Autosuggestion

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A mental strategy that allows an individual to consciously influence their own thinking patterns and behavior through repetitive self-directed affirmations or statements
2. A psychological method for influencing one's own thoughts and actions through persistent verbal affirmations or mental suggestions
3. The practice of guiding one's own mental processes by deliberately repeating affirming ideas or phrases to affect attitudes and actions

Etymology: "Autosuggestion" is built from "auto-" and "suggestion," and the interesting part lies in the first element. "Auto-" comes from the Greek "autos," meaning "self," and English has used it in several senses, from "self-acting" machines to "self-directed" processes. Here it means that the suggestion originates in the person's own mind rather than in another person, so the word describes a method of persuading oneself with repeated positive statements or images. "Suggestion" itself comes from Latin "suggestio," a noun from "suggerere," meaning "to bring under, supply, or prompt," which in turn combines "sub-" ("under") and "gerere" ("to carry"). The original sense was of carrying something into someone's mind, and the self-directed version simply turns that carrying inward. Joining the two parts produces a word that describes a mind being nudged by its own voice.

Synonyms: self-suggestion