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    Home » Manifestation

    How We Create What We Expect (Even When We Don’t Mean To)

    Published: Sep 19, 2019 · Updated: Apr 6, 2025 by Jessica Dimas · 5 Comments · Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. If you click through and make a purchase, I’ll earn a commission, at no additional cost to you.

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    The subconscious mind is incredible. It can heal and alter your life in a way that would shock not only you but everyone around you. It's truly where the power of the law of attraction lies.

    In this article, I'm going to discuss the immense power of the subconscious mind and the beliefs that you have programmed there. Once you have an understanding of the role your subconscious mind plays, you can begin to change your beliefs and reprogram your life experience.

    How your subconscious mind affects your reality

    Table of Contents

    Toggle
    • What is the subconscious mind?
    • How does the subconscious mind work?
    • How beliefs work with your subconscious mind
    • A belief is just a thought you've thought multiple times
    • What you perceive, you believe
    • What you believe, you expect
    • What you expect, you receive
    • How to set new beliefs
    • Two more reprogramming techniques

    What is the subconscious mind?

    We have two minds. The first one is your conscious mind where your ego lives. This is the mind you are most familiar with because you are aware of it on a daily basis. It's where your thinking goes on, where your ego and its limited knowledge have a loud voice, and where you choose which thoughts you will program your subconscious mind with.

    As one of my favorite authors, Neville Goddard, explains, your subconscious mind is the seat of your consciousness. This part of the mind is generally unexplored and underutilized, but it is the attracting force behind every experience in life.

    Your beliefs and chronic thoughts live here, and once a belief makes its way to your subconscious mind, it becomes your reality.

    How does the subconscious mind work?

    I liken the subconscious mind to being our connection to our higher selves. Your conscious mind is for deciding what you want to experience and once a thought turns into a belief, it is then downloaded and executed by the subconscious mind.

    Your subconscious mind is infinite intelligence. It can figure out any problem, heal any disease, and attract any circumstance. It can do what your conscious mind could never do on its own.

    Your conscious mind gestates a thought, which is impregnated in your subconscious mind. The subconscious mind then gives birth to the thought and turns it into matter.

    How beliefs work with your subconscious mind

    Your subconscious mind executes your beliefs. Whatever beliefs you strongly hold or subjects you think about often are sent down to the subconscious mind to be manifested.

    Your reality and experiences reflect your beliefs. When you deeply don't believe something, you won't see anything in your reality that would prove otherwise. When you do fully believe something, you can find proof of it everywhere.

    Beliefs are extremely powerful and truly determine the quality of our lives. This is where the fun comes in once you realize this phenomenon.

    You can choose new and improved beliefs that will alter your life in a significant way.

    If you have a belief that unsettles you, you can change it. If you have a belief that's holding you back in life, you can begin to think new thoughts purposely until you believe them. Your reality will then begin reflecting your new beliefs.

    A belief is just a thought you've thought multiple times

    A belief is nothing more than a thought you've had so many times that it became "real" to you. That's why affirmations can be so powerful because if you think about them enough times, they begin to become real beliefs to you.

    Think of something that comes easily to you. Some people easily find long-lasting relationships, others easily climb the career ladder, and others easily eat whatever they want and don't gain weight.

    All of these people have a belief that it's possible for them, and therefore, it is. They've thought this thought so many times that it became a belief and was sent down to their subconscious mind to be manifested. "A belief is only a thought you continue to think; and when your beliefs match your desires, then your desires must become your reality." - Abraham Hicks

    What you perceive, you believe

    After you've thought a thought so many times, you begin witnessing proof of it. Your perceptions of the world are uniquely your own–it's not reality to anyone but you.

    Everyone has their own unique pair of glasses through which they see the world. And for that reason, the world is a very different place for each one of us.

    Most people believe what their current reality tells them. You see no money in the bank, so you believe you are lacking in abundance. But this is backward, as the money not being in the bank is only a result of a previous belief or thought pattern. It is actually the past, not the current.

    Some of us make a lot of money, and some of us can never make enough. Some of us always get stopped at red lights, and some of us coast down the roads with ease. Some of us always come across rude people, and some of us always have doors held for us.

    It all really boils down to how we perceive the world around us. The world will always morph to meet the perceptions of our subconscious minds, further cementing our beliefs.

    What you believe, you expect

    When we believe something to be true, we expect it. We may expect people to deceive us, or we may expect to lose money whenever we finally have some extra cash to spend. Many people expect to get a certain disease simply because it runs in their family.

    Expecting something with almost complete and unquestioned faith is one of the fastest ways to bring that particular experience into your life, good or bad!

    What are you expecting to happen with unquestioned faith, good or bad?

    What you expect, you receive

    Have you ever heard stories like the super healthy person who ate all organic and exercised daily but got some type of serious illness? Despite this person's best efforts to remain healthy, they had such a deep fear about getting sick (which translated into an intense focus, a unique perception, a true belief to them) that they actually manifested it.

    We focus on what we believe, and what we focus on will always expand in our realities. What's so awesome about this is that we have the choice at any time to change our beliefs...to focus on new truths.

    What are some beliefs you have that are holding you back? Any that are negative and not beneficial to your well-being? Is there anything in your life that you're having a hard time obtaining? Something that you've never had but feel is out of your "league"?

    How to set new beliefs

    Think about something you're experiencing in your life right now that you want to change. It could be your health, your relationship with someone, or your financial situation.

    I like to take a piece of paper or the worksheet for self-limiting beliefs from the Law of Attraction bundle and write out every negative thought that comes up about a certain subject until I've exhausted my inner critic. This is how I identify my beliefs that I might not always be aware of consciously.

    If health is your concern, write down every belief that comes to mind when you think about it. Some examples could be: "I can't recover from this," "I've always had bad health," "I have a poor immune system," and "This is chronic/fatal."

    Then, write the opposite of every negative belief on the other side of the paper. New, positive, supportive beliefs. Example responses to the above statements could be something like "My body is ever-changing energy; I can recover from anything," "I've only believed I had bad health, but things are changing for me now," "My beliefs strengthen my immune system," and "My body intuitively knows how to balance itself back out."

    I look at these daily, usually just once or twice, until I begin to believe them. You may feel like they sound too silly to ever believe at first, but just keep looking at them and see what happens.

    Two more reprogramming techniques

    Another way to train your subconscious to believe what you want is to quiet your mind before falling asleep. Visualize whatever reality or belief you want your mind to adopt.

    If you want to believe that money is easy to make, imagine a reality in which that is a truth for you. See yourself living more abundantly and feeling abundant. Hear yourself thinking how easy it is to make money.

    This is so powerful because right before sleep (and right when you wake up, as well), when you're in a drowsy state, your brain moves into theta brainwaves, making it very easy to reach the subconscious mind.

    I also taped index cards all over my house that had affirmations like "I am abundant," or whatever it was I wanted to manifest. I'm telling you from experience, even if it feels silly at first and doesn't feel real to you, that's fine–it's just your human ego trying to focus on your current reality. Pay it NO MIND. Keep saying these new beliefs to yourself all throughout the day because they WILL sink into your subconscious mind when the idea is heard and felt enough times.

    And once these new beliefs are in your subconscious mind, it's game on! Once your subconscious mind accepts a new belief, through powers not fully understood in this human lifetime, your reality will begin to shift to match these new beliefs that you hold.

    EXPLORE FURTHER

    Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed this article and found something to take away with you. 

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    With love,

    Jessica

    • Author
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    Jessica Dimas
    Jessica Dimas
    Jessica is the founder of Dwell in Magic, where she shares grounded guidance to help women come into deeper alignment, ease, and everyday pleasure as a path to receiving more. Her work centers on practical self-care, emotional well-being, and slow, soulful living as the most natural way to magnetize abundance and create lasting transformation. Through her blog and Patreon community, she offers tangible tools, rituals, and reflections that support real-life integration—without force or hustle. Her writing has been featured on Today, HuffPost, Scary Mommy, Redbook Magazine, Motherly, and more.
    Jessica Dimas
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    About Jessica Dimas

    Jessica is the founder of Dwell in Magic, where she shares grounded guidance to help women come into deeper alignment, ease, and everyday pleasure as a path to receiving more. Her work centers on practical self-care, emotional well-being, and slow, soulful living as the most natural way to magnetize abundance and create lasting transformation. Through her blog and Patreon community, she offers tangible tools, rituals, and reflections that support real-life integration—without force or hustle. Her writing has been featured on Today, HuffPost, Scary Mommy, Redbook Magazine, Motherly, and more.

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Lori

      November 27, 2016 at 2:28 pm

      I just love this article. Funny, a few days before the super moon I did just this. I made two columns; old beliefs, new beliefs. Wrote my heart out and then the night of the super moon I burnt the old beliefs...goodbye to the things that no longer serve me. Felt great!!! 🙂 Thank you for your awesome site...so helpful, I just love it. 😀

      Reply
      • Jessica Dimas

        December 23, 2016 at 8:30 am

        Thank you Lori! It's crazy how powerful that act is of writing down old beliefs and new beliefs. I love rituals like that, so freeing! I love the way we can literally morph our reality by choosing to believe something different 🙂

        Reply
        • Maria Merchant

          November 16, 2021 at 2:11 pm

          I loved the article. You explained so nicely. I am very grateful to you and request you to continue sharing.

          Love and best wishes,
          Maria Merchant

          Reply
    2. Petersen

      April 09, 2019 at 1:47 pm

      I love the article. I think I have so many beliefs that have made me lag behind for years. Right now I'm heading to my study room, write them down and set the whole rough paper ablaze. I hope to clear my mind and start a new life. Thanks so much for this great inspiration.

      Reply

    Trackbacks

    1. 9 resoluciones para una vida feliz | Lymari Vélez Sepúlveda says:
      January 15, 2016 at 11:41 am

      […] Pensar en positivo. Tengo que alejar de mi vida los pensamientos negativos y eso es algo difícil para mí. Siempre pienso en lo mejor, pero también en lo peor que puede pasar. Una sicóloga me explicó que nuestro cuerpo no “distingue” los pensamientos como solo eso y hasta nuestro cuerpo comienza a reaccionar a esas imágenes como si fueran reales y presentes. Piénsalo. Si rememoras un momento triste de tu vida llorarás y te frustrarás porque, literalmente lo estás reviviendo y tu cuerpo y mente reaccionan a ello. Claro, no hablo de bloquear toda tu vida y todos tus pensamientos. A veces estos son necesarios y hasta te protegen de un posible peligro, pero es importante verle mejor el lado positivo a la vida para atraer cosas buenas. […]

      Reply

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    JESSICA DIMAS

    Hi, I’m Jessica—writer, guide, and creator of Dwell in Magic. This is a space devoted to helping you gently integrate self-care, spirituality, and aligned living into your everyday rhythms. Here you’ll find practical tools and support for coming home to yourself, cultivating ease, and allowing life to unfold with more presence and trust.

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    • How Self-Care Sets the Frequency for Everything You Manifest This Year
    • Magnetism vs Hustle: What True Manifestation Feels Like
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    • Being Selfish Is Good: How Prioritizing Yourself Leads to Alignment
    • Attract More by Loving Yourself: The Self-Love & Abundance Connection

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