How do I become a Professional from Amateur in any field?

You become a professional the moment you call yourself one.

It doesn't even have to be the main way you earn a living.

Do you know the difference between a professional actor and an amateur actor. Nothing but title. A professional actors acts but does other jobs to support them - until they can afford to do acting full-time. An "am dram" does other jobs to support themselves and acts for fun. They might have the same "other job" and do the same amount of acting, but one seems themselves as a professional and the other doesn't.

That is also true in photography as well. Many professional photographers do other things as well to support their photography until it can support itself.

So if you want to become a professional, get some business cards made and start calling yourself a photographer or video editor. If you want to do both, pick a more generic name like "Visual Creator".

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How can I know what's in my subconcious?

Um ... did you not see the clue in the name?

The subconscious is precisely the subconscious because the conscious mind is not big enough to do the job of being conscious of it.

When was the last time you consciously worried what your spleen was doing? Do you even know what your spleen is doing? You subconscious mind does and is in control of it.

When was the last time you consciously thought about making your heart beat?

When was the last time you consciously thought about taking a breath? Well you can do that. So let's do it. Take a big breath, fill your lungs completely. Now completely empty them. Now do it again. And again. Guess what? Now you're back reading this article, you haven't stopped breathing even though you may have stopped being conscious of it.

Are you starting to get a feel for how big the subconscious mind is and how tiny the conscious mind is?

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How can I take advantage of my subconscious mind?

By reining in the Conscious Mind.

The problem with the Conscious Mind is that it has an ego - and a big one at that.

So it likes to think that it is the big deal in the mind department.

So it blasts off in every direction like a mad kid on speed and takes ages to get things done because it's so distractable.

1. Stop calling it the Sub Conscious Mind. I prefer the Non Conscious Mind. The Sub Conscious Mind implies that it's inferior to the Conscious Mind.

2. Delegate. Say "OK Non Conscious Mind, I need the best solution to problem X by Tuesday" and leave it to it. Don't think about it because the Conscious Mind will interfere with the Non Conscious Mind and slow it down. Give it something else to think about.

3. Relax. This is the hardest part. The Conscious Mind really hates the idea of delegating because it implies that it can't do it. So it will niggle at the problem and give you no rest. The easiest was to relax is to give the Conscious Mind something shiny and irrelevant to play with like pictures of sports cars if you like that sort of thing.

The level of difficulty you will experience will depend on how hard the Conscious Mind fights you for attention.

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I'm a realist. Is that a bad thing?

I severely doubt you are otherwise you wouldn't be asking the question.

Most people use the word "realistic" incorrectly.

When people say "Aw Phil, you've got to be realistic" what they're actually saying is "Aw Phil, you've got to be pessimistic - and not just pessimistic but the absolutely worst and blackest pessimism you can possibly imagine"

So let me demonstrate the difference between optimism, pessimism and realism by taking the simple question: is the glass of water half-full or half-empty?

The pessimist says that the glass is half-empty.

The optimist says that the glass is half-full.

However, the realist will tell you, correctly, that the glass is completely full - what isn't filled with water is filled with a much more precious resource: air.

That's a realist: someone who sees the opportunities that the optimist see AND the the pitfalls that the pessimist sees AND a whole bunch of stuff that the other two are blind to.

The realist will ask "How could anyone have forgotten the air in the glass - especially as it's much more important to life than the water? You can live 24 hours without water but try doing that without air"

Examples:

Them: "But Phil, let's be realistic. I might fail"

Me: "Yes, you might. But is that the only option? And what are the chances of that compared to those other options? Shall we make a list of the possible outcomes and then see which is the most likely?"

Or

Them: "Answer the question: yes or no"

Me: "Those are not the only answers nor indeed are they even the correct answers. The correct answer is ...."

I cannot tell you how many times I've had those conversations.

However, if you were a realist, you would've know this before you asked the question so you're not a realist, you're a pessimist. And yes, being a pessimist is a really bad thing. Sort it out

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How do I make my affirmation stick / become reality and not just wishful thinking?

To make your subconscious work for you, you must believe it not just say it.

Your subconscious knows when you're faking it.

If you say something and then qualify it, you've just wasted your time.

"I'd love a new house but I know that there's nothing out there in the market I can afford"

"I want more money but let's be practical/realistic"

"I want to succeed but I'm so busy. I don't have any spare time"

Whenever your subconscious hears this kind of bullshine, it shakes its head and says

"Well which is it? Do you want it or don't you? I'm not acting until you make up your mind"

The first step of belief is to acknowledge the possibility: "Well, others out there are earning more than me so it must be possible"

The second step of belief is to consider the possibility: "What would it take for me to be able to move into my dream home?"

The final step of belief is to believe that you deserve it. 

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