here's an interview excerpt between
Mike Littman and Bob Proctor
which i find a very helpful visual:

Mike: We're talking here about altering habits and I think
we're talking about the bedrock of so much of being born
rich and getting it out there. Let's stay here for a
second I want to stop at the subconscious mind because it's
such a critical factor in everything that's going on here.
Can you talk a little bit about the laws of our
subconscious mind like how it works, and why it's really so
critical in habits and everything else?

Bob: Mike, if a person would build an image first of all in
their minds because we think in pictures. If I asked you
to think of your car you get an image of your car. If I
asked you to think of a microphone you're probably sitting
in front of one so you have an image of a microphone. If I
asked you to think of a clothes closet you get a picture.
If I asked you to think of your mind you don't get any
picture. So just build an image for a moment that your
head is your mind.

Now your mind is in every cell of your body but we have to
have an image to operate with. Everything from the neck
down is the body. Now the body does whatever the mind
tells it. If you could visualize an imaginary line right
across the center of your head, a horizontal line and the
top half represents the conscious mind and the bottom half
represents the subconscious mind.

The subconscious mind will accept anything you give to it.
It is not able to differentiate between what you imagine
and what is real, it'll accept anything. It is totally
subjective. The conscious mind can accept or reject. We
can originate ideas. We can build any picture we want in
our conscious mind. If we would begin building beautiful
pictures in our conscious mind and then learn how to plant
them in our subconscious mind instantly and automatically
our lives will begin to change.