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Switch Your Brain To Direct Mode | Mel Robbins


you’ve got two modes in the way in which
your brain operates the default mode and
the direct mode default I call autopilot
that’s like when your thoughts drift
it’s when you’re on autopilot it’s when
you go through your day without even
thinking the direct mode is the mode
where you’re present where you’re in the
moment where you’re controlling what you
think about okay and I’m gonna teach you
to catch yourself when you’re on
autopilot or default and to take control
of what you’re thinking about and switch
into the direct mode when you need to
and the reason why this is important has
to do with a question that we get all
the time what can I do to teach myself
to stop thinking worst case scenarios
when it comes to making changes in my
life how many of you can relate to that
you know you want to make changes you’ve
got a lot you want to do in your life
but then you start thinking about those
changes and you immediately start
catastrophizing you start worrying you
start thinking about all the reasons why
it’s not going to happen
this is so common and the reason why
it’s common is because somebody in your
past either trained you to think this
way or you’ve had so many bad things
happen that you’ve trained yourself to
assume and predict that bad things are
always going to happen to you and that
is a terrible terrible way to live your
life and I know a lot of you do and so
we want to change that and the reason
why it’s a terrible way to live your
life is because there will be bad things
that happen there will it’s a fact of
life but if you are constantly allowing
your mind to default to thinking that
bad things will happen or thinking that
you’re out of shape or thinking that
you’re a loser or thinking that you’re
not worthy or thinking that things
aren’t going to turn out it becomes your
default mode of thinking the default
mode network is a series of neurons in
your brain that has automated certain
things okay and the reason why we have a
default mode network is because we need
it when you learn how to do things on
default you can do them without thinking
very important for you so that you’re
not taxing your brain all day
when you learn to write with your right
hand or your left hand it becomes part
of the default mode network the problem
is thinking patterns become part of your
default mode network so if you’re
someone who wakes up and you have all
these dreams and aspirations but your
default mode is to think about the worst
case scenario your default mode is to
say I’m an imposter I’m a loser I’m not
likeable nobody likes me I’m not lovable
it has become part of your default mode
network and it’s super important for you
to realize that just like I could go
from being a right-hander and teach
myself how to be a left-hander it is the
exact same process for you to go for
somebody who defaults to thinking
negative garbage to becoming somebody
who thinks directly it is going to be a
process not an event this is the work of
changing the patterns in your mind
there’s no other way to do it now a
couple things I want you to do today I
want you to realize that you are in
default mode forty-six point nine
percent of the time that’s half of the
day you’re in autopilot but that’s fine
when autopilot are just kind of the
things like writing or driving a car
drinking a cup of coffee or pulling on
your pants it’s not a good thing when
the default mode is I suck life isn’t
going to turn out nobody loves me I
can’t do anything right
I’m not worthy autopilot is great when
it’s helpful it’s horrendous for you
when it is working against you
visualization is training you to go from
default to direct that’s why it works
visualization is a form of going from
the default mode where you think
negative to a direct mode where you’re
in the right now and you’re directing
your thoughts and you’re in control of
what you’re thinking project yourself
into a future state where your
self-worth is awesome
what are the things that you do when you
live in that state and that
visualization and jumping into the
future should give you a clue as to what
changes you need to make right now so
today I want to take it a step further
today all I want you to do is I want you
as you go out throughout your day I want
you to notice when your thoughts drift
as you go through your day and things
are happening I want you to notice am i
present or am i drifting and saying
something that’s really nasty to myself
and if you do catch yourself saying
something nasty to yourself here’s what
I want you to do I want you to start to
write down what is your version of nasty
what is the default mode that got
programmed into your brain a long time
ago maybe was your mother who said
terrible things too maybe was your
father who is abusive maybe you were in
a relationship that destroyed you maybe
you had an emotionally abusive boss
maybe you got a divorce and you feel
like you’re unlovable whatever it is
there’s a default mode that you have
that we gotta get rid of seriously and
the way that we’re going to get rid of
it is we got to unearth it so today I
want you to pay attention this would be
a very confronting exercise for a lot of
you because when you shine the spotlight
on things that are underneath the
surface you can start to feel heavy it’s normal
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