The Art of Creating Yourself as a Higher Level of Consciousness

Posted On January 22, 2019 / Written by Dr. Linda Gadbois

The most notable difference between humans and animals lies in our ability to create ourselves in an intentional and deliberate manner. We all suffer from a common dilemma due to the fact that we’re multidimensional beings and manifest into the world through an animal-like body, and as a result, have what we call both a higher and lower nature. We’re all born as children into our lower nature where only our subconscious is active and dominant, and is what forms our personality through how we’re conditioned by others in our formative years. All of our formative conditioning, which is what forms all of our core-beliefs that later spawn a whole series of correlated beliefs as our belief-system and mental paradigm, is accomplished while we’re in a primary form of hypnosis.

We don’t develop our conscious, self-aware mind until we enter adolescence, where our primary nature is already established and we tend to continue the process of being shaped and determined by others and our social environment. The self-conscious aspect of our mind begins developing around seven or eight, and becomes fully developed as young adults. By the time we enter our mid to late twenties our self-conscious mind is fully developed and we’re capable of assuming the responsibility for creating ourselves, yet often don’t know how because we’ve never been taught. Very few of us are ever taught how to use our mind and imagination in order to choose how we want to be, and then act to willfully create ourselves in a deliberate and controlled manner.  

We don’t need to undergo years of psychotherapy and numerous healing modalities as a means of finding ourselves or dissolving the psychological wounds that prevent us from living a fully conscious and self-aware life. We can’t begin accessing our true nature as our higher self while we’re submerged in and still identifying with the conditioned consciousness of our upbringing, which was formed out of an unconscious and unaware state. As long as we’re living the stories of our youth by replaying selected memories over and over, continuing to identify with them, we remain locked in a prison of our own making. We possess the key to our own freedom, but usually don’t realize it, or don’t know how to use it when we do realize it.

Forming an Image of Yourself

Throughout our life from around 12 to 14 years on, we begin forming our higher faculties which involves creating our identity. Our identity, or what’s referred to as the “I” or “I am” of the higher Soul is the most natural way we self-create in an automatic fashion. As humans we form a personal identity that separates us from others while still fitting into the group mind. It’s by way of our ability to choose and actively create our own style and identity that we begin forging ourselves through the experiences we create of ourselves. As we associate ourselves with others, we act on ourselves to create ourselves to be like them in some way. As we both like and therefore relate to someone, or dislike and fail to relate to them, we shape an image of ourselves in relationship with them.

Whatever traits and emotional states the people we maintain relationships with have and are actively and openly expressing, serves to develop those same emotions and traits in us. All true creation as the act of producing a new element through a unique combination of qualities comes naturally as part of our development through our relationships. By combining two qualities that are of a similar yet unique nature, we systematically produce a third as a new way of being and functioning. As we enter into relationship with different types of people they serve to stimulate us in new ways that bring out different qualities and ways of being in us and we develop those qualities by way of whatever dynamic we play out through the nature of the relationship itself. In this way, qualities and dynamics are always intimately related. As we embody a way of being we naturally assume acting out the same type of dynamic we used initially in actively expressing it.

Unconsciously Creating Ourselves

Most people go through their entire life creating themselves through their relationships and who and what they associate with or live in near proximity of, without ever realizing it. This is what an unconscious state is, you don’t have an actual awareness or realization of what you’re doing to yourself or why, because you do it automatically without having to think about it. Thinking as its being used here, is when we step back for a moment, detach from the idea and emotions involved briefly, and view it from a purely non-personal perspective where we move out of our story about things and are able to intuitively perceive the laws that are operating instead. We form a momentary evaluation of ourselves in terms of how we’re sensing ourselves as that type of person, and we decide whether or not we’ll use it as the means of continuing to develop ourselves in that way.

From an unconscious perspective we view everything from within our personal awareness acquired through our formative conditioning where we began forming a story about ourselves and life in general as a kind of theme. This story, formed as a way of trying to make sense out of what was happening to us while not possessing the ability to view it in a detached and logical manner, formed the basis for our life theme that we then continue to live out of as adults. The unconscious mind is instinctual and emotionally driven, which means it’s the state we were in during emotionally intense experiences that formed the meaning they had for us that we then began identifying with through the story we told ourselves about it. Because our identity is formed out of the meaningful story we’re always telling ourselves internally through our thoughts, feelings, and emotions, we can have trouble changing because we find it too difficult to give up our story about ourselves. It’s through our identity that we know how to be in different situations. To give up our story is to not know who we ar.

In order to create something new and different you have to let go of the old and step into unknown ideas about yourself where you create yourself as a different type of person. The motivating force of the subconscious mind is self-preservation and maintaining the status quo. It creates by repeating whatever patterns as habitual tendencies it’s been programmed with. It does this by way of maintaining consistent emotional states, which tend to run our thoughts and imagination, making it very powerful and somewhat hard to manage. Our subconscious produces all of our natural perceptions and behaviors, and is the essential means for all forms of personal transformation as self-facilitated growth and development.

What this tells us is that in order to truly change as a means of actively creating ourselves, we have to not only work with the subconscious, but we also have to speak to it in its own language. One of the problems people have is they don’t realize that not only do the two aspects of their material mind speak and communicate in different ways, but also play different roles and functions in creating the same thing. We only change and grow ourselves while in a particular body and personality by learning how to use our self-conscious mind to direct and influence our subconscious, which is what it’s actually designed to do. The means by which we do this is by realizing the natural laws that govern the mind and learning how to work intelligently with them in a cooperative and intentional manner.

Self-Creation and the Art of Transmutation

While many approach this idea by imagining that they need a clean slate, this is never the answer. All intentional self-creation, which is only possible as a mature adult with a fully developed self-conscious (grey matter of the brain) mind, comes as transformation of an existing quality and character trait to another that’s of a complementary nature. Habits are never broke or simply stopped, but are instead replaced by better, more beneficial habits. The largest part of our being is conducted below the level of awareness and comes as a natural way of being in the world that we’re doing all the time, even when we’re not aware of it or making it a point to do it. You know when you’ve actually changed when it becomes a natural part of your subconscious mind and you no longer have to produce it in a thoughtful and deliberate way. It simply becomes a natural part of your awareness and perception of the outer world, and forms natural and automatic behaviors as a result.

All transformation comes through the act of altering the state of something. We move something from an existing state and set of conditions to another, more desirable state. The basic principle for doing this is through a practical understanding of polarity. All things not only exist in polarity to everything else, but also in a polar state of complementary opposites that are an inherent part of the same pattern. We have to remove our attention from the outer appearance of things and direct it instead to the inner nature that’s acting to give it life and animate it with a certain type of character. We have to move from thinking in materialistic terms and perceive energetically (spiritually) instead. The outer appearance of a being is somewhat irrelevant outside of the fact that it’s produced in relationship with the spiritual being inhabiting and using it to express through. All personal transformation only comes by way of intentionally developing your character, which is what produces all of your perceptions, attitude and style of thinking, emotions, and correlating behaviors and activities.

Self-Reflection and Realizing Your True Potential

In order to consciously begin this dynamic process of self-creation, we have to start by first becoming aware of what exists within us as latent potential. We all come into this world as a Soul that has a specific design. Our design is formed out of a dynamic matrix of qualities and characteristics, which are formed by the personalization of archetypal energies we share with all of mankind (zodiac), that are either active or dormant, and are developed to certain degrees and potencies through our formative conditioning as children. Through our childhood conditioning only some aspects and qualities are stimulated and brought out in us, and then developed into strengths through the dynamics being played out by our family and prominent relationships, and others remain latent and untapped. So wherever you are and whoever you’ve become at this point in your life is due to a certain formula of active and latent potential.

Whatever exists in you as underutilized potential exists as a form of raw, untried qualities that were developed to different degrees in previous lives, and are available for expression and continued development in this life. Whatever hasn’t been brought out and developed in us through life events and circumstances can be actively chosen, and brought out through active use of your will, or you can consciously place yourself in relationships of various sorts that will act to naturally stimulate them and provide the dynamics through which you can develop them. In the same manner, qualities that we’ve been trained to express in negative and unproductive or destructive ways, can be transformed through self-awareness and consciously choosing to replace them with their opposing complementary aspect.

Creating an Ideal

Like all acts of conscious creation you have to begin by creating a vision or symbolic idea of what it is you’re going to create. Your vision for creating as a form of self-expression has to be undertaken through a form of inspiration. All transformation comes as growth of some kind, and the idea you create has to require you to grow into it. We only grow through effort and striving, so it needs to be something you aspire towards that creates a kind of labor of love. All possibility for growth only comes by making latent potential and energies active and outwardly expressive. We can only grow what’s already within us as an inactive part of our nature.

We don’t ever grow and transform ourselves by acquiring something that we don’t already possess. The only thing that can be awakened in us is what’s already there in a dormant and inactive state. So in creating an ideal of yourself as your best possibility, never look outside or for someone else to tell you how you should be. This is purely an inside job and everything you need to undertake a transformational journey to your higher self is within you simply waiting to be discovered and brought to life through realization, actively choosing it, and willfully embodying it as the means for expressing yourself in a different way. This is something that only you do to yourself. As an adult with a fully developed self-conscious mind, nobody else is ever doing anything to you without your consent and willing participation.

Your ideal can be thought of as a higher, more authentic and true version of yourself. It comes through the decision to develop yourself to be the best you can be. It’s the art of bringing your full potential into an active and expressive state. It’s creating a model as a kind of blueprint or diagram for transforming all qualities that have been developed in a negative and self-destructive manner. It becomes the model of yourself that you use as the means of self-reflecting and realizing all the qualities and traits in you that need to be transformed in order to achieve your highest possibility for self-creating as your normal way of being.

An ideal provides you with the means for recognizing parts of yourself you don’t like to acknowledge or own so that you can finally act on yourself to change them in whatever way you want to. Your ideal self shouldn’t pertain to purely physical goals in terms of enhancing your body or acquiring worldly success, but rather to your inner essence and the qualities you naturally possess that are causal in nature, and act to systematically produce the equivalent outer manifestation as your perception and interpretation of reality. Our inner nature (Soul) always produces the outer nature as a by-product or equivalent analogy.

What we refer to as qualities are metaphorical and therefore universal in nature, and when embodied and used to express yourself, produce a certain way of being that naturally causes you to live a certain way by telling a certain type of story. Our current personality and identity are produced automatically through the combination and formula of active energies as qualities that work to produce our natural characteristics. By changing the formula being used to actively self-express, we change our inner nature and how we naturally are in the world, and we begin sensing ourselves in new and different ways. So the first step required to consciously create yourself is to develop an idea about yourself that brings a heightened sense of awareness to all of your inner qualities, gifts, talents, special abilities, interests, likes and dislikes, traits, values, and attitude and beliefs, in order to form an objective and unbiased image of yourself as you currently exist. Then form an image of how you’d like to be instead as the full expression of all your special talents and abilities.

Our ideal should be something only we create and should serve to invoke a deep feeling of reverence in us as the means of achieving it. It should be comprised of qualities and ways of being that we respect, admire, adore, honor, and ultimately fall in love with. It should inspire us with feelings of beauty, love, and devotion in its creation. All Artists always create out of a love for their subject and the joy of creating as an experience. If we create it in a way that makes us feel hard-pressed to become it through a form of drudgery, where we struggle and suffer in some way, then we not only won’t accomplish it, but will come to resent and ultimately resist it. It’s the attitude we employ that determines our approach and method. Whatever feeling we embody as the means of creating determines the actual outcome that’s produced.

The outcomes of all goals are determined by the feeling and experience we create in pursuing it. If your ideal doesn’t inspire you with a kind of unconditional love for its creation, then you either need to keep working with it or start over with a different attitude. You don’t want to make it unrealistic, but rather even more realistic because it’s something that lives inside of you as a possibility for your life. You should focus on qualities and character traits that you want or would need as a way of becoming it. It’s not the physical body as an image that you’re going for, but rather the type of person you become as a way of being.

Once you have your ideal formulated in a specific way, you can use it as a rule or general guide for making decisions and creating in all areas of your life. It becomes the vision and focal point for your life that provides you with the means for directing all of your activities and making moment by moment decisions by asking yourself who am I, and how am I going to be right now in relationship with this? It provides you with the outline for producing a whole series of smaller goals as the process necessary for achieving it in a step-by-step manner. You don’t want to try and make too many changes at once because it can become overwhelming and may only act instead to scatter your energies and prevent you from concentrating. Most life changes come as a sequence of activities where one lays the foundation necessary for the next one to systematically emerge and take place. One of the most common ways we sabotage ourselves is by bringing to many things into the picture all at once that serves to create an experience of struggling, loss, and suffering as a result.

You want to pick one quality, habit or tendency, or one area of your life that you want to transform, concentrate all of your attention and effort into creating that, and don’t move onto the next until it’s been thoroughly accomplished as a natural part of you. You know when you’ve succeeded in apprehending or transforming a quality when it becomes a natural part of your perception and natural way of being without having to think about it or put effort into it. This usually takes around 40 days or 6 weeks to accomplish by building it into the muscle as a spontaneous part of your nature and identity. Once it becomes natural and automatic it lays the foundation necessary for you to move on to the next goal.

The secret to creation and transformation lies in self-awareness, making clear decisions from a fully conscious state, and concentrating your mind without distractions or going unconscious and losing track of what you’re doing. It comes by forming a devoted practice where you concentrate on a single idea for the period of time it takes to turn it into a habit as a natural way of being in the world. If you lose your focus and forget what you’re doing for several days because you get distracted and caught up in stuff, reverting back to a fundamentally unconscious state, simply realize and become aware of it, and redirect your attention back onto your goal and continue practicing. The more you do this the easier it gets and the longer you can remain fully conscious in your life. All life skills only come by way of consistent and devoted practice as a love for the work itself.

Dr. Linda Gadbois 

Coach and Mentor for Personal Transformation