Do you know that your conscious personality is kind, but your unconscious might have an angrier, aggressive bent?
Timothy D. Wilson, professor of psychology at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, tells us of the importance of the unconscious, "mental processes that are inaccessible to consciousness but that influence judgment, feelings or behavior."
There is a growing consensus that the unconscious is a pretty smart cookie, with cognitive capacities that rival and sometimes surpass that of conscious thought. The adaptive unconscious also sizes up people's motives, character and intent--judgments crucial to reach quickly. It even seems to have its own personality. Although conscious personality influences deliberative responses, the adaptive unconscious guides responses made unthinkingly.
This sophisticated system operates efficiently under the radar of consciousness to create our rapid default behavior. It can be good for us to become aware of the hidden assumptions and beliefs that drive such behavior---so we can consciously make choices on how we wish to act in certain situations. Because unconscious beliefs can be based in fear, there is a good chance that our unconscious default behavior does not give us a sense of fulfillment and satisfaction.
Our life is going to be shaped by something and we have the ability to decide what when we become more self-aware.
More at: http://coachingtip.blogs.com/coaching_tip/2008/09/self-awareness.html