A Changed Mind

1. Suffering isn't caused by external circumstances, but by our internal state.

All of our personal suffering is internal, not external.

Internal source. The stress, anxiety, overwhelm, and general discontent we experience daily don't originate from the challenges or situations in our lives. These feelings, which the author collectively terms "suffering," are generated from within us. While external events can be difficult or painful, the emotional distress we attach to them is a product of our internal landscape.

Meaning matters. Human beings are meaning-making machines, constantly interpreting their experiences. It's not the experience itself, but the meaning we give to it, or our beliefs about it, that determines our emotional response. This means that two people can face the exact same challenge, but one might experience suffering while the other finds opportunity, based solely on their internal interpretation.

A way out. Recognizing that suffering is internal is the first step towards liberation. It shifts the focus from trying to control or change the external world to understanding and transforming our inner world. This realization empowers us, as it places the capacity for change squarely within our own control, regardless of outside circumstances.

2. Unconscious childhood beliefs create an "Inner Conflict" that limits our lives.

The vast majority of our belief systems, which inform the way we perceive the world and who we are as people—our personalities—come from our observations of what our caretakers said, felt, and did when we were children.

Early programming. Our core beliefs about ourselves, others, and the world are largely formed in childhood by observing our parents and early experiences. These beliefs, like "I don't know how to do it right" or "money is hard to make," become unconscious programs running in the background of our minds. They shape our perceptions and expectations for decades.

Inner conflict. These unconscious programs often clash with our conscious desires as adults. We might consciously want financial abundance, but unconsciously believe money is scarce. This internal incongruence creates an "Inner Conflict," manifesting as stress, anxiety, and resistance whenever we pursue our desires. The problem isn't the external goal, but the internal belief opposing it.

Invisible drivers. Because these beliefs are often formed subtly and are deeply ingrained, we're frequently unaware of them. We feel stuck or self-sabotage without understanding why. Identifying these hidden programs is crucial because they are the only real barrier preventing us from achieving our goals and living the life we desire.

3. Our beliefs drive a self-fulfilling cycle of thoughts, feelings, actions, and results.

Your actions produce the results you have in your life. If action is the cause, the result is the effect.

The Five Primary Drivers. Our internal beliefs are the fundamental drivers of our external reality. This process follows a predictable chain:

• Beliefs dictate your Thoughts.
• Your Thoughts dictate how you Feel.
• Your Feelings determine your Actions.
• Your Actions determine your Results.
• Your Results reinforce your original Beliefs.

Self-fulfilling prophecy. This cycle creates a self-fulfilling prophecy. If you believe you're not good enough, you'll have thoughts of inadequacy, feel insecure, take hesitant actions (or no action), get poor results, and these results will confirm your initial belief. The system is perfectly designed to validate whatever you believe, whether it serves you or not.

The real problem. We often try to change our results by changing our actions (e.g., trying a new diet, a new marketing strategy). However, without changing the underlying belief, the cycle persists. The real problem isn't the action or the result; it's the belief driving the entire system. Changing the belief is the leverage point for transforming the cycle.

4. The brain is a goal-achieving machine wired by our beliefs and perceptions.

Your brain is a goal-achieving machine, and the instructions it is operating against are the assumptions or beliefs you have about life.

Wired by experience. From birth, our brains are constantly forming neural connections based on our experiences and the meanings we assign to them. By age seven, we have quadrillions of connections, creating a unique "lens" through which we perceive the world. This lens is heavily influenced by our early beliefs.

The "story". Our brains automatically generate narratives, or "stories," based on these ingrained beliefs. When a new situation arises, the brain quickly matches it to a similar past experience and applies the same meaning and emotional response. This creates an inner dialogue that feels like "us" but is often just a pre-programmed reaction, like panicking around dogs after being bitten as a child.

Psycho-cybernetic loop. This automatic process creates a psycho-cybernetic loop where we relive the past in the present, reinforcing old beliefs and limiting our ability to see new possibilities. We become trapped in a "groundhog day" existence, experiencing similar problems repeatedly because our perception is filtered by the past. Seeing the "story" as just a story is the first step to breaking free.

5. The key to transformation is realizing beliefs are decisions you can change.

It was this: beliefs are decisions.

Decide differently. The groundbreaking realization is that our beliefs, even the deeply ingrained ones from childhood, are simply decisions we made about life. When the author, as a child, concluded "I didn't know how to do it right," he unconsciously decided that was true. This means that if a belief is a decision, we have the power to make a new decision.

Response-ability. Once we become aware of a limiting belief, we gain "response-ability"—the ability to respond differently. We don't have to be stuck with the old decision. We can consciously choose a new belief that aligns with what we want to create. This simple act of deciding is the most powerful leverage point for change.

"The how" follows. A common barrier is feeling we need to know how to achieve something before we can decide it's possible. However, neuroscience shows the brain doesn't distinguish between imagination and reality. Deciding and imagining the desired outcome first activates new neural pathways. The "how"—the ideas, resources, and synchronicities—naturally emerges after the decision, not before.

6. The Decision Matrix is a powerful tool to rewire your brain by finding evidence for new beliefs.

The Decision Matrix takes you through a process of actually “seeing” that the limiting belief isn’t true.

A practical tool. The Decision Matrix is a three-step mental technology designed to transform limiting beliefs permanently. It leverages the insight that beliefs are decisions and that the brain is a goal-achieving machine that seeks evidence for what it believes.

• Step 1: Become aware of the limiting belief (often triggered by a Primal state emotion).
• Step 2: Make a new decision (the opposite of the limiting belief).
• Step 3: Find the evidence that the new decision is true.

Finding the truth. The power lies in Step 3. By actively searching for evidence supporting the new decision, you access dormant memories and experiences that contradict the old limiting belief. This process reveals that the limiting belief was never actually 100% true; you simply filtered reality to see only evidence for it. Seeing the untruth dissolves the old belief.

Neural pruning. This process facilitates "neural pruning," weakening the old neural networks associated with the limiting belief and strengthening new pathways aligned with the empowered decision. Unlike temporary fixes like affirmations, the Decision Matrix creates lasting change by proving the old belief's invalidity using your own life's data. It's a direct method for rewiring your brain.

7. The Mind Hack Method is a system for high-energy, resourceful thinking and action.

Successful people have learned how to think according to a series of thought processes that build energy.

Beyond ordinary thinking. Most people operate from the "Ordinary Model of Thinking" (Limiting Beliefs -> Problems -> Confusion -> Questions -> Fear -> (Re)Actions), which drains energy and perpetuates suffering. Successful people use the "Mind Hack Method," a deliberate process that builds energy and leads to effective action.

The six principles:

• Decisions: Start with empowered decisions to unlock energy.
• Gratitude: Focus on appreciation to maintain high energy and attract more good.
• Clarity: Use high energy to gain clear vision and imagine the desired future.
• Questions: Ask empowering questions to source ideas and the "how."
• Faith: Cultivate unshakable belief that things are working out (failure isn't real).
• Actions: Take powerful, aligned action from a resourceful state.

Energy is key. This method emphasizes building and maintaining high energy. You cannot solve problems or create change effectively from a low-energy state of fear or confusion. Each step in the Mind Hack Method is designed to elevate your energy and align your internal state with your desired external outcomes.

8. There are only two states of being: Primal (suffering) and Powerful (aligned).

There are only two states of being—Powerful states and Primal states.

Emotional spectrum. All human emotions fall into one of two categories: Powerful states (joy, peace, curiosity, creativity, connection) or Primal states (anger, stress, overwhelm, fear, jealousy, depression). You are always in one or the other, never both simultaneously.

Nervous system link. These states correlate directly with your nervous system activity. Powerful states align with the parasympathetic ("rest and digest") system, conserving and building energy. Primal states align with the sympathetic ("fight or flight") system, expending energy.

The source of change. All desired change and creation—whether in health, wealth, relationships, or purpose—originates from a Powerful state. When you are in a Primal state, you lack the energy and resourcefulness needed for effective action and transformation. The goal is to reduce time spent in Primal states and increase time in Powerful states.

9. All suffering is caused by unintelligent thinking—beliefs that are simply untrue.

All suffering is caused by one thing only: your own thinking.

Untrue thoughts. The sole cause of suffering (Primal states) is entertaining thoughts that are not aligned with the true, intelligent, loving nature of reality. When your thoughts misinterpret reality—believing life is unfair, you're not enough, or bad things happen randomly—they create dissonance.

Emotional guidance. Your nervous system acts as an emotional guidance system. Good feelings (Powerful states) signal that your thoughts are aligned with truth and reality. Bad feelings (Primal states) signal that your thoughts are misaligned and untrue. Suffering is the feeling of being disconnected from what is real.

The moment of transformation. The key to permanent change is seeing your unintelligent thinking as unintelligent. When you realize a thought causing suffering is simply untrue, its power dissolves. This moment of seeing the untruth is the single moment of transformation, instantly shifting you from a Primal to a Powerful state and rewiring your brain.

10. Reality is an intelligent, loving system that responds precisely to your vibration.

This Infinite Intelligence that operates as the Hindus say “amidst and beyond” our reality is a unifying energetic framework or matrix connecting all material things...

Connected field. Science and spirituality converge on the idea of an underlying field of energy or consciousness (Intelligence, Higher Power, God) that connects everything. This field is not random but operates according to precise, mathematical laws, like gravity. You are an individual expression of this universal Intelligence.

Vibrational reality. Everything, including your thoughts and emotions, is energy vibrating at a specific frequency. Your nervous system emits this vibration into the field. This field receives your predominant vibration (your beliefs and feelings) and responds by materializing experiences that match that frequency. What you make matter in your mind becomes matter in your reality.

Loving design. This system is inherently loving and designed for your growth and evolution. Even challenging or undesired experiences ("contrast") are not punishments but intelligently curated setups. They reflect your unconscious beliefs back to you, providing opportunities to see the untruth in your thinking and choose a more aligned, powerful path. Nothing ever truly goes "wrong"; it's always working for your highest good.

11. Consistently aligning with truth transforms your state, reengineers your reality, and unlocks your full potential.

You are no longer the person you were, but you are the person you were capable of becoming.

The practice. The path to becoming a "Phenomenon"—someone operating at their full potential—involves consistently noticing when you're in a Primal state, identifying the untrue thinking causing it, and using tools like the Decision Matrix to realign with truth. This practice prunes old neural pathways and forges new ones.

Raising consciousness. As you reduce time spent in suffering and increase time in Powerful states, your nervous system evolves. You move through stages of consciousness (Asleep, Aware, Awake, Phenomenon), gaining greater self-awareness, intuition, resilience, and connection to the field of Intelligence.

Co-creating reality. From a Powerful state, aligned with truth and Intelligence, you become a conscious co-creator of your reality. Your thoughts, emotions, and actions resonate with the loving, abundant nature of the system, attracting desired experiences. You navigate challenges with grace, see opportunities others miss, and manifest your goals with increasing ease. You reengineer both yourself and your life, living a powerful, joyful, and impactful existence.

Last updated: May 15, 2025