What if there were a tool that you could use to solve problems, come up with unexpected solutions and drive creativity? What if I told you it will cost you nothing and requires very little effort to use? The subconscious mind is an incredibly powerful tool but few take advantage of it. Your subconscious works throughout the day when you are both awake and asleep but takes over entirely when you sleep. Free from the interference of daily life and external stimuli, at night your subconscious mind has nearly all the resources of your brain at its disposal. With the subconscious mind dominating such a large portion of your life, you need to put it to work. Thomas Edison once stated, "Never go to sleep without a request to your subconscious." Here's how to make that request:

1. Get a journal, or prep a notes app on your phone. Hand writing in a physical paper journal can have a more substantial memory recall effect versus a digital diary.
2. Before going to sleep, take a few minutes to think about and write down the things that you want to accomplish.
3. Ask yourself questions about your goals and how to achieve them. What's stopping you from moving forward?
4. Develop a few very specific questions and write them down.
5. Lock these in by repeating and rereading them and consciously making the request to solve them to your subconscious.

While sleeping, your subconscious mind will get to work, approaching the problems from a variety of angles and making connections that may hold the answers to your problems. Upon waking:

1. Grab your journal or notes app, and "thought dump" from your subconscious mind. Write your thoughts and feelings freely. Don't hold anything back, no matter how crazy or irrelevant it may seem.
2. Write down your dreams, they may hold the answers you were looking for.
3. Page back to the questions you wrote down the night before and write down your answers.

A few hours after you write everything down, look back at your notes again and try to derive some meaning out of them. You may find clarity and insights that may have been more difficult to discover while awake. Thanks to your subconscious mind, you'll have some new angles from which you can pursue the solutions you've been seeking. When you are faced with a dilemma, know that you already have the solution within you. All that you need to do is draw it from your subconscious mind. Once you learn how to unlock the power of your subconscious mind, you'll have a powerful tool ready to go to work while you rest and recover. Using the thought-dumping method, you can improve your ability to solve problems and better utilize the time that you spend peacefully sleeping.

There are many tools available to help facilitate the above. A simple wellness journal may help you keep up with this excellent habit a bit more effortlessly. Be sure to place it somewhere prominent (such as on your pillow) so that you can't ignore it before bed time!