When life feels like it’s stuck on repeat, it probably is. Not because nothing’s changing, but because your brain is predicting your future based entirely on your past.
Here’s the science: 90% of your thoughts today are the same ones you had yesterday. Your brain loves efficiency, not novelty. It loops you into sameness, not because it’s lazy, but because it’s trying to keep you safe.
Add in high beta brainwaves where most of us live, and you’ve got a mind that’s anxious, rigid, and addicted to control and certainty. From this state, creativity, intuition, and reinvention don’t stand a chance.
How Do We Break the Loop?
Phase 1: Do three things the brain finds most energy-intensive.
- Move your body.
- Learn something new.
- Stay calm and open- minded in uncertainty.
These acts disrupt the prediction machine and trigger real change.
Then, go deeper.
Phase 2:
- Rewrite what you remember in an empowering way. Take your most top-of-mind memory that’s keeping you stuck. Reframe it by writing out the lessons you’ve learned from it.
- Rethink what you expect, challenge your autopilot. Your brain is a prediction machine. It’s constantly anticipating what’s next based on past patterns. This “autopilot” can be helpful, but it also locks you into outdated narratives.
To break free, start by noticing your default expectations:
• Do you always assume things will go wrong?
• That people will disappoint you?
• That change is hard?
The next time you’re challenged, disrupt the pattern by replacing reflexive assumptions with conscious curiosity. Ask yourself:
- “What else may be possible?” or
- “What if the opposite is true?”
Phase 3:
Refocus your attention, and upgrade your inputs to transform your outputs. Your attention is your most valuable currency. Where you place it determines what grows in your life. Yet, most people spend it on noise: doomscrolling, reactive conversations, and passive consumption.
To shift your trajectory, audit your inputs:
• What are you watching, reading, and listening to daily?
• Who are you talking to?
• What kind of energy are you absorbing?
Choose to feed your mind high-quality content:
- Insightful books and newsletters (like this one!)
- Uplifting conversations
- Creative experiences.
“When your inputs shift, your thoughts, feelings, and actions follow. You become what you consume.”
John Sanei
This isn’t self-help fluff. It’s a neurological strategy, and I’ve intentionally woven it into my life. You can’t build a new you with old thoughts. Change what your brain expects, and it will start creating a future that surprises you
“The next version of you isn’t remembering the past. It’s reimagining a multitude of possibilities for the now, and the future.”
John Sanei