It isn’t clear exactly when a sea change took place in human self-perception – perhaps it was with the rise of the industrial revolution or the rise of corporations – but gradually, people in society have changed their self-perception from WHO to WHAT. This article addresses this phenomenon and explains how properly written subliminal message affirmations can go a long way to bringing us back to the core of our being, maximizing our human potential.

 

Try this experiment:

Go to a party, a church supper, a social event, or even a bar – any place where people congregate to meet. Listen to how people greet each other when they are strangers and meet for the first time. They often ask two questions:

“Hi, my name is (Mary, John, Richard, Jane, etc.). What’s yours?”

This first question is significant, we identify the person’s name – we ask them to reveal something about themselves, having offered the same thing when we started the question (the introduction).

The next question is more significant and telling. More often than not, one person will ask the other “So, (Mary, John, Richard, Jane, etc.) what do you do?”

Most often, the person will reply “I’m a lawyer, (a doctor, a waitress, a busy boy, a salesperson, etc.)” Rarely will they reply “I pick my nose”, “I sniff my armpit”, “I crack my knuckles.” Yet such an answer would also apply (if the person does these things).

The scenario has a number of ways it plays out, but it is always the same. We tend to define ourselves by WHAT we DO as a job or career, not WHO we are. In fact, if you were to ask a person, “Who ARE you?”, the response will be something artificial, a name, an occupation. The person might be unable to answer! We are not used to thinking of ourselves as WHO any more.

WHO is where we live every day of our lives. We often lose sight of that, yet it is always right there, inside us.

And, it can get more confusing. Some people will define themselves by their actions. “I’m a smoker”, “I’m a drinker”, “I’m an athlete”, “I’m a dancer”. These are activities, not WHO we are. If anything about the descriptions change, we go into identity crisis!

 

Subliminal Messages Reverse the Trend

Subliminal messages and affirmations, when properly designed, are very important because they reverse this trend and go to the heart of the matter, to WHO we are.

Let’s take that smoker, for example. Smoking is more than puffing on a cigarette. It’s a life style, a habit, an activity. When someone “quits” smoking using any form of pill, gum, patch or whatever, they often go into identity crisis because for years, they have thought of themselves “as a smoker” – not “as a person who smokes”. There is a WORLD of difference. (ClydeSight Productions has a DSPP program for people who want to quit smoking that manages this problem very nicely, it’s called “Smoke Free DSPP” ). A pill or patch cannot provide this re-thinking and adjustment of identity.

Athletes who are in an accident that prevents them from athletic activities go through a similar identity crisis because they have gotten used to defining themselves by their activity, not by their core selves.

And so it goes with any identity that is based on an external condition. To be completely self-actualized human beings, we need to change that.

 

Why is this important?

In the road of life, when we define ourselves by what we DO, we lose contact with our truth, the truth of who we ARE. We can DO many things, but we can only BE ourselves, our CORE selves. That’s the person inside, the person who is creative, is kind, is loving, is comforting, is clever, is funny, is gentle, is outgoing, etc.

WHO we are is a tough question to answer. Try it. Write down on a piece of paper ten things that identify WHO you are. Take your time. Write the answers in the first person: “I AM…”

Can you do it? Read your list and ask, “How many of these things are inner qualities – WHO I am, and how many are activities, jobs, things external to my being – WHAT I DO?” You may be surprised at the results! It’s very tough to make this list, and it may take you several tries to get it down.

 

Here’s a story that might help:

A woman once went to a career counselor. She was an “empty nester”. Her children were grown and married and she was bored out of her mind. She needed a job to give her something to occupy her time. But she felt unqualified for any job because she had spent her life being “just a housewife” and felt she had nothing to offer. She admitted that she felt worthless as a human being.

The counselor smiled knowingly and replied:

“I think you have great worth as an employee because you have great worth as a human being. Your life proves it.

  • Did you ever cook a meal? Cooking requires creativity. You are creative.
  • Did you ever bandage a wound? You are a healing person.
  • Did you ever listen to a crying child and try to help? You are a comforter.
  • Did you ever break up a fight? You are a peacemaker.
  • Did you ever help a child with his/her homework? You are a teacher.
  • Did you ever just hug your child because you love him or her? You are a loving person.

All of these are WHO you are, and what you bring to any job. Yes, you need skills, but these can easily be obtained. What employers are really looking for is WHO you are, because THAT is what you bring to the workplace.”

The woman wound up in a wonderful job where she was greatly valued. Why? Because on the interview she said “I may not have all the skills, but these I can learn. What I bring to you is WHO I am. I am a creative person, a healing person, etc. (all the things the counselor helped her see about herself.). The company representative admired the clarity of her remark and hired her on the spot.

We don’t always have the advantage of such a wise counselor in our lives.

 

That’s where subliminal and self-help program can assist us.

Here’s an example.

Subliminal programs dealing with Self-Esteem – which are extremely popular (and alarmingly necessary in today’s competitive society) – are very good at helping us get back to basics, re-identifying ourselves as WHO rather than WHAT. When we know and are confident of WHO we are, we have high self-esteem.

Of course, ClydeSight Productions has a Brain Wave Stimulating Digital Subliminal Perception Program designed for self-esteem. The topic is common among subliminal message programs. It’s very important because of what the subliminal messages (if properly composed) say to help the user re-align his/her thinking and self-perception.

  • I am a confident person.
  • I am an honest person.
  • I am a capable person.
  • I am a loving person
  • I am a kind person
  • I am a worthy person
  • I am a valuable person

Notice that ALL these messages focus on a PERSONAL QUALITY. This defines us as WHO we are rather than WHAT we DO.

Many quality subliminal message programs (those by ClydeSight Productions included) provide this necessary WHO instead of WHAT perception. This makes them valuable and a tremendous bargain for the price. No matter what the topic (i.e. diet, smoking, anger management, confidence, self-esteem) when these programs have properly written subliminal messages, they go a long way to bringing us to our inner truth, our CORE selves.

When we need to re-align our CORE selves (i.e. managing anger or a habit) they help us by focusing on who we are, not fixing the problem. They help us think of who we are as if the problem was never there in the first place. As a result, we change who we are, which changes what we do.

When we live in the world from our CORE selves, we live as human beings, not human doings.

And that’s a GREAT way to live!

(ClydeSight Productions’ Digital Subliminal Perception Programs (DSPP) use VISUAL subliminal perception to help people help themselves on a variety of topics, from becoming Smoke Free to living in Healthy Weight and even becoming Lucky Winners because they focus on the inner qualities that define the users from the perspective of WHO they are.)