Know Where You're Going

Then work backwards.

Hi, and welcome. I record my own voiceovers. It gives you my voice delivering the words I write. At the end, I always play a snippet of a song that spoke to me while writing the piece. The song is linked at the end of every post.

xo - Jeannie Lynn

I have had the privilege of working with a coach for the last month and change. She has taken me through a series of processes to define where I am going from the conscious mind, as opposed to continually living my life informed by the unconscious mind, or the subconscious. Before we started, my coach Emily had me read chapters 1-4 of a book called Mental and Emotional Release by Dr. Matt James with Tris Thorp.

…the unconscious mind runs roughly 95-99 percent of your consciousness, your body, and your mind. The unconscious mind is a much more powerful processor than the conscious mind… your unconscious mind is like a supercomputer, and your conscious mind is like a simple calculator.

The way I’ve come to understand this is that the unconscious mind is constantly developing reasoning, perception, and responses based on our lived experiences (in the past).

[For example:] Our bodies are designed to be healthy, to repair and heal themselves. So if the unconscious mind is doing something that is not healthy, it’s doing so for what it considers to be a good reason [based on experience you had when you learned a particular survival mechanism based on what happened].

Because your unconscious processes in images, it doesn’t easily process negatives. In other words, if you say, “I don’t want to be late,” the initial message your unconscious creates is of you being late. It requires an extra step for your unconscious to translate that desire into “I want to be on time or early.” That is why it is much more effective to focus on what you want, not on what you don’t want.”

I think somewhere in these chapters it talks about the vast number of processes happening in the body that we are not conscious of most of the time (processes directed by the unconscious mind), i.e. flow of blood and oxygen, hormone production, and what is specifically happening for the heart to continue to beat. Essentially it’s a lot that we don’t control consciously.

Photo by Nino Liverani on Unsplash

I tell my yoga students all the time that so many of my cues involve the breath because it is the most powerful thing we can use. It’s also something we constantly forget because it’s automatic. In practices like yoga and meditation, we can make the shift from the unconscious mind running the breath to the conscious mind running the breath. This looks like someone coming into a yoga class with shallow, rapid breaths because it was a stressful day, and upon arriving to the yoga studio, there was a shortage of parking spots, so the longer walk made them a few minutes late. No matter how late they may arrive to my class, they can still reach a desired, calm state because I will continue to cue staying with the breath- longer inhales, longer exhales, in the through nose, and out through the nose or mouth. This intake of new energy and release, or exhale, of old, stale energy is the magic of yoga. We land together in śavāsana in the centered balance that comes from hundreds of conscious inhales and exhales as the body moves and comes into alignment with the mind and heart/spirit/soul.

So where am I going with all these examples? Well, that’s just it. We are always going somewhere, and we choose and manifest where we go whether we realize it or not. It’s safe enough to continue to let the subconscious inform our decisions and responses to the events of life. Yes, safe enough, and any dreams that are vastly different, or even completely opposite of your past will never come true. You will keep repeating the same patterns because the unconscious mind informs actions that are built on past experiences and information.

I am so grateful to be working with Emily at this point in my life. I am at a point when I could stay where I am because it’s good enough (where I usually stop) or continue what I’ve really only started and manifest my bigger dreams. Please know I am not saying these things from a place of “more, more, more!” It’s simply an awakening to the fact that we truly can manifest anything we deeply desire if we are willing to do the work. For the sake of this post, I’m intentionally not going into the abundant way that God/the universe/Source meets us more than halfway, bringing us what we ask for when we’re in a state of peace. If you feel like that detour, I highly recommend this podcast episode my brother-in-law shared with me this week- On Purpose with Jay Shetty and his guest Martha Beck.

I liked an example Emily used early on when I started working with her. At the time, I had a flight to Colorado booked for Thanksgiving. She noted how the destination of my flight (Denver) doesn’t change, even if there are delays, layovers, or rerouting due to weather or unexpected events. So, in the context of my work with her, why not consciously decide my ideal “destination” in any and all areas of my life? She and I are specifically focusing on career, which I’m learning will become less and less a separate, compartmentalized sector of my life. It is quickly becoming more of a container in which I organize and integrate my natural gifts and abilities with the resources on hand to carry out a greater, aligned purpose I have found within myself.

Part of this process involved me writing a letter to my current self from my future self in five years. This might sound silly, but it was incredibly powerful. I am even reconsidering the reality of time travel. Time is a construct. We are infinite. I now believe we can actually go anywhere on our timeline with proper meditation and guidance. And this concludes the abstract for my theory, which I will later develop and prove, that time travel is in fact possible. Haha- I’ll see you all at my TED Talk in five years.

Working back from 2028, I arrived to the present with Emily and set my first “Smart Goal.” This goal will be at least 90% complete by January 22nd. Part of this goal includes writing a mission statement, objectives, and a 3-month outline for Seeing Upside Down.

My first year and two months on Substack has been fun to say the least. In hindsight, it has felt like letting the dam that is me break open, and whatever flowed out flowed out. I have connected with my ability to write like I never have before. I’m still fuzzy some days if I am objectively a good writer or not. All I know is I regularly have what some people, including myself, would call spiritual experiences when I write.

So, now what? Well, a month ago, give or take, I took what I thought was a logical next step and opened up the paid option to readers. It’s funny to me now. I think that was one of those decisions informed by the unconscious mind saying: “This isn’t serious until you start making money from it.” Here’s what really happened: it only made me see more objectively and clearly what I do or don’t offer my readers. It really got me tied up in outcome, which is not a place from which I want to write. I have gone back and forth about turning the paid option back off. What has prompted me to keep it is the way it has challenged me to continue to evolve and grow. How can I know where I am going with this if I don’t define the “destination?” Of course, as we’re seeing, it’s always a continuing journey that evolves. The difference now is I want to consciously direct it a little more… or a lot more.

It just occurred to me that this is still a lot of me talking about what I’m going to do vs just doing what I’m going to do. That is true. And welcome to my favorite way to process what I’m learning in real time, and that is: to write.

I am looking forward to dialing in what is distinct about Seeing Upside Down and what it has to offer that a reader might not easily find somewhere else. I am grateful for a little more time and space around the holidays to explore this.

I wish each of you extra lovely space and time to explore what it is you truly, deep down, want to manifest in your life. It’s not all so big and serious either. Maybe you can’t stop thinking about that one recipe you have always wanted to make for Christmas, but you haven’t because so-and-so always makes it. Instead of letting those old, stale thoughts direct your actions (which would likely mean not making the recipe), try some new, conscious thoughts. Imagine that you both make your own recipes for the same dish or dessert. Now imagine the smiles and enjoyment because there is not only more for everyone to enjoy, but there is a variety too!

Now work backwards and go to the store and get your ingredients.

After all, you know what you’re making.

You know where you’re going.

Stay with the breath.

with love, Jeannie