11 Ways To Reprogram Your Automatic Thinking for a Better Life and Success

Fix your psycho-cybernetic loop of stuckness and limitations

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Does the above cartoon remind you of anyone?

Or does it remind you of…you?

The people in the above cartoon (by the great New Yorker cartoonist Roz Chast) and those you just thought of might be stuck in psycho-cybernetic loops.

Stuck in WHAT?!?!?!

Yeah, a psycho-cybernetic loop.

A psycho-cybernetic loop that can disable, deny and defeat you from having the life or a part of it you want, need and deserve.

Or it can be a psycho-cybernetic loop that can enable you to have the life or a part of it you want, need and deserve.

It is a self-regulating system that guides behavior (actions, responses, etc.) toward achieving a goal or maintaining the status quo based on your beliefs and situations.

It’s a concept developed by Dr. Maxwell Maltz in the best-selling book Psycho-Cybernetics, first published in 1960.

He asserts that our brains operate similarly to smart machines and computer systems with cybernetic system feedback loops that allow them to correct or change what it’s doing based on input.

Whatever input we give our brains (false, negative or positive growth beliefs, emotions, fears and desires) creates or modifies the loop to achieve an outcome consistent with it.

Put simply, when you believe you will succeed…you will succeed.

When you believe you will fail…you will fail.

And a billion other variations.

Like a computer, it doesn’t matter if the input/outcome is positive or negative.

To your brain and the loop, it’s all just data and that data drives actions and results.

Also, like a computer, it’s programmable and YOU are the programmer.

There’s still something missing

The people in Roz’s cartoons are stuck in a “No-Action” loop, as she calls it.

Which means they and maybe you and I are…

STUCK!

As in stuck in a life that is unfulfilling or lacking in any number of ways and often numerous ways and not doing anything about it.

As in stuck in a bad situation or bad health or finances or a relationship or whatever.

We hate it, don’t want it and desperately want it to be otherwise.

But we’re stuck in a psycho-cybernetic loop of fear, resistance and the data point that we think change is too hard to do.

I know so many people who complain about things they have the ability to change and don’t.

They just keep going around and around in the psycho-cybernetic loop of misery and dissatisfaction, never changing things for the better.

A psycho-cybernetic loop of stuckness.

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I should know

Years ago, I did a major reprogramming to find and pursue a new way forward in my life that is ideal for me.

Now, I am reprogramming my loop for a specific issue that is limiting my way forward.

For my entire life I have held a deep belief that is totally false.

Since it is a belief, it is the foundation for some of my actions, inactions and poor results.

Like virtually every human on the planet, it came from childhood.

It has held me back from being as successful as I want to be and it’s still doing so.

It’s deeply seeded in my psyche, so it’s hard to change it…but I am changing it.

How to reprogram the loop

Knowing that this loop exists is the first step to changing it.

Knowledge and actionable thinking will reprogram the loop.

Expecting that it will be hard but worth it is the second step.

Yes, it will likely be hard to put in the effort and confront my “issue” or false beliefs.

But it will be harder not to do it.

So, if it’s going to be hard either way, choose the hard that benefits you.

My steps to reprogram the loop

Here are the common sense and doable steps to reprogram your loops.

1. You’ve already done it by now, knowing it exists.
2. Taking this first step to reprogram here is really, truly, absolutely powerful.
3. Acknowledge the fears and resistance. Know that we all face them, but it’s not that hard to overcome them when you choose the hard that gives you a return.
4. Notice negative self-talk and replace it with positive and enabling self-talk. Spend just a day or two making a conscious effort to notice the negative crap and your loop will automatically start noticing it and bringing it to your attention.
5. Realize that negative self-talk often comes from false or outdated beliefs about yourself, life or the world. Identify them (e.g., I’m not good enough, I’ll never amount to anything, etc.).
6. Challenge those beliefs. Think of those times in your life when the false belief (which often comes from childhood) has been or can be proven otherwise by you.
7. Practice positive self-talk and be your own advocate. Be your own enabler and cheerleader.
8. Identify the things you want to be different.
9. Visualize and even fantasize what it is you want, what it will be like, and most importantly, what it will emotionally feel like to have it that way (or not that way). Do this daily. It’s like exercising a muscle you’re trying to build up.
10. Take small incremental steps and focus on only the next single step in the right direction. Avoid ever thinking about how hard it might be, all the effort that may or how long it might take. Just focus on this moment and this step. Then, before you know it…success!
11. All I have to do to get myself into action mode and past resistance is to think about not doing anything and the misery that I will live through by not doing it and hating myself for not doing it.

You have control

You are the programmer for your psycho-cybernetic loop, and you have the password access to reprogram it.

Here’s the thing: while it can be hard when you take the first step to change the loop to something better…you feel better.

You will immediately get excited and hopeful and feel better about yourself.

You will be happy and grateful you’re doing it. Appreciate this fact and enjoy it.

You’re changing your loop.

It’s ultimately your choice.

Do you want to be in the two previous cartoons by Roz I showed you?

Or this one?

If you value this kind of content, you can find more on my Substack page. You can subscribe at no cost.