Choose Your Words Carefully When You Think and Speak
Our brain perceives any information literally.
In hypnology, there is a concept called “organic language,” which means that our brain takes in any information literally. For example, the phrase “kick the bucket” means someone’s death, but it also has a literal meaning that the subconscious picks up on. Metaphors (figurative comparisons like “cold heart,” “nerves of steel,” “eagle eye”) or set expressions (“bite your elbows,” “be a zero without a stick,” “pull yourself together,” “go through fire and water”) are especially understood by the subconscious as something concrete and unambiguous.
This phenomenon was discovered in people under hypnosis, where reason and logic give way to this kind of perception. If you ask a person in a trance, “Wouldn’t you be able to tell me how old you are?” they’ll answer, “I would,” and nothing more. In a normal state, the same person would immediately state their age in response to that question.
Organic language is active and has a powerful influence not only in hypnosis but in any state, including when we’re awake.
This is how the subtle mechanisms of self-programming are triggered, including negative self-programming. John Grinder and Richard Bandler describe an example where a woman jokingly repeats a familiar phrase without any serious intent: “My children are a real punishment for me.” She doesn’t realize how seriously she’s programming herself—her subconscious takes these words literally. And the punishment really does come. It can appear in any form—like a headache, an accident, or something else entirely.
What is just imagination in your conscious mind becomes reality in your unconscious.
Key Takeaways
- Be careful with the words you use when you think or speak, so that any negative meaning (if there is one) doesn’t manifest in your life.
- On the other hand, talk about your goals in a positive, clear, and specific way. For example, if you want a brick house near several birch trees with thick trunks, say exactly that, even if you’re tempted to use a phrase like “a cozy nest surrounded by golden-haired century-old beauties.”
- As an option, imagine you’re describing your dream to a child—be as clear and literal as possible.