This content explains how to retrain your brain from negative self-talk to a more positive and productive mindset by actively directing its powerful processing capabilities towards constructive goals and perspectives.
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what do you do when it feels like your
mind has actually turned against you and
there's two reasons why I want to talk
to you about this today first of all it
feels awful when you talk to yourself in
a way that just brings you down and
second your brain is a super computer
your brain can help you get what you
want if you know how to use it correctly
and nobody teaches you this stuff at
least nobody taught me so that's why you
and I are going to talk about this today
I'm going to teach you the five simple
things that help me and that are going
to help you let go of the negative
thoughts five simple things that create
a more positive way of looking at
yourself and by the way these are also
the exact same five things that will
train your brain to help you get what
you want in life so whether you're
excited to learn this because you're
just so sick and tired of beating
yourself up and dragging yourself down
or maybe you've got big goals and you're
like Mel tell me how to get my mind to
work for me so that I can get what I
want well well I'm going to cuz that's
exactly what we're talking about today
five simple things that will redirect
all your mental energy toward happiness
success and self [Music]
[Music]
transformation hey it's your friend Mel
and welcome to the Mel Robbins podcast I
love what we're going to talk about
today I am so excited that you're here
it's always such an honor to spend time
with you and to be together and if
you're a new listener I just want to
take a moment and personally welcome you
to the Mel Robbins podcast family I am
so glad that you're here and I also want
to point out something if you're
listening to this particular episode
because someone shared this with you
that's really cool it means you have
people in your life that care about you
and I just want to take a moment and
point that out and I know that so many
of you are going to be sharing this
episode with people that you care about
so I also want to thank you for taking
the time to listen to something that's
not only going to help you create a more
positive mindset and it's going to teach
you five simple things that you can do
to let go of the negative thoughts and
train your mind to work for you I'm so
excited that you're listening to that
for yourself and also that you're going
to be able to share this resource with
people that you care about because I
know you're the type of person who
values your time and you made the time
to listen to this and so if you're sick
of beating yourself up if you're sick of
living in a negative place or if you're
just curious like how do I use simple
research back methods to actually make
my mind work for me holy cow are you in
the right place because that's exactly
what we're going to talk about today
five simple things that you can do to
take control of your mind let go of
negative thoughts and redirect all your
mental energy toward happiness success
and self transformation and so you know
I always am very intentional about why I
want to talk to you about certain things
and what inspired this conversation
today is the conversation I had with my
daughters I mean we always get on
FaceTime the three of us do typically
when one of us is getting ready or we're
waking up in the morning and we were on
FaceTime the other day and as I shared
earlier one of our daughters is 24 the
other one is 25 one lives in New York
one lives in La I live in southern
Vermont and so just like you do with the
people you care about we get on FaceTime
all the time and we're yapping away and
all of a sudden one of my daughters is
like I'm just in this negative right now
it's like nothing I do is enough
everything that I put on my body doesn't
look good no matter how hard I'm working
I just am constantly trashing myself and
then my other daughter chimed in and I
was horrified to hear that they were
both kind of in this place where they're
focused on the negative where their
thoughts are kind of turned back against
them and as we're having this
conversation it reminded me of a story
that I've shared on this podcast and I
shared in some interviews that I've done
you know I've been talking about the let
them Theory Book and so you may have
heard this story but it's such an
important and compelling story that it
Bears repeating and so here's what
happened my 25-year-old daughter Sawyer
and I wrote the let them Theory Book
together and on the Press tour a ton of
people have asked me what was it like to
work on a project of that magnitude
writing and researching a book with one
of your kids and it was incredible I
mean it was is absolutely incredible for
a number of reasons to not only get to
know her in a completely different way
because I'm her mother and she's my
daughter and so we have the
motherdaughter dynamic and we're very
close but we've always kind of had this
friction but having this project that we
could both focus on and organize
ourselves around was super cool because
I got to experience her in a completely
different way and here's what happened
so when we first started working
together I asked her if she would simply
just do this research project about the
let them Theory because we had done a
podcast episode on it and there were all
of these comments it had gone crazy
viral and really resonated with people
around the world so I was like Hey
Sawyer would you just dig into the
comments on this podcast episode and the
things that you're seeing that people
are saying online about the things that
I've been sharing and then come back to
me in a couple weeks with an analysis of
what you know you're seeing and I
expected this to take like two weeks now
mind you I'm very different than my
daughter Sawyer I mean I've got like
this crazy artistic ADHD brain and
Sawyer thinks in Excel spreadsheets
before working for me and working with
me she worked at a huge cyber security
firm that is in 44 countries and was in
like the digital marketing and marketing
Tech side of that business and so here
she is taking on This research search
project for me on the side and I'm
expecting this thing to take two or 3
weeks I'm expecting the result to be
like a briefing that is going to be a
couple pages long she hands me 36 hours
later a
207 page like I don't even know how to
describe the way this thing was
organized it was like columns with
colorcoded tabs and links to the source
material and she had a two-page synopsis
of her analysis of all of the sentiment
online and she had identified all these
things that needed further re I mean it
was jaw-dropping my brain just doesn't
work like that my brain is like letting
a box full of mice loose in your kitchen
everything scatters in different
directions this was a level of
organization and mental
horsepower that I actually didn't
know she had I just didn't understand
that this was how her brain worked and
when I saw this work product from her
generated in 36 hours I was not only
dumbfounded at just how intelligent she
is and how differently her brain works I
had this heartbreaking
realization as I looked at the 27 pages
I thought to myself oh my God
I now know why she's so hard on
herself because if she doesn't have a
project to aim this super computer at
she aims it at
herself and I just want that to sit in
with you for a
minute that if you have this
supercomputer and you do you have a
supercomputer between your ears it is
designed to solve problems it is
designed to spot patterns it is designed
to learn new things it is designed to
keep you safe it is designed to analyze
things it is designed to create and to
connect and to constantly be growing
that's what your brain is doing it's
doing an incredible job because if
you're listening to this and you're able
to hear these words and absorb this
information or you're watching me on
YouTube right now your supercomputer is
engaged it is processing information it
is filing it away in your brain there
are neurop pathways connecting and
firing and wiring together like it is
doing its thing it's keeping you
breathing it's keeping you your body
temperature in a certain place all while
you're doing this and that's just like a
a scratch to the surface of what that
supercomputer is doing but I want you to
really stop and consider what I'm
saying if you have this massive
horsepower between your ears which you
do and you're not aiming it at something
like a big project project or something
that's important or something that's
positive it's true isn't it that your
brain aims itself back at
you and when this
happened with my daughter and I had this
realization it was as if I was meeting
her for the first time I finally
understood her at a level that I had
never understood her as her mother and
it even revealed a little bit about why
I'm hard on myself I mean I just
described my brain as working like
taking a box of mice and letting it
loose in your kitchen and everything
scatters everywhere but I have
absolutely had those moments and I know
you have too where you are so focused on
something that you're enjoying like it
might be something like gardening it
might be that you're a great video gamer
and so you get lost in the moment it
might be when you've played sports or
you're playing a instrument or it might
be when you're out on a hike and you're
just so hyper presentes why you can get
lost in the flow of focus because you're
in the present moment because your
supercomputer in your mind is aimed at
something outside of you but isn't it
true that in those moments where you
feel consumed with negativity or you're
beating yourself up or you're constantly
telling yourself it's never enough or
you're seeing nothing but the negative
when you look in the mirror you've just
taken all that horsepower
that is designed to create and laugh and
grow and solve problems and you just
aimed it right at you and so it got me
thinking if you have a brain that is
designed to do all these incredible
things solve
problems grow learn laugh create be
present build like all these amazing
things how is it that you and I can take
that truth because I think you're with
me I can kind of feel you with me like
oh my god I've never thought about it
that way it's true Mel like if I'm
engaged in something I'm not beating
myself up if I'm working on a project
that I'm truly focused on I don't have
time to trash my appearance huh never
thought about it that way that this
supercomputer can be used for good and
if I'm not using it for good holy cow it
feels kind of bad because it just aims
at right back at me and just in case
before I move on to these five simple
things because what I'm going to do is
I'm going to teach teach you today it
took me far too long to learn this I
wish they taught this in schools I wish
they taught this in elementary school
that's how simple I'm going to make the
science today there are five simple
things that you can do and you can start
doing them as I'm explaining them to you
you can do these things as soon as this
episode is over these are so simple that
you can make them part of your
day-to-day life These are ways for you
to take control of your mind that
supercomputer in your brain these are
ways for you to let let go of the
negative thoughts which is really what
happens when your brain directs itself
back at you right and third we're going
to talk about how do you
redirect that power of your mind and aim
it at something that energizes you how
do you take all that mental energy and
instead of aiming it at yourself you
actually aim it at something that
creates happiness and success and more
positivity and self transformation
that's what's available to you and I
didn't understand any of this until
several years ago and so the second I'm
done recording this I'm sharing this
with my two daughters and before we jump
into the first skill okay and I've
already kind of alluded to it but before
we jump into the first skill I want to
bring in one more visual example because
I personally find that whenever you talk
about the mind or thinking or mindset it
so quickly becomes fuzzy and too
intellectual and like too conceptual
that I lose interest and I don't know
what the hell people are talking about
so I like things that are visual because
it helps my brain the little mice that
are running around to just anchor on
something so we've already talked about
the supercomputer and the fact that
you've got this brain between your ears
that is designed to learn patterns it's
designed to grow it's designed to Fire
and wire information together and
program it in your mind it's designed to
filter the world it's actually designed
to help help you get more of what you
want and we're going to talk more about
that in a little bit and that's a cool
thing have you ever in your life had the
chance to spend time with like a golden
retriever or a labrador you know one of
these dogs that from the moment they
come into this world as a puppy there is
something hardwired in their DNA to just
fetch you throw a ball and you don't
even have to train a Labrador or a
golden retriever or some of these other
kind of hunting breeds I guess call them
they will just go right after that ball
that you throw bring it right back you
throw it again they bring it right back
it's like they are programmed to chase
down a ball that you throw they are
programmed to chase it down and to
retrieve guess what your brain is
designed to do the exact same thing I'm
G say that again your brain is like a
Labrador Retriever or a golden retriever
it is hardwired to actually chase down
something that you directed at and so I
love this visual because the first thing
that I'm going to talk about today of
the five things that I'm going to teach
you is one of the things that helps you
get out of that negative rut where your
brain is aimed at you and you start
trashing yourself down right is to
actually give your brain something to
chase down and focus on think about it
like you need a a project or think about
like the project is the ball so with a
dog that loves to chase a ball you take
that ball you throw it in whatever
direction that dog forgets that you
exist that dog is maniacally focused on
that ball that dog will literally run
over a child in order to get the ball
get the ball get the ball because it's
hardwired to focus on that and then it
brings it back your brain does the same
thing your brain is just sitting around
like a board laborator waiting for you
to pick up a ball and put it in motion
waiting for you to throw something out
into the future and say go get it your
brain loves projects you know this it
wants something to gnaw on it is Bored
like have you ever noticed too like if
you got a dog that needs a job if it
doesn't have a job what does it do it
chews your slippers it starts gnawing on
the corners of your cabinets next thing
you know it's naughty and it's peeing in
the corner why because it's got all this
mental energy and this desire to a
project and to chase down a ball and
you're not feeding that desire your
brain's the same way it needs a job and
that brings me to skill number one one
of the best things that you can do is
understand that giving yourself a
project or a goal or some sort of ball
that you can put in play in your life it
is one of the best ways to direct your
brain at something other than you it's
one of the best ways ways to start to
Leverage The Natural capacity that your
mind has to solve problems and to
actually Chase something down and this
isn't just my suggestion this comes from
not only research that I'm going to walk
you through but it comes from something
that world-renowned PhD New York Times
best-selling author Martha Beck has been
talking about and you may have seen her
talking about this it's the basis of her
new book and there's so much research
that I'm also going to share with you
after you hear this clip but you're
going to hear Martha Beck talking about
the fact that you know when you're in an
anxious state or you're ruminating we
now know in the way that you and I are
talking about this the supercomputer is
now aimed at you you're up in your head
instead of like being focused on the
world and solving problems you're now
tearing yourself down you've made
yourself a problem right the other way
you can think about this is that
Labrador Retriever is chewing on the
slipper and being self-destructive
because it's got nothing to do she had
this thesis in this book well if you're
in that state being anxious and negative
it shuts down your ability to problem
solve we know this based on the research
we also know it based on common sense it
shuts down your ability to be creative
well she thought well wait a
minute does creativity and problem
solving actually shut down anxiety and
rumination and being negative turns out
it does and so here's Martha Beck
sharing this idea on The Today Show and
the idea is so exciting and it's also so
simple and obvious to understand that
you're going to hear Martha talking
first and then you're going to hear the
Today Show anchors jump in because they
totally get it and then what we're going
to do after you listen to this is you
and I are going to unpack what she said
so that you can apply this first skill
take a listen and when we've known
forever that anxiety shuts down
creativity so I started thinking what if
it works the other way too cre creat
creativity shut down anx interesting so
if you like if I take a client and I do
something very simple like plan a meal
for tomorrow right so say you're having
a dinner party start planning right now
your brain start to think I'm going to
do steak on theer grill and I'm going to
serve it with this and what would go
good with that now I'm thinking in a
different pattern and anxiety is quet
and it does shut did that work just now
it it does work it works like that yeah
same thing with knitting or with your
hands or where you're figuring something
absolutely and anything creative that
you you should be a you should start
doing yeah and people say I'm not
creative I'm not creative right that's
still in the anxiety part just make
something you love try using your hands
your senses cook Garden if you like to
draw or paint or do whatever just stop
and consider what she's saying it's true isn't
isn't
it that when you're idle your thoughts
turn negative when you've got nothing
that you're focused on the super
computer focuses on you and because it's
a problemsolving machine it typically is
looking for problem problems and then it
turns you into one and so I love what
Martha Beck is saying because she's
basically saying anytime you're worried
anytime you're negative it's a sign that
your mind is now turning you into a
problem and we can change this by
picking up a ball and in her Language by
doing something creative with your hands
she talked about how like just start
planning the meal for tonight open up a
cookbook and start flipping through it
and now what are you doing you've thrown
a ball
your mind is now focused on solving the
problem the problem is no longer you the
problem is what are we going to create
for dinner it's a simple idea that has
so much research in it in fact I want
you to hear This research because it's
not just about creativity it's about the
power of having a project that you can
aim your mind at this is this Revelation
that I had about my daughter that oh my
God like she's got so much horsepower up
stairs and so to you that if you're not
aiming it at something it's going to
come back at you and I want to share
some of this research with you because
it's actually very exciting about Simply
Having a project and it could be a
project like I've got a project this
weekend that I know that I'm going to
get lost in and that is now that my
husband and I are empty nesters it's
time for me to go through the closets in
the bedroom upstairs and donate what is
just being used as long-term storage by
our adult children right and just kind
of reclaim the space space that's a
project that will keep my mind occupied
which will keep me from turning it
against myself and ruminating and the
research Bears this out check this out
Simply Having a project according to
research done at the University of exer
turns down negative selft talk what's so
interesting about this is that they
found in this research study that when
you have a project and you start
chipping away at it I walk upstairs I
open up the closet I start sorting
through what's in
there that the small steps literally
rewire your brain away from rumination
it makes so much sense when you realize
well that's because I am focusing my
brain on something I'm putting a ball in
play instead of having it aim it at me
and when you don't have a project you
feel like you're not making progress
towards anything which means you have
more negative emotions
so it works in the positive and the
negative and I think you can kind of see
that when you're not really working on
anything you got an idle mind and that's
not going to come to a lot of good
here's another research study from the
University of Michigan and the
University of Oxford this one was
published in a journal called neuron
having a project also boosts happiness
because having something to focus on
actually increases dopamine which we
know is kind of this neurochemical that
gets released in your mind that is all
about drive and it helps you focus and
your brain is going to release dopamine
not when you clean out the closet not
when you finish writing the song not
when you finish paying your bills not
when dinner is finished cooking but
rather as you're working toward it how
cool is that and it kind of makes sense
because if you take as fact that your
brain's a supercomputer that wants to
solve problems that wants to engage in
something that wants to build and Design
and create and have a project to focus
on when you provide that to the
supercomputer between your ears your
super computer is a little happier
because it's able to chase a ball it's
able to do what it's designed to do
here's another study from Pennsylvania
University that having a project to
focus your brain power on strengthens
your overall mental health
health
goals give you Direction and purp
purpose goals help you navigate
challenges because it actually gives
your mind something to focus on which
helps you build resilience against
stress and emotional struggles and you
know what's interesting about that is
that I know based on what I'm seeing in
the inbox as your fellow listeners are
writing in from around the world that
you're experiencing just un precedented
levels of stress and we know that based
on the medical experts that we talk to
on this show all the time that the
levels of chronic stress that people are
experiencing are at unprecedented levels
and it would have never occurred to me
that one of the ways for you
to not allow the stress to put you in an
even more negative state would be to
have a project something like a painting
to do or a closet to clean out or like
some sort of something that you're
working on because that means that even
in a stressed out State you have
something that you can aim your brain at
so that your tired stressed out brain
doesn't start turning you into an even
bigger problem I just love this research
so number one what you're learning is
that in order to take control of your
mind in order to let go of negative
thoughts in order to redirect your
energy toward happiness success and self-
self-
transformation skill number one is put a
ball in play
find a project and if you can make it
creative if you can use your hands even
better because when you focus that super
computer in your brain on something
outside of you it is happy and it's
excited and it's now engaged and that's
going to leave you with space that is
going to feel better for you so that's
skill number one skill number two is
something that you may have heard me
talk about before this is a habit of
mine I use it every single day in my
life I am not kidding it is a habit that
has helped me wire my brain for Success
because it is a way that I train my mind
to see what I want to see and seeing
what you want to see in the world it's
not some woo woo stupid like nonsense
this is hard science I actually wrote
about this in my New York Times
best-selling book the high five habit
and so you may have heard about this
before but even so it's a fabulous
reminder so what is skill number number
two skill number two my daily habit is
look for hearts I know what you're
thinking what does that mean M look for
hearts is a very simple game that you're
going to play that helps you train your
brain and it's very simple today as
you're going about your life I want you
to look for a naturally occurring heart
shape somewhere around you that's it you
are going to tell your brain as stupid
as it sounds brain today somewhere in
the world I want you to show me a shape
of a heart it could be a leaf on a tree
it could be a stain on a sidewalk it
could be the shape of the foam on your
coffee today it might be a spot on a dog
at the dog park in fact you can do it
right now as long as you're not driving
a car I want you to just look around the
environment that you're in I mean I'm so
trained to do this now that I see them
everywhere and I I want you to just kind
of scan the environment and see if
somewhere around you I've already
spotted two where I am right now I'm
going to describe them in just a second
see if you can see a heart shape is
there a shadow on the wall is there some
discoloration in the brick like right
now as I'm looking straight around the
room that I am in above the garage here
in southern Vermont I can see that on
the Whiteboard over on the other side of
the room we have a series of uh magnets
and they're all clust at the bottom of
the Whiteboard and a bunch of the
magnets are together and they're
actually in the shape of a heart uh I'm
looking down on the carpet and I see
that there's a stain on the carpet a
little like I don't know what oh maybe
it's cat hair I can't quite tell what
that is but it's also in the shape of a
heart every time I go on a walk in the
woods I see rocks I see tree stumps I
see them everywhere so you're probably
thinking why on Earth is this important
well let me explain the science in order
to explain the science I want to teach
you about a part of your brain the
supercomputer between your ears that has
a specific name and that part of your
brain is called the
reticular activating system okay
reticular activating system I like to
call it the
r for short because reticular activating
system is a mouthful and you don't need
to know that you just need to know that
there is this filter in your brain I
think about it almost like there's a
hairnet that's over my brain it's like
the bouncer for your brain and what is
this re activating system doing well it
is deciding all day long what
information gets into your conscious
mind and what information is being
filtered out of your conscious mind that
is what it is doing and there's a reason
why you need this filter so we had a
amazing neuroscientist and neurosur from
Stanford that appeared on the Mel
Robbins podcast by the name of Dr Jim
Dodie so he is not only somebody who is
a neuroscientist he is a neurosurgeon
meaning he actually operates on people's
brain and he is a world-renowned expert
in the Neuroscience of
manifestation and he told me when I was
talking to him about the science check
this out do you know that there are 6 to
10 million bits of information come at
your mind body and spirit every single
second 6 to 10
million your brain can't handle that
neither can your body Dr Dodie says that
your conscious brain can only handle
between 50 and 100 bits and 99% of that
that it can handle is all stuff that's
about how your body operates so we're
talking teeny amounts of information is
actually getting to your conscious brain
what's super interesting about this is
that means that a massive amount a
bazillion amounts of bits of information
are bombarding you you're just not aware
of it and the reason why you're not
aware of it is because of this hair net
on your brain the bouncer the reticular
activating system its job is to decide
whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa of the six to
10 million bits coming at me a million
miles an hour what's actually important
now here's where this gets
interesting what's important is what you
tell your reticular activating system is
important this is so cool this is a
treasure Trove this is how you take
control of your mind if you're
interested in achieving your goals and
making more money and having a positive
mindset understanding that your brain is
trying to help you and if you're not
helping your brain by telling your brain
what's important to it it's going to
filter out things that could be helping
you and that brings me back to this
daily habit that I have anytime I'm on a
walk I'm looking for hearts because it's
a way for me to prove to myself that the
filters actually working and you're
going to be startled when you see this
you are literally going to go out for a
walk today or you're going to be out and
about in your life and maybe you've
already seen something maybe you've
already seen a heart as you've been
listening to me or watching on YouTube
right now that you've seen this heart
and the reason why you saw it is because
you and I are talking about it it's sort
of like you know another example I can
give you about how this works is you
know how social media is dynamically
filtering Things based on what it either
watches you watching on social or it
hears you talking to somebody about
something and you know you're talking
about maybe bird feeders and next thing
you know there's freaking ads for bird
feeders all over your social media well
that's because social media has a filter
and it's dynamic your brain has the same
thing and so this is a habit looking for
hearts that you can do all day every day
to strengthen this filter every time you
see a heart here's what I want you to do
I want you to
stop and just take it in I want you for
a minute in a very calm way to see this
heart that you see as a sign from the
universe or God or goddesses or whatever
you believe in
that the world is actually trying to
help you that there are signs all around
you and you just like I used to you're
just so up in your head and your
computer is aimed against you that
you're not programming it correctly to
see the positive signs that are around
you if you can tell your brain to look
for a heart you can actually learn to
use this Habit to look for other things
too I mean one of the reasons why I'm so
successful in business and why it
appears from the outside that I'm a
super lucky person is because I
understand all of the things I'm
teaching you today I have learned how to
take that supercomputer between my head
and stop aiming it at myself and aim it
out and to program it to help me spot
coincidences and to help me spot things
that are going my way because when you
start to spot things that are going way
you start to spot more things that are
going your way just like you're going to
notice that oh my gosh Mel now that I
saw one heart I see them everywhere same
here why because I've told my brain to
you know if you've read the high five
habit chapter seven of the book is about
this programming and one of the things
that I love since introducing the world
to the high five Habit in writing this
book is that every day on social media
people post hearts that they find this
is on page 91 of the book it's just
plastered with hearts that people have
found and it's evidence that your mind
can be trained now here's something I
want to read to you
okay because you may be thinking look I
got huge problems Mel the negativity is
Justified because there's a lot of
things going on in my life and so I want
to say something right now looking for
hearts is not going to make your
problems go away not at all what looking
for hearts does is is it actually
leverages the power of your mind to
problem solve and to start to work for
you and I got to start with baby steps
here like if you can't find a heart as
you're taking a walk outside tomorrow
you're not going to believe that your
brain and the filter in it is there for
you to use to your advantage you know as
I write in this book you know the point
of this exercise is to train your mind
to spot things you currently block out
and prove to yourself that you can make
your brain work for you by telling it
what is important to you and if you want
to make a lot of money you better train
your mind to see opportunities and deals
that other people walk right by just
like the stupid heart rock on the ground
because if you miss the heart rock
because you're not looking for it then
you're going to miss the opportunities
and deals that are right there that you
currently aren't seeing because you're
not looking for it either and the only
reason why you're not looking for it is
because you haven't made this a project
and the way you can start doing this is
by looking for hearts it's my way to
prove to you that this filter is there
and it is waiting for you to program it
and it's a simple thing you can do this
with your kids you can do it anywhere
that you live in the world you can do
this as a way to start to understand
that wow my mind is very flexible wow
there are things that I see now that
I've never seen nothing changed in the
outside world what changed is the filter
on the supercomputer because you
programmed it and you can train yourself
in how you program it by simply looking
for hearts how freaking cool is that and
that brings me to Tool number three and
Tool number three is all about
manifesting and again just like looking
for hearts this is not fairy dust and
woooo this is hard science and I
mentioned a Stanford neurosurgeon and
neuroscientist by the name of Dr Jim
Dodie well I'm going to bring Dr Jim
doie into this part of our brain
training session because as I said
earlier he's not only a professor a New
York Times bestselling author he's a
world-renowned expert on the
Neuroscience of manifestation he also is
a neurosurgeon who operates on the brain
I mean this guy understands the science
and he has this extraordinary way of
explaining what manifestation is and
manifestation in the words of Dr Dodie
is just quote the ability to take an
intention and embed it into your
subconscious in a manner such that it
has the greatest likelihood to occur in
other words words Dr Dodie teaches
people around the world and he's about
to teach you this that you can through
intentional actions fire and wire your
neurop Pathways together to make your
supercomputer in your brain help you
that's what this is manifesting isn't
Magic and woowoo and fairy dust
manifesting is programming your brain so
that it helps you get what you want in life
life
and there is so much amazing hard
science here and I'm going to bring Dr
Dodie into the conversation because Dr
Dodie is not only going to explain this
at a scientific level for you and he's
going to talk about the parts of the
brain that you use when you want to
intentionally program your brain to work
for you but he is also going to walk you
through the five simple steps that he
uses I'm talking Stanford's
neuroscientist and neurosurgeon the guy
who wrote the book on the science
manifesting is going to walk you through
the five things he does every morning in
his manifesting practice so that you can
learn how to do this too and the way
that he describes it it just makes so
much sense so it is my absolute honor to
be able to introduce you to Dr Jim Dodie
and have you spend a little bit of time
learning from him check this out if you
have an intention you take a pencil you
write it down you actually doing
something physical
tactile then you read it
silently then you read it
aloud then you visualize that and you do
that over and over and over again what
that will do is then embed that into
your subconscious and then these
different cognitive brain networks get
activated now can we unpack that just a
minute sure because everyone that
listens to this loves to make sure that
they just got the instructions from you
Dr Dodie cuz I'm like hanging on every
word and so there were a couple steps to
that because you had the physical pencil
you had the act of writing you had this
moment where if you're watching on
YouTube you saw it but if you're
listening let me describe it he he sat
back in his chair he put his hands kind
of in prayer at his chest closed his
eyes and he started talking about
repeating the thought is that the chain
of events and that you do to encode it
in your mind yes absolutely so we so
what is will you walk us through it one
more time yes so again what you want to
do is to use all of your sensory organs
as much as possible to embed that
intention so by writing it down by
reading it aloud by visualizing it that
creates the process where this gets
embedded and into your
subconscious and what happens is once
you get this
embedded it activates Ates different
parts of your brain and without getting
too technical one is something called
the default mode network is that the
same thing as the reticular activating
system no okay but they're related okay
so the default mode Network yes so this
is what happens when your mind wonders
uh or you're
daydreaming and it's
self-referential because it's internally
focused but it's where you create The
Narrative of Who You Are or what you
want so if you have negative selft talk
if you ruminate if you are like I'm
never good enough uh nothing works out
for me things like that don't happen to
a person like me I can never get it
right that is in the default mod
absolutely and that gets really
activated and results in rumination for
some people can I ask you another
question because one of the things that
you said at the very very beginning is
you painted this gorgeous
picture of the ability to
Leverage The remarkable power of your
brain to help you get what you truly
desire in life to help you live in heart
mode and you said it's
just about believing it and part of the
reason why we have trouble believing it
is because of the default mode Network
and all of these stories you've repeated
over and over and over again is that is
that fair to say no that's exactly uh
correct and and can we can reprogram or
we can lay down a new track oh
absolutely and it's available uh 247 and
it doesn't matter what's happened to you
before you know so many people get
fixated well I don't deserve this
it so once this gets embedded and you
create The Narrative of who you want to
be or how you see yourself what you're
doing is you're creating
salience okay what's that word mean it
means making it important okay once
something is important this activates
what we call our task positive Network
and the task positive network has three
parts it has the salience network it has
the attention Network and then it has
the executive control
Network and once something is Salient
what you're basically saying is this
deserves my
attention and by doing it in a very specific
specific
way then that becomes important to you
that gets embedded into your
subconscious as something to pay
attention to once that is defined as
something important to you then that
activates your attention Network so that
then you cognitively focus your
attention on whatever that intention
is okay once those are activated and uh
I use the analogy in the book it's as if
you've have a file cabinet and you put
this file into the file cabinet that
says important stuff and once that is
there then the attention network is
activated which is as an example a blood
hound that is says okay now there's
something there I need to track this
down and figure out what's going on here
then you activate the blood hound and
then that gets released and then once
that attention is focused then it starts
looking around through all the
possibilities in your environment and as
soon as it identifies one then your
executive control network is activated
which in some ways is the thing that
chases down what is in your
subconscious and uh uh this is how it
works there is no magic here this is
fundamentally basic neuroscience and
it's something that we all have the
ability to master by just doing these
techniques whereby you are able to embed
your intention you do it over and over
and it's not as if one and done and what
I mean by that is some people wake up
and this is like a New Year's resolution
I'm going to do this uh January 1 and
then January 1 comes and you already
fail the first day you have to not have
excessive expectations at first what I
mean by that is these are based on habit
what what happens with habit you start
small you don't sit there and say I'm
going to lose 100 pounds in the next
month you say I'm going to try to modify
my diet where I'm not drinking sodas
that's the first little one and each of
these little winds strengthens you to
actually then do the big thing
ultimately so you don't start by running
a marathon on day one you start by
getting up out of bed and walking around
the block don't you just love Dr Jim
Dodie I freaking love him I I always
feel smarter when I listen to him and he
just shared so much that I want to
unpack it all with you and I want to put
it in the language that you and I have
been using since we started this
conversation because what Dr Jim Dodie
just did as a neuroscientist and a
neurosurgeon is he broke down absolutely
every aspect of what I've been talking
to you about did you catch that but he
put it in terms of the different
networks and the functioning of your
brain and so I want to just highlight
and repeat a couple things okay so as he
explained the way that your mind worked
and he went through the mechanics of
manifesting which as he said the same
thing I said this is not woowoo it's not
fairy dust this is hard science this is
intentionally embedding information in
your brain and by intentionally
embedding information in your brain you
are activating certain aspects of your
brain to work for you and I'm going to
unpack all of this because he basically
just explained why having projects is
super important because it activates the
task positive Network in your brain he
referred to it as a blood hound I called
it a golden retriever it's that instinct
that executive functioning that focusing
of your attention on something outside
of you that's a good thing and you can
train your brain using the method he
just talked to us to be able to do it
which is how you're going to train your
brain to work for you you're going to
get that blood hound or that golden
retriever to chase down what you want
instead of turning itself at you and he
went through this process and I'm going
to repeat it for you whereby you can
intentionally through repetition and by
being intentional you can encode a
default way of thinking and it could be
anything I'm going to give you an
example from my own life so I used to be
a person that struggled a lot with
anxiety I used to see the negative I
used to be constantly worried what if
this happens what if that happens what
if the other thing happens and I don't
think like that anymore I have used the
tools that we've been talking about to
reprogram my brain to have a different
default thinking which is I always think
either well what if this all works
out because I don't know in a moment of
worry whether it works out or not so why
not consider as your default what if
this works
out I also as a default have programmed
into my mind I believe that this moment
is leading me somewhere that I'm meant
to go it's either teaching me something
or it's giving me a skill or a lesson
that I need and I don't know why I need
this but at some point in the future I
believe that I'll look back on this
moment and I'll know why this happened
it's a way to kind of have faith and
this kind of trust and Assurance in
myself to be able to face life's
challenges I have intentionally
programmed that into my mind how do you
do it you do it exactly as Dr Dodie just
walked you through he said you take out
a pencil you write down what you want to
believe I believe I'm capable of success
I believe I am worthy of love I believe
that the love of my life is around the
corner I believe believe that this
moment is temporary and the future is
brighter I believe that I'm stronger
than I think you can write down anything
you want to believe about yourself you
can write down that I'm beautiful you
could write down that I'm working very
hard and my hard work is going to pay
off and all I need to do is just keep my
head down and keep being a kind person
and working hard and things are going to
work out and Dr Dodie says take out a
pencil write down the statement that you
want to believe about yourself after you
write it down you're going to read it to
yourself then you're going to say it out
loud and what did he just teach us that
if you do this over and over you wake up
every day and you pick up the pencil and
you write it down and you read it to
yourself and then you read it out loud
through repetition you are intentionally
embedding this belief about yourself and
he then explained to you and me and I
think this is so exciting the different
parts of your brain networks that are
activated number one by writing it down
you're making it important number two
through the repetition you're actually
embedding the intention in your
subconscious right what does that do
well remember when we talked about
looking for hearts it's the same
thing by telling yourself that you want
to see a heart you're making it Salient
you're making it important you're
telling the reticular activity system
that seeing Hearts is important to you
same thing with a positive attitude same
thing with believing that things are
going to work out for you isn't that
kind of cool so now the filter changes
because you're embedding this and then
what happens he talked about the focus
and attention Network that's this filter
that's you directing the super computer
in your mind to filter out anything that
is unrelated to this thing you want to
believe and for me it's literally what
if it all works out it's this belief
that if I just show up every day and I
do my best and I'm a kind person and I
just do the Reps and put in the work
eventually things work out and I do
believe that because I have used this
process to embed that belief and then
what happens is when you use the process
you make it important through repetition
you embed it in your mind you then are
changing the RAS which is all about
focus and attention now you're
triggering what he called the task
positive Network that's the blood out in
your mind I call it the golden rot rever
boom it's now actively chasing down
anything that is related to this thing
that you want that's how it works based
on the science and that also covers all
of the things we've talked about so far
having a project and the research about
how that aims your brain at something
rather than having your problem solving
aimed at you number two we talked about
looking for hearts and this is exactly
what Dr Dodie is talking about when he's
talking about embedding a belief and
changing the filter and activating this
task Network to find things for you
third we've just talked about the
neuroscience and the mechanics of
manifesting and how you cement in new
thinking and you program your brain to
work for you fourth let's jump into this
one because this is a simple suggestion
for how you can put it all together and
this suggestion is called how you direct
your thinking with one sentence and what
I love about this skill is this comes
from another world-renowned medical
doctor and one of the world's leading
experts on the brain itself I'm talking
about none other than Dr Daniel aan he
has scanned
225,000 brains including mine he has
scanned brains of patients from 155
countries not only that but he's written
12 New York Times bestselling books on
the brain and brain health he is a
psychiatrist for 40 years he is the
founder and chief executive officer of
the aiman brain clinics and he's also
the founder of change your brain
Foundation brain MD and the amiman
university this is a busy guy which
means he knows not only about brain
health he knows how to Leverage The
Power of your brain and so I wanted you
to get to learn from him this is
something that he shared with me when he
was on the Mel Robbins podcast and it's
the four skill I want you to start
practicing it is one sentence that you
can say in the morning and one sentence
that you can say at night that leverages
everything that you have just learned
from Dr Jim Dodie to embed a positive
mindset so let's take a listen and learn
together from Dr Daniel aan check this
out so I start every day with today is
going to be a great day because once you
get the physical fun functioning of your
brain healthy you then have to program
it and so I knew I was going to talk to
you it's first thing it came up in my
mind so I start every day and if you
have children it's really good to do
this at breakfast which is if you have
breakfast is so why is today going to be
a great day for you directing your mind
which for many people because of
evolution um they wake up in a negative
state it puts your brain in a positive
State and then my favorite of all the
habits I do is when I go to bed at night
I say a prayer and then I go what went
well today and I go on a treasure hunt
and I actually start from the very
moment I woke up looking for what was
right about the day and I've done this
now seven or eight years and even the
night my dad died about two and a half
years ago and it was an awful awful day
uh I did it because it was my habit
right the brain is lazy it does what you
nudge it to do and so it really helped
me even in a really hard time but it's
almost my favorite time of the day
because like you I'm busy busy and great
things will happen and I'll just not
really focus on it but it's that
treasure hunt that is is just so good
here's what I love about what Dr Daniel
aan just shared with us this is so
simple I'm just going to repeat it every
morning I got to look ahead at the day I
got to activate the blood hound and I
got to look for things that are going to
make it a great day and guess what
happens with your brain your brain is so
smart that it'll find whatever you're
asking for and so when you give it that
project to look ahead and you unleash
the blood hound and the golden retriever
it's going to find reasons that today is
going to be a great day and then at
night as you lay your head down on the
pillow and you say to your brain well
what went well today you just did the
same thing again and what I love about
this simple sentence in the morning and
at night is that it's not only a way to
program your subconscious to reflect on
the positive it's a way to train your
brain to direct it to activate that task
Network that Dr Dodie was talking about
that blood hound and the golden
retriever in there to go find it and the
more that you prompt yourself to see
what went well or what's going to go
great the more you're going to see the
good things that are happening that you
currently don't and I have found that
this works beautifully in my life
because there's a ton of great things
that happen and there's small things but
we don't look for them and when you
don't look for them you don't see them
and when you don't see them you miss
what's actually happening in your life
and there's a lot of good even when
things are terrible there's a lot of
good that's happening in your life if
you ask your brain to help you see it
and that's a simple way that you can do
it all right that brings us to the final
fifth thing and this fifth thing is
literally just
quieting your mind you I think one of my
biggest problems is at the end of the
day my brain has been so busy working or
just running or thinking that if you
really stop and think about it how do
you shut your brain down well if you're
a normal person you probably either
start watching TV or you pick up in you
doom scroll with your phone or next
thing you know you might be pouring a
drink to try to turn your brain off I've
certainly done that in the past but what
if there was a different option what if
you could just use something like the
let them Theory and understand that your
thoughts kind of come and go they rise
and they fall and what if you could just
let the thoughts
rise and not grip onto
them what if part of your windown
routine at the end of the day before
your head hits the pillow and you say
what went well today is you just let
your mind slowly quiet like I just want
you to really take this in for me
because there's a lot of research around
how mindfulness which is not quieting of
the mind but it's really just kind of
observing your thoughts without
attaching yourself to them oh
interesting I'm still thinking about
work oh
interesting that news headline just
popped in my mind oh interesting now I'm
thinking about picking up my phone you
just let the thoughts
rise without giving them any weight you
know one of my favorite meditations I
don't know who told me this so I don't
know who to credit and it's it involves
littering so now I'm of course going to
make myself wrong for doing this but
this is just visual we're not actually
doing this is thinking about your
thoughts as they rise up especially
negative ones something Rises up oh I
wish I would have said that oh that went
well that went bad whatever as if you
were casting them on a piece of paper
into a raging River and you just watch
them float
Downstream and I find that to be super
effective because I'm just letting the
thoughts rise without giving them weight
and I'm watching them float away and
what's interesting is there's a brand
new study about how effective this is
mindfulness just being mindful of the
thoughts as they rise without attaching
yourself to it and this study was just
published in the Journal of mindfulness
its research that comes out of Lawrence
University and Goucher College that
basically found that being present and practicing techniques where you just let
practicing techniques where you just let your thoughts rise and fall they help
your thoughts rise and fall they help you steer clear of negative thought
you steer clear of negative thought loops and that leads to a brighter and
loops and that leads to a brighter and more positive outlook they've actually
more positive outlook they've actually found that you know if you're somebody
found that you know if you're somebody that ruminates a lot which is where you
that ruminates a lot which is where you dwell on negative feelings and you dwell
dwell on negative feelings and you dwell on what's going wrong it can worsen
on what's going wrong it can worsen symptoms of depression and you can stay
symptoms of depression and you can stay stuck there it's almost like when the
stuck there it's almost like when the dog you know goes number two don't step
dog you know goes number two don't step in it notice it and walk past it you can
in it notice it and walk past it you can do the same things with your thoughts
do the same things with your thoughts and I find that the let them theory is
and I find that the let them theory is super helpful when I just say to myself
super helpful when I just say to myself just let the thoughts come don't attach
just let the thoughts come don't attach and then let me remind myself I'm not my
and then let me remind myself I'm not my thoughts and now you've got another let
thoughts and now you've got another let me part because you now understand that
me part because you now understand that supercomputer in your brain you
supercomputer in your brain you understand that you also have the
understand that you also have the ability to give yourself a project
ability to give yourself a project especially something creative if you
especially something creative if you just occupy your hands and you occupy
just occupy your hands and you occupy your mind with something that is
your mind with something that is creative or a project or some ball that
creative or a project or some ball that you can chase down as we've been
you can chase down as we've been discussing over and over that's going to
discussing over and over that's going to help another thing that you can do is
help another thing that you can do is you can remind yourself to look for
you can remind yourself to look for hearts which activates that filter in
hearts which activates that filter in your brain and reminds you that your
your brain and reminds you that your mind is trying to help you see the the
mind is trying to help you see the the things that are important to you you
things that are important to you you have to remind your mind what's
have to remind your mind what's important to you how do you do that
important to you how do you do that remember the third skill manifesting Dr
remember the third skill manifesting Dr Jim Dodie walked us through how it works
Jim Dodie walked us through how it works and how you can do it through repetition
and how you can do it through repetition just write it down read it say it out
just write it down read it say it out loud repeat it that's the process you
loud repeat it that's the process you also learned about this trick from Dr
also learned about this trick from Dr Daniel aan one sentence in the morning
Daniel aan one sentence in the morning why is today going to be a great day
why is today going to be a great day your mind is like a blood hound or
your mind is like a blood hound or golden retriever if you direct it like
golden retriever if you direct it like throwing a ball why is today going to be
throwing a ball why is today going to be a great day your mind will chase down an
a great day your mind will chase down an answer for you it's pretty cool when you
answer for you it's pretty cool when you start to really Embrace what I'm telling
start to really Embrace what I'm telling you and finally let the thoughts rise
you and finally let the thoughts rise let the thoughts fall because you have
let the thoughts fall because you have more power than you believe it has been
more power than you believe it has been so liberating and empowering and
so liberating and empowering and exciting when I finally took all these
exciting when I finally took all these tools and started to use them in my life
tools and started to use them in my life and I'm so excited to see what happens
and I'm so excited to see what happens to you when you Embrace these five
to you when you Embrace these five simple skills and you start using them
simple skills and you start using them in your day-to-day life and I'm certain
in your day-to-day life and I'm certain here's what you're going to find and
here's what you're going to find and here's what the people that you share
here's what the people that you share this episode are going to find that this
this episode are going to find that this is how you can take control of your mind
is how you can take control of your mind this is also how you let go of negative
this is also how you let go of negative thoughts and you program in more
thoughts and you program in more positive default thoughts and this is
positive default thoughts and this is also how you redirect all of your mental
also how you redirect all of your mental energy to happiness positivity success
energy to happiness positivity success and self
and self transformation and one more thing I
transformation and one more thing I wanted to be sure to tell you that I
wanted to be sure to tell you that I love you and I believe in you and I am
love you and I believe in you and I am so excited for you because absolutely
so excited for you because absolutely everything that you learn today it works
everything that you learn today it works it's simple to understand it's simple to
it's simple to understand it's simple to use and I think you're going to start
use and I think you're going to start feeling different and seeing the world
feeling different and seeing the world and yourself differently
and yourself differently really quickly like your brain is a
really quickly like your brain is a super cool thing because it has the
super cool thing because it has the ability to change and you now know
ability to change and you now know simple ways you can program it every
simple ways you can program it every single day to work for you and I can't
single day to work for you and I can't wait to see what happens in your life
wait to see what happens in your life when you do all righty I'll be waiting
when you do all righty I'll be waiting for you in the very next episode in fact
for you in the very next episode in fact I'm going to be waiting to welcome you
I'm going to be waiting to welcome you into it the moment you hit play I'll see
into it the moment you hit play I'll see you there and I want to thank you for
you there and I want to thank you for being here with me on YouTube for
being here with me on YouTube for watching all the way to the end I think
watching all the way to the end I think it's so cool that you're spending time
it's so cool that you're spending time watching something that can help you
watching something that can help you live a better life help you have a
live a better life help you have a better mindset help you be a more
better mindset help you be a more positive person and to learn how to make
positive person and to learn how to make your brain work for you and so thank you
your brain work for you and so thank you for investing in yourself and thank you
for investing in yourself and thank you for being here and thank you for sharing
for being here and thank you for sharing this and being generous with this
this and being generous with this information with the people that you
information with the people that you care about and one more thing because I
care about and one more thing because I know that you support people who support
know that you support people who support you one of my goals is that 50% of the
you one of my goals is that 50% of the people that watch this channel are
people that watch this channel are subscribers it is free to subscribe
subscribers it is free to subscribe subcribe and it really supports me and
subcribe and it really supports me and my team and when you subscribe it tells
my team and when you subscribe it tells me oh my God I love this kind of content
me oh my God I love this kind of content Mel bring me more of it and that helps
Mel bring me more of it and that helps us bring you new videos every single day
us bring you new videos every single day and access to world renowned experts for
and access to world renowned experts for free how cool is that so thanks for
free how cool is that so thanks for doing that and I know you're thinking
doing that and I know you're thinking okay this was amazing what do I want to
okay this was amazing what do I want to watch next well you're going to want to
watch next well you're going to want to check out this video you're going to
check out this video you're going to love it and I'm going to be waiting to
love it and I'm going to be waiting to welcome you into it the moment you hit
welcome you into it the moment you hit play I'll see you there
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