Think of how many conversations you hear just out of earshot that for all practical purposes are subliminal.
Are you influenced willy nilly by those?
We react to stimuli in our environment. Simply because something is on the periphery of conscious awareness or beyond does not mean it is the most catalystic element in our environment.
Frankly, the repetition of images while in highly aroused states will probably do more to influence you. Think of advertising.
If you want to influence yourself, find that to which you are most reactive and utilize it, if you want to go that path.
A woman who went to see Milton Erickson had some kind of bowel disorder and could not handle it without medicine. This woman had to go on a trip and could not use the medicine or the toilet as she was used to and challenged Erickson to "fix" her in a very short period of time.
He discovered that she and her sister were always very competitive and that she resented her sister very much. So he told the woman to repeat as much as she could, "My sister says I have to take my medicine and I cannot get better without my medicine." Because she had a strong, unconscious, and polar reaction to her sister's demands, this affirmation caused her condition to reverse itself without the necessity of taking her medicine or visiting the toilet as often as she had to. She went on her trip and had no incidents.
Notice what affects you and use it if you want to have an unconscious, knee-jerk conditioning effect upon yourself.
[This message has been edited by babayada (edited August 11, 2004).]