Photo by Linus Nylund on Unsplash

The other night I was watching the Top Gun movie that was released in 1986.

Photo by Jeff Cooper on Unsplash

In the movie, when Tom Cruise achieved a victory during a Top Gun training mission and when he shot down three enemy planes in actual air combat in the movie, he requested a “fly-by” from the head air traffic controller, called the “Air Boss.” The fly-by, was a deviation from “normal behavior” completed when landing an airplane.

In both instances, the Air Boss, responded, “Negative, Ghost Rider the pattern is full.”

In both instances, Tom Cruise ignores the Air Boss and does the fly by.

Ghost Rider was the identifier used for Tom Cruise’s plane. The fly-by was a something that was out the normal patterns use to sequence and land the airplanes.

When airplanes are landing, pilots are given specific instructions on the altitude, compass heading, airspeed, rate of descent and direction of turns to complete that becomes a landing “pattern” to follow. There are usually many aircraft taking off, operating and landing at the same time in a three dimensional space creating predetermined patterns that become very full.

The fly-by sequences made me think about how the Air Boss in the movie is very similar to your subconscious mind. Your subconscious mind is your very own Air Boss stores and loops through your own behavioral patterns that have been programmed in your subconscious mind based on both positive and negative experiences you have had in your lifetime.  Your subconscious is full of your own behavior patterns.

So when want to change one of your own behavioral patterns, do your own fly-by, have some fun, do something out of the ordinary,  your very own Air Boss in your subconscious mind is likely to respond, “negative, the pattern is full.”

So how do change your own repeating behavioral patterns and get the Air Boss in your subconscious mind to allow you to do your own fly-by?

It starts with creating appropriate “declarations.” 

Declarations help change behavior patterns in your subconscious mind. 

Many mind-body-spirit practitioners try to use affirmations instead of declarations to reprogram their subconscious mind without much success.  There is a subtle but important difference between affirmations and declarations.  Remember, everything is energy, including spoken words.  So affirmations and declarations have very different energetic vibrations when spoken.

An “affirmation” includes something you are wishing for or hoping to be true to co-create in your life but you do not yet actually believe or feel you can have or achieve based on your prior life experiences.  For example,  “I can be happy every day.”

In contrast, a “declaration” is a formal or explicit statement or announcement of a state or condition that you already know to be true.  It is a commitment to a desired result.  It is a statement of direct instructions for what you are co-creating in your life.  Declarations typically start with, “I am …” or “I declare …”  For example, “I am happy every day.”

“To reprogram your subconscious you must use declarations instead of affirmations.”

STEPHEN LESAVICH, PhD

Get additional insights on your own patterns from the Out There on the Edge of Everything® Podcast.



To reprogram behavioral patterns in your subconscious, consider the following steps:

  1. Use Present Tense Declarations to Change a Behavior Pattern.   Your subconscious is not programmed to process future state conditions.  It only processes present state conditions.  To reprogram your subconscious, your list of declarations need to be in the present tense and not in a future tense.  For example, if you are trying to change your behavior patterns associated with money, you would not use the declaration, “I will be financially successful.”  Instead you would use the declaration, “I am financially successful.”
  2. Use Positive Declarations To Change a Behavior Pattern.  Your subconscious mind is also not programmed to process negative statements.  To reprogram your subconscious, you need to make a list of positive declarations. For example, if you are feeling afraid, you would not use the declaration “I am not afraid” because it includes a negative word, “not.”  Instead, you would use the declaration, “I am courageous and confident.”
  3. Associate Your Present Tense, Positive Declarations With Positive Emotions. Your subconscious will only “believe” what you declare when you feel the corresponding positive emotions.  Positive emotions include emotions such as love, happiness, joy, peace, etc.  To reprogram your subconscious, your list of positive, present tense declarations must be associated with positive emotions you actual feel.  For example, if your present tense, positive declaration is “I am living an empowered life,” and you actually “feel” the positive emotions of happiness and peace, your subconscious will begin to initiate change in your programmed behavior patterns associated with living your life in an empowered state.

Reprogramming your subconscious allows you to make a positive impact in your own life and helps your own Air Boss to allow you to do a fly-by, even if the “pattern is full.”

Out There on the Edge of Everything®…

Stephen Lesavich, PhD

Copyright © 2020, by Stephen Lesavich, PhD.  All rights reserved.

Certified solution-focused life coach and experienced business coach.

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