In this solo episode of Live On Purpose Radio, Dr. Paul Jenkins takes on one of the most common laments he has heard in his practice: why do I do what I do when I know what I know? His answer is good news. Your brain is not malfunctioning. It is doing something it is remarkably good at, which is automating whatever you have already practiced. Neural pathways turn repeated experiences into cruise control, the same way walking, typing, or driving a car become automatic without a conscious thought.

That same process runs on our thoughts. We carry practiced ways of judging our circumstances, ourselves, and the people around us, and we have rehearsed some of those patterns thousands of times over decades. So when an old thought shows up on its own, there is no reason for guilt or shame. Familiar does not mean true. It means practiced. Dr. Paul introduces metacognition, thinking about thinking, as the place to start, because it creates a little space and that space is where choice lives. He also offers a shift in language: instead of “I’m just a negative person” or “I’m just an anxious person,” try “I have become very practiced at noticing things negatively.” A practiced pattern can be practiced differently.

To show what reprogramming takes, he describes the scrambled keyboards he brings to corporate trainings, with the keys popped off and put back in the wrong places. Most people need about forty-five seconds to type their own first name on one. Nobody would bother learning that layout without a reason, and that is the point. Two things are required to build a new neural pathway: meaning or purpose, and repetition. Meaning is essential but not enough on its own. You still have to take the keyboard home and put in the reps. He also reminds listeners not to confuse unfamiliar with unnatural, and points back to episode 721, “Now do it again tomorrow.”

The episode closes with a question and an invitation. What are you practicing? Notice one thought pattern today that seems to run automatically, without beating yourself up, and ask whether it is a pattern you want to keep practicing. You have thoughts, but you are not your thoughts. October’s theme on Positives is the brain, “the owner’s manual.” Positives is built for transformational learning through daily, weekly, and monthly practices, with the daily ones starting at three minutes a day. There’s a free sample at liveonpurposeradio.com/positives. Learn more about the show at liveonpurposeradio.com and about Dr. Paul’s work at drpauljenkins.com.