A Scientifically-Proven Way To Change The Way You Think
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Have you ever found yourself stuck in a rut? Mentally, emotionally, and physically? As humans, we’re creatures of habit. Repetition is our bread and butter. In that realm, we find safety and security. But in order to enact real, transformative change in our lives, we need to rewire our brains. Breaking the habit or habits that hold us back from our true potential.
Dr. Joe Dispenza is highly educated in all things pertaining to “neuroscience, neuroplasticity, quantitative electroencephalogram (QEEG) measurements, epigenetics, mind-body medicine, and brain/heart coherence.” Essentially, he knows his stuff. In fact, he wrote a book entitled Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself: How to Lose Your Mind and Create a New One. Here’s a brief synopsis of the book from Dispenza’s website:
“Once you break the habit of being yourself and truly change your mind, your life will never be the same! You are not doomed by your genes and hardwired to be a certain way for the rest of your life. New science is emerging that empowers all human beings to create the reality they choose.”
Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself challenges you to retrain your mind. Do away with negative thinking that’s withholding you from achieving success. Cast aside what’s no longer serving you. I want to take a look at some of the principles discussed in Dispenza’s groundbreaking work.
Thoughts have the potential to rewire your brain
Clark Kegley does an excellent job of comprehensively breaking down “The Greatest Hits” or highlights from Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself. In his YouTube video, he delves into how we can alter our patterns of thinking. Firstly, he talks about “The Piano Study.”
Now, a group of people were divided into four categories. Each category was supposed to learn how to play the piano over a period of two weeks. Mind you, none of these folks have touched a piano before. The researchers scanned everyone’s brains before and after the study. Group one incessantly practiced piano scales for the aforementioned two weeks. The scans revealed that new neural connections were made. Their brains memorized new patterns.
Group two could play whatever they wanted. Scans showed that zero neural connections were forged since people were banging out random stuff on the piano. Very willy-nilly. No established pattern, therefore no habits are cultivated. Group three did absolutely nothing. Therefore, their brains stayed the same. But group four’s results were quite intriguing.
Group four were instructed how to play the piano. However, all patterns and scales were rehearsed in their mind. They never physically made contact with a piano. Everything was mentally practiced. The scans revealed that the same neural connections materialized a la group one. Those new patterns were forged without physical rehearsal.
In summation: the mind is a powerful tool. Group four was able to achieve the same results as group one simply by willing it so. They trained their brains relentlessly, through repetition, until neural pathways were created. Dispenza covers this extensively in Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself. You can “remember your future before it’s happened.”
Think about visionaries like Mahatma Gandhi, Stephen Hawking, and Albert Einstein. Do you think they accomplished anything by remaining mentally stagnant? No. They made their dreams a reality. They thought outside the box. This leads me to my next point…
“Personality becomes your personal reality”
Dispenza has an introductory video on his YouTube page that dives into the concepts covered in Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself. One thing he brought up that I found interesting is this: “personality becomes your personal reality.” Kegley touches on this in his video as well. Your personality is curated from the millions of habitual thought processes you’ve formulated over the years. Every outside influence and every social interaction. Even your environment and the way you were raised can mold your personality.
So, it stands to reason that you must “recondition” your body to a “new mind.” You have to become somebody else to progress. In order to get where you want to go, to bring your future to fruition, you must retool your personality. You have everything you need inside of you to make it all happen.
Here’s another intriguing quote from Dispenza: “‘Learning is making new connections. ‘Memory’ is retaining them.” In order to commit something to memory, you have to “memorize” it, right? That’s why it’s said “practice makes perfect.” You have to repeat an act or a process to fully absorb every aspect of it. Meanwhile, learning a new process is establishing a connection that wasn’t there previously. We learn, then memorize.
You have, on average, 60,000 thoughts a day. The majority of those thoughts are remnants from the day before. These aren’t new thoughts. Conventionally, we prefer to maintain our habits because it’s safe. That’s our comfort zone. But Dispenza reveals that you must fundamentally change your thought process in order to seize the personal reality you desire.
Think greater than your environment
Just like your favorite visionaries that went before you, you must “think greater than your environment.” Break past the norm. Move past the ordinary into the extraordinary territory. Live like the future — your future — is happening now. Again, this requires altering at the fundamental level.
Part of that means rewiring your brain to block out negativity. All of those poisonous thoughts you have about yourself must be expelled. “I’m not good enough,” “I can’t do this,” I won’t accomplish that,” etc. cannot continue to sow venom in your mind. Don’t allow them to thrive. You need to cut them out at the root. Dig deep, extract them, and promptly boot them out the door.
Of course, if you have chronic depression and anxiety, all of this is easier said than done. That’s why therapy is so vital for your mental wellbeing. It’s difficult to endure this process if you’re clinging to past trauma and carrying hefty baggage. In his introductory video to Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself, Dispenza dropped a shocking statistic. He revealed that 95 percent of who you are at age 35 is “memorized behavior.” Meaning only 5 percent is trying to subsist within a sea of learned, repetitive habits. But it doesn’t have to be like that. You can smash barriers and subvert expectations.
Be — Do — Think
Now, Kegley brings an interesting process from Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself to the forefront. Our brains work like this: we think, we do, and we be. “Thinking” is derived from the neocortex of our brains while “doing” comes from the limbic system. Lastly, “being” originates from the cerebellum part of our brains. This is largely how we operate. How thoughts are morphed into actions.
However, Dispenza believes we have it backward. Instead, we need to be, do, and then think. You can be what you want. The doing and thinking will follow in tandem. Consider the people in your lives that seem blissfully unaware of what’s around them. Children, for starters. They’re happy in their own little world. They don’t dissect or pick something apart with their thoughts. They just are. We need to adopt that mindset again. Revert to that “childlike” sort of state prior to the myriad of jumbled, frazzled thoughts we experience that comes with adulthood.
Everything you need to be great is already inside you. Instead of “faking it till you make it,” just be the genuine article. Meditation is a great way to just sit with yourself. Observe your thoughts and your processes. You’ll learn how to calm your mind and how to weed out what doesn’t serve you in the long run.
Breaking the Habit of Repetition
Dispenza mentions that we usually wait until times of turmoil or a catastrophic event unfurls before we try to change for the better. For some inexplicable reason, we’d rather shift our mindset amid a state of suffering. Perhaps it’s because we truly are creatures of habit that typically resist change when confronted with it. He asserts that we must make time to change while in a state of joy. When the raging waters of life are still. Embrace the future that’s entirely within your grasp. Step into your power because it has always been there. It’s just waiting for someone to harness it.
Anxiety and depression can definitely provide hindrances aplenty. Click here to get a cohesive breakdown of common anxiety triggers and how to overcome them.
Think outside your box. You can start by breaking the habit of being yourself.
