Have you ever felt stuck on autopilot doing the things you don’t want to do, while avoiding the very things you know you should be doing?
You set goals, you have good intentions and yet… you keep procrastinating. It feels like something invisible is holding you back. The truth is something actually is holding you back. That “something” is your subconscious mind.
Today, I’m going to show you how the conscious and subconscious mind control your habits and how you can reprogram yourself to finally break free from procrastination and build powerful habits that stick.
Conscious vs. Subconscious Mind: 5 Key Differences
Psychologists estimate that 95% of our daily activities are controlled by the subconscious mind, while only 5% are consciously chosen. That means most of your life runs on autopilot. If you can learn to use your conscious mind deliberately and train your subconscious to adopt the right habits, you can completely transform your life.
Here are the main differences between the two:
- Awareness
- Conscious mind = fully aware of what you’re doing.
- Subconscious mind = operates automatically without awareness.
- Control
- Conscious mind = deliberate, intentional control.
- Subconscious mind = automatic, habitual control.
- Speed of Processing
- Conscious mind = slow, logical, analytical.
- Subconscious mind = fast, intuitive, emotional.
- Adaptability
- Conscious mind = highly adaptable to new information.
- Subconscious mind = resistant to change, prefers routine.
- Decision Making
- Conscious mind = used for complex planning and problem-solving.
- Subconscious mind = influenced by emotions and past experiences.
The challenge is this: most people leave decision-making to the subconscious, which means they keep repeating old patterns. That’s why they procrastinate, form bad habits, and struggle to change.
Why Habits Feel Hard to Change
Think about learning to ride a bicycle or drive a car. At first, it feels impossible—you fall, you make mistakes. But after enough repetition, it becomes second nature. That’s because the habit has been transferred into the subconscious mind.
The same is true for bad habits like smoking, procrastination, or overspending. Once the subconscious has adopted them, they’re incredibly difficult to break. But with discipline, willpower, and consistent repetition, you can replace them with new habits that serve you.
3 Practical Steps to Break Procrastination
Here’s how to train your mind for success:
- Plan Ahead with Your Conscious Mind
- Write down what you want to do tomorrow, today.
- Use to-do lists and clear schedules to guide your actions.
- Planning activates the conscious mind and prevents autopilot.
- Repetition Builds Subconscious Habits
- Pick one habit (e.g., reading 30 minutes daily).
- Commit to it for 21 consecutive days.
- After enough repetition, it becomes effortless.
- Exercise Discipline and Willpower
- Breaking bad habits is not easy but it is possible.
- Start small, stay consistent, and build momentum.
inconclusion,
Your subconscious mind controls 95% of your daily life. If you don’t take charge, you’ll stay stuck repeating old patterns. But if you train your conscious mind to plan and deliberately program your subconscious with positive habits, you’ll unlock your true potential.
That’s how successful people operate: they align both their conscious and subconscious minds to work toward their goals and almost everything they touch turns into progress.
Want to go deeper? Get my book Achieving Your Greatest Dreams to learn practical steps to build habits that lead to financial freedom and personal success.
The conscious mind is logical, slow and deliberate, used for planning and decision-making. The subconscious mind is automatic, fast, emotional and controls about 95% of daily actions.
Because habits are stored in the subconscious mind, which resists change and prefers routines. Unless you consciously train it with repetition and discipline, bad habits remain automatic.
By repeating a positive action consistently for at least 21 days, your subconscious mind adopts it as a new habit, making it effortless to continue.
Procrastination often happens when the subconscious takes over decision-making, avoiding discomfort or new routines. Planning with the conscious mind helps overcome it.
Write down your goals, plan ahead of time, use willpower intentionally and repeat good habits daily until they become second nature.
Psychologists estimate that about 95% of daily activities are influenced by the subconscious mind, while only 5% are conscious decisions.
Yes. Successful people embed empowering habits into their subconscious, making productivity and discipline effortless.
You can read David Asaana’s book Achieving Your Greatest Dreams at https://techpreneuracademy.com/achieving-your-greatest-dreams/
Author Profile
David Asaana is a Digital Marketer, Author, and Entrepreneur with over five years of experience. He has worked with 4,500+ clients across Ghana, the USA, the UK, and beyond, and his YouTube channel where he shares step-by-step tutorials on digital marketing and business growth has reached more than 1.9 million views.
