It’s so easy to access music these days. You can download and stream music at any time of the day and almost anywhere. You can pay for services that curate a playlist to your liking. Most of us are out and about each day, and while on the move, we use headphones to listen to the music we like. My question today is: how conscious are you of the lyrics you are listening to?
The lyrics, the words of a song, have been carefully written, edited, and almost always convey a message. When music is added to the lyrics, it becomes a song that, if well done, has tremendous potential to move your awareness to specific areas of the mind.
Listening to a song about falling in love can take your awareness to a romantic area of the mind. Sad songs bring awareness to sad areas of the mind. Spiritual and religious music can elevate your awareness to higher areas of the mind. A cowboy song about a man who stole my girl, shot my dog, and drove away in my truck may take awareness to who knows where in the mind.
When we listen to a song again and again, we allow that song to repeatedly move our awareness to the same area of the mind. This process creates a mental groove in our mind. Mental grooves that lead awareness to higher states of mind are beneficial, but those that lead your awareness to less uplifting areas of the mind can have a negative impact on us.
See lesson 4.6, "The Mycelium of the Mind," in my book *The Power of Unwavering Focus* to learn more about this process.
Words infused with emotion, such as in a song, have tremendous power to move awareness within the mind. It’s the emotion that gives power to the words, and when coupled with music, it has the power to move an arena filled with people to the same area of the mind.
The subconscious mind can be programmed by repetition, even if that repetition is not consciously performed by us. When we listen to a song over and over again, we give it permission to form patterns in our mind—patterns that may not be so easy to adjust later on. These patterns influence how we think, speak, and act, even if we may not attribute our behavior or be aware that our behavior is stemming from those patterns.
Do you know who's talking in your ear when you stick your headphones in and listen to music? Are you conscious of the lyrics you're listening to? Are they uplifting? Are they positive? You wouldn’t allow someone to stand in front of you and say discouraging things to you. You wouldn't tolerate that. But often, people don't realize that listening to discouraging music is not unlike having someone in front of you say discouraging things—only now, they are in your ear.
Before you put your headphones in, ask yourself: Is the music I'm listening to uplifting and beneficial to me? You don't want those lyrics programming your subconscious in a way that doesn't benefit your life. For example, if you listen to music that degrades women, those lyrics will shape your subconscious mind and influence your perspective on women. Or if you listen to music where the lyrics suggest that life is always a struggle, then that’s how your subconscious will be programmed, and you'll always view life as one big struggle.
For decades now, I have always consciously chosen what music I listen to. Sometimes, I choose music that helps me move my awareness to a particular area of the mind. But I always make that choice. And if new music comes on (perhaps suggested by my music provider) that I’m open to, I carefully listen to it. The tune may be catchy, but if the words are not aligned with what I want to create in my mind, I’ll skip the track.
Choose very consciously what music you listen to. Listen to the words. Are they aligned and supportive of how you would like your subconscious to be shaped?
