baggage'. Zoe also recently completed further hypnosis training, both Stage and Practitoner, with Master Hypnotist Jonathan Chase at The Academy of
Hypnotic Arts Through her extensive study of Hypnosis and the subconscious mind Zoe came to realise that our lives are shaped by our inherited and
subconscious beliefs and the patterns that are run as a result of this. These subconscious beliefs act as invisible walls, hidden from the conscious
minds, until we become 'conscious' of it and realize that we are repeating the same old pattern or situation over and over again. Changing these beliefs
and patterns to positive and powerful ones that serve you is incredibly freeing, and can literally transform your life. Zoe has been running a thriving
practice in Harley Street for over a decade now, and during that time has helped thousands of clients get what they want. Whether that islosing weight,
freedom from anxiety, panic attacks, depression, trauma or eating disorders, she is super passionate about what she does and considers it a vocation
to help people feel good. The majority of her clients arrive as word-of-mouth referrals and she is proud to have established a solid reputation as one of
the most recommended Hypnotists in London. Zoe's work has been featured in Marie-Claire, Elle, Health & Fitness, Spirit & Destiny and Prediction
magazine.
View all posts by Zoe Clews

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