Information is flowing to us at a great rate. The radio, television, the internet, advertising, newspapers and magazines are giving us information all day. We also receive information from the people we associate with in our daily lives. This article discusses some of the ways that our minds, both conscious and subconscious, process and use that information.

Our conscious mind is active whenever we are awake. Within the conscious mind are the abilities to think and reason. However, just because we have the ability to think and reason, does not mean that we always actually do that. For much of the time our conscious mind is in a passive state, just accepting all the input that is coming in, and not evaluating that information at all.

What happens in our conscious mind is interesting to us sometimes, but makes no difference to what happens in our lives. It is only when the conscious mind takes some information, and passes it to our subconscious (sometimes called nonconscious or unconscious) mind, that it has an effect on our lives and the results we get from our lives.

However, the subconscious mind has no ability to think or reason. It simply takes whatever information is fed to it, and acts on it. It makes no difference to your sub-conscious mind if the information is helpful to you in getting better life results or if it will do the opposite. But it makes all the difference to you.

Unfortunately many of us do not understand how and when this information is passed to our subconscious mind, and are also not aware of how the subconscious mind uses the information to produce the results we get in our lives.

For the purpose of this short article, if you can accept that some of the information coming to you has an effect on the results you get in your life, then the important question is 'How can I control this process so that more of the results I get are positive?'

Fortunately there is a simple answer. If you exert more control over the information that you receive, then you start to exert more control over the information that arrives into your sub-conscious mind. In turn this gives you more control over the results you get.

So how do you do that? Simply put yourself in a position where you expose yourself to less neutral and negative information, and more positive information. How do you do that? Evaluate the information that is flowing to you, and reduce your exposure to information that is not likely to contribute positively to your results.

When you start to look at your sources of information you may find that some of the people in your life are not a positive inspiration to you. Should you dissociate yourself from them? Not necessarily, but spend less time with them and do it less often. The same applies to television programs that are not uplifting or thought provoking, and to newspapers and magazines.

Similarly identify people who you aspire to be like in some way, and find out how to spend time with them. Identify reading material that will give you insights into life or help you grow as a person. Biographies of successful people might be a good example. Listen to self development CD's when you are travelling.

What you expose yourself to, and focus on, expands. Become a censor of information that you allow yourself to be exposed to which is not helpful in achieving the life results you want, and a promoter of information which will help.

Tony McGlinn runs personal development programs, writes and is a personal coach and consultant. You can visit him at http://www.mypowerfulmind.com/page/page/1653324.htm for more information about achieving the results that you want in life, in every area of your life. Be sure to sign up for the regular newsletter.