Be Careful of the Word ‘You’ and Its Usage in Your Life
Whenever you hear the word ‘You’ it influences your subconscious mind more than you realize.
Did you know that whenever you hear the word ‘YOU’ your subconscious mind registers it deep in its filing cabinet — its storehouse?
This applies to both direct and indirect messaging like subliminal advertising and messaging.
So what does this mean exactly? What are the implications of it?
What it means is that the messaging whether good or bad (remember your subconscious mind can't tell the difference between the two) accepts it as the truth.
So this part of your mind lets in stuff that may not be good for you.
The implications of this are huge!
It's okay with good & empowering messages like “I Love You,” “You are the best” and “You are great”, etc but not so good with disempowering messages.
Messages come in all sorts — books, audio, videos, advertising, our own self-talk, other people speaking, etc.
Advertisers and marketers have always understood the power behind the word YOU.
They leverage it to their advantage to create campaigns, ads, copy, content, etc.
They speak to YOU and ask YOU to buy into their message which is attached to a product or a service.
Just think of an ad you've recently seen and I bet it's using the word YOU either directly or indirectly.
Three lettered word with incredible power
YOU is an incredibly powerful word in all languages as it is attached to our sense of identity and overall self-concept.
Whenever it’s mentioned especially repeatedly your subconscious mind programs it deep into its database.
This database is like a vast filing cabinet that stores all messaging both good and bad.
Bad messages in particular have a strong emotional charge and pull and so tend to get reinforced more than good and positive messages.
This happens from your conception right until your death.
The storage in your subconscious mind is permanent.
This is why harsh and cruel words spoken to us even as a child at the playground are still remembered years later and still sting us.
Words are powerful and in particular, the word ‘YOU’.
The messaging that immediately follows it is incredibly potent more than most people realize.
It's a potency that impacts one’s overall self-concept and self-image.
I can't emphasize this enough!
Advertising messages and the word You
Just the other day I was walking along Burke Road, in the Melbourne suburb of Camberwell and I noticed a lot of beauty and aesthetic clinics.
All of them had advertising at the front of their shops aimed at women and used the word ‘You’ in some way or another:
- Blossom into a New You
- You deserve to Look and Feel Good
- You can Transform Yourself with Body Sculpting
- You’ll Feel Beautiful after Laser
- Become a More Attractive You in 2023
- You've Got This- The 28-day body challenge
Looking at these messages it's easy to see the reinforcement of the usage of the word YOU along with the way women are marketed to.
It’s not just women of course that are marketed to, even men are marketed to and the messages always include a form of You.
The truth is that if the messaging is positive and empowering for men and also women then there's nothing wrong with it.
In fact, it's a good thing and I say bring it on as we need positive messaging and enforcement in our world.
But when it's not so positive and empowering we then have a problem.
Hence such messages need to be stopped or at least we need to not let them into our minds through heightened self-awareness and discipline.
After all, we can't control the actions of others. Only our own actions.
Negative messaging getting into your mind
Remember your subconscious mind can't differentiate between good or bad and so doesn't care if the messaging getting in is positive or negative.
It's the same principle as whether something is real or imagined — your subconscious can't tell the difference.
This can be a huge advantage when you understand it and use it to reprogram your mind for better habits, beliefs, thoughts, etc.
That's how hypnosis works in a nutshell.
But on a day-to-day basis when you are bombarded with messages that include the word ‘You’ it can and usually does work against you.
So that's why you must be vigilant and on guard when the word YOU is being used and directed your way.
For instance, be extra vigilant of the following usages:
- Recorded messages ( videos, podcasts, etc) that mention the word YOU.
- Billboards, television ads, etc that mention YOU.
- Religious services that talk about YOU.
- Educational settings — colleges, schools, etc that mention YOU.
- People saying “You fill in the blank — — — — —
- Psychologists, psychiatrists, and counselors saying “You fill in the blank — — — -
- Your own self-talk in particular your inner critic saying “You can't do this, You are not attractive enough, You are not smart enough, etc.
- Subliminal programs and binaural beats. You dont really know what’s being programmed so best to stay away.
- Songs that mention YOU.
You get the point right?
The science of the subconscious mind
Just think back to a time in your life when you were affected either negatively or positively when the word YOU was directed at you.
Take a pause and dig deep into the vast reservoir of your mind.
I’m certain you’ll be able to find an example if not many.
I hope you have more positive examples than negative ones.
You've been influenced by the word YOU more than you realize.
We are dealing with a very powerful principle here that has much science behind it not just hearsay and wishful thinking.
It’s the science of the subconscious mind which has been well-documented with much research.
If you would like to learn more I always recommend you start with the classic book The Power of your Subconscious Mind by Joseph Murphy.
It’s one of the best books ever written on the subject and is easy to understand as doesn't have jargon and complex concepts.
You’ll come to appreciate more what's being said here after reading it.
You’ll gain a much better understanding of how your subconscious mind works and how it gets programmed day in and day out with messaging.
Summary
Start noticing more how the word YOU is used in messages including your own internal messaging — your inner dialogue.
Remember we are often our own worst enemies with what we tell ourselves but we can also be our own best friends with what we tell ourselves.
Dont just let this three-lettered word with so much power get dumped in your mind without any conscious input on your behalf.
That’s being on auto-pilot which you want to avoid at all costs if you want to be the pilot of your life (in charge).
So turn off auto-pilot and get more conscious about messaging around this powerful word and start directing it in your favor.
Your self-image and overall self-concept which is built every day will thank you for it.
Start noticing the word YOU more and its usage in your life and course correct where needed. To Creating a Better You,
Sandra D