A Path through the Jungle

1. Understand Your Mind: The Chimp Model

The Human looks for solutions: The Chimp looks to win.

Three Teams in Your Head. The mind isn't a single entity but a team of three: the Human (rational, logical), the Chimp (emotional, instinctive), and the Computer (memory, habits). The Human seeks solutions, the Chimp seeks to win, and the Computer stores and automates behaviors. Understanding these distinct roles is the first step to managing your mind.

The Chimp's Impulsive Nature. The Chimp operates on feelings and intuition, often leading to impulsive reactions. It prioritizes survival and perpetuation of the species, working with drives and instincts. While the Chimp's emotions can be helpful, they can also be overwhelming and lead to unhelpful actions.

Harnessing the Teams. Recognizing when your Chimp is in control is crucial. Ask yourself, "Do I want this thought, behavior, or feeling?" If the answer is no, your Chimp is likely hijacking you. By understanding the strengths and weaknesses of each team, you can learn to choose the appropriate team to work with and achieve your goals.

2. Master the Rules: Programming Your Computer

The Computer can only give advice that the Human and Chimp have put into it.

The Computer's Role. The Computer stores memories, facts, and experiences, and performs automatic behaviors. It's programmed by both the Human and the Chimp, making it essential to ensure it contains helpful and constructive information. The Computer acts as an advisor, offering suggestions based on stored beliefs.

Gremlins and Autopilots. Unhelpful beliefs and behaviors are "Gremlins," while constructive ones are "Autopilots." Gremlins sabotage your functioning, while Autopilots support your goals. Replacing Gremlins with Autopilots is key to reprogramming your Computer.

Reprogramming for Success. You can change programs in your Computer by changing the way you think about something and establishing what is true and helpful. This involves identifying unhelpful beliefs or behaviors and replacing them with constructive alternatives. The Computer needs attention from time to time to remove unhelpful advice or false beliefs!

3. Develop Your Human: Choosing Stability

Working in Human mode can put us at great advantage for being successful.

Stability as the Key. Success, happiness, and confidence are more likely to happen when you have a stable and secure mind. This stability is achieved by consciously choosing to operate in Human mode, which allows for rational thinking and sound judgment.

React vs. Respond. Chimps react impulsively, while Humans respond thoughtfully. Responding involves accepting the reality of a situation and forming a plan to find a solution. This approach is more constructive and leads to better outcomes.

Dissociate and Decide. The starting point for developing yourself is to dissociate yourself from your machine and work out how you want to feel, think, and behave. This involves recognizing the options you have between what you want and what your Chimp wants.

4. Emotional Mastery: Managing Your Chimp

We CANNOT CONTROL the Chimp; we can only MANAGE it.

The Three-Step Process. Managing your Chimp involves a structured three-step process: exercise the Chimp (allow emotional expression), box the Chimp (address concerns with facts and truths), and form a plan (create a proactive strategy). This process helps to channel the Chimp's energy constructively.

Grade A Hits. When boxing the Chimp, use "Grade A hits" – truths that resonate deeply and cause a shift in thinking or behavior. These truths are unique to each individual and are more effective than generic statements.

The NEAT Process. When you recognize your Chimp is reacting or trying to react, begin by asking yourself "Is this normal FOR A CHIMP"? Then, ‘Expect’ your Chimp to react. ‘Accept’ the way your Chimp is reacting. Finally, ‘Take care of it’; make your plan to take care of the situation in the manner that you want to.

5. Harmony Within: Befriending Your Chimp

The Chimp is trying to help us at all times.

Acceptance is Key. To befriend your Chimp, you must first accept its nature. This means recognizing its inherent traits, both positive and negative, and understanding that it's always trying to help you, even if its methods are misguided.

Acknowledge the Negative. Address the negative aspects of your Chimp, such as overreaction and insecurity, by understanding their origins and developing strategies to manage them. This doesn't mean suppressing them, but rather learning to work with them.

Embrace the Positive. Recognize the positive aspects of your Chimp, such as its intuition and drive for perfection. Harness these strengths by channeling them constructively and adding perspective from your Human.

6. Nurture and Flourish: Meeting Your Chimp's Needs

The starting point for developing yourself, is to dissociate yourself from your machine, and work out how you want to feel, think and behave.

Support with the Computer. Befriend your Chimp by supporting it with your Computer. This involves programming the Computer with helpful beliefs and behaviors that can guide the Chimp in stressful situations.

Plan for Pleasure. Happy Chimps are easier to manage. Plan in pleasure by sweetening unpleasant tasks with rewards and linking activities to enjoyable experiences. This makes it more likely that your Chimp will cooperate.

Avoid Comparison. Prevent your Chimp from comparing itself to others, as this often leads to feelings of inadequacy. Instead, focus on living out your own values and standards.

7. Internal Language: Decoding Emotional Messages

Accurate interpretation of any emotional message from the Chimp helps to produce appropriate actions.

Emotions as Messengers. The Chimp constantly sends messages in the form of emotions. Learning to understand these messages is crucial for managing your mind effectively.

Distinguish the Message. The type of emotion isn't always as important as the message it's conveying. Focus on understanding what the Chimp is trying to communicate, rather than getting caught up in the emotion itself.

Speak the Chimp's Language. To communicate effectively with your Chimp, speak its language of feelings and emotions, rather than logic and facts. This involves acknowledging its concerns and addressing them in a way that resonates with its emotional nature.

8. Habit Reformation: Rewriting Your Automatic Behaviors

We CANNOT CONTROL the Chimp; we can only MANAGE it

The Power of Programming. The Computer can either give advice or take over. The Computer can only give advice that the Human and Chimp have put into it. Paradoxically, the Computer is only going to give them the advice that they put into it in the first place! It is more of a reminder. This ‘reminder’ is based on memory, experience and beliefs.

The Computer's Influence. The Computer can either give advice or take over. The Computer will need attention from time-to-time to remove unhelpful advice or false beliefs!

The 7th Step. The 7th Step is an optional step and one that many people neglect. This is the step that you can use to manage your mind. It is all about programming the Computer. If your Computer is programmed effectively, and cleared of Gremlins, then when the Chimp turns to the Computer, the Computer can take over. It can carry out your wishes and also settle the Chimp down. You can move directly to step 4a. This programming is something that you can do in your development time.

9. Life's Journey: Processing Significant Events

Setbacks and failures can always be seen as opportunities to learn from.

Acceptance and Understanding. Processing life events means accepting the reality of what has happened, understanding the facts, and working with them to move forward. This involves both the Human and the Chimp.

The Three-Step Process. When managing an emotional Chimp with a three-step structured process: Exercise the Chimp, Box the Chimp, and Form a plan.

The NEAT Process. When you recognize your Chimp is reacting or trying to react, begin by asking yourself "Is this normal FOR A CHIMP"? Then, ‘Expect’ your Chimp to do these things. ‘Accept’ the nature of your Chimp. Finally, ‘Take care of it’; make your plan to take care of the situation in the manner that you want to.

10. The Stone of Life: Building a Foundation for Stability

The critical factor in raising the probability of success is the stability of the individual person entering any process or system.

The Stone of Life. The ‘Stone of Life’ is an extremely important reference point in our Computers. It can be the ultimate reference point that stabilises the whole of the mind. It contains three aspects: reality (Truths), values and perspective.

The Three Pillars. The ‘Stone of Life’ is an extremely important reference point in our Computers. It can be the ultimate reference point that stabilises the whole of the mind. It contains three aspects: reality (Truths), values and perspective.

The 7th Step. The 7th Step is an optional step and one that many people neglect. This is the step that you can use to manage your mind. It is all about programming the Computer. If your Computer is programmed effectively, and cleared of Gremlins, then when the Chimp turns to the Computer, the Computer can take over. It can carry out your wishes and also settle the Chimp down. You can move directly to step 4a. This programming is something that you can do in your development time.

11. External Support: Building Your Troop

By not making assumptions and predictions and by going with the flow, we can manage each challenge, as it presents itself.

The Power of the Troop. The Troop is the person or group of people, who we can completely rely on. They are friends who will stand by us, whatever is happening. They will be the people, or the person, who when our back is against the wall, won’t let us down or walk away. Effectively, they will put us first. We might have many friends but only a few will be part of our Troop.

The 7th Step. The 7th Step is an optional step and one that many people neglect. This is the step that you can use to manage your mind. It is all about programming the Computer. If your Computer is programmed effectively, and cleared of Gremlins, then when the Chimp turns to the Computer, the Computer can take over. It can carry out your wishes and also settle the Chimp down. You can move directly to step 4a. This programming is something that you can do in your development time.

The 7th Step. The 7th Step is an optional step and one that many people neglect. This is the step that you can use to manage your mind. It is all about programming the Computer. If your Computer is programmed effectively, and cleared of Gremlins, then when the Chimp turns to the Computer, the Computer can take over. It can carry out your wishes and also settle the Chimp down. You can move directly to step 4a. This programming is something that you can do in your development time.

12. The Path to Peace: Stress Management and Resilience

We can think of the mind as being composed of three teams or systems

The 7th Step. The 7th Step is an optional step and one that many people neglect. This is the step that you can use to manage your mind. It is all about programming the Computer. If your Computer is programmed effectively, and cleared of Gremlins, then when the Chimp turns to the Computer, the Computer can take over. It can carry out your wishes and also settle the Chimp down. You can move directly to step 4a. This programming is something that you can do in your development time.

The 7th Step. The 7th Step is an optional step and one that many people neglect. This is the step that you can use to manage your mind. It is all about programming the Computer. If your Computer is programmed effectively, and cleared of Gremlins, then when the Chimp turns to the Computer, the Computer can take over. It can carry out your wishes and also settle the Chimp down. You can move directly to step 4a. This programming is something that you can do in your development time.

The 7th Step. The 7th Step is an optional step and one that many people neglect. This is the step that you can use to manage your mind. It is all about programming the Computer. If your Computer is programmed effectively, and cleared of Gremlins, then when the Chimp turns to the Computer, the Computer can take over. It can carry out your wishes and also settle the Chimp down. You can move directly to step 4a. This programming is something that you can do in your development time.

Last updated: March 30, 2025