If we want to win the war in our minds, we have to be willing to rewire our thought patterns, rewire our brain.

It is our ability to do certain things without actively thinking about them.Example: While brushing our teeth, we do not think about how to brush our teeth. Instead, we are mostly thinking about the rest of the day.⚔️ This process is a survival mechanism, but it can act as a double-edged sword if we develop automaticity for a wrong habit.

Automaticity

Our brain is designed to look for patterns. We keep thinking the things that we keep thinking and doing the things that we keep doing. Therefore, trying a new thought and learning a new thing can be awkward.
The only way we can instill a good habit in ourselves is by:
<ul>
 <li>Continuously repeating the same action. This creates a pattern in our brain and leads to automaticity.</li>
</ul>
This is called rewiring our brain. 🧠

Why Is Learning Something New Difficult?

When we try to change a behavior, we only focus on the behavior by committing to start or stop doing something. 
<ul>
 <li>I am going to eat healthy and exercise every day starting tomorrow.</li>
 <li>I am going to quit smoking.</li>
 <li>I am not going to let others' opinions upset me.</li>
</ul>
We either never start or we fall back soon. This is because we are trying to cut the branch. 
💡We have to figure out the root of our behavior. 
❓What is the trigger?
❓What emotions do I feel in response to the trigger?
❓Is there a different way in which I can perceive the triggering events?

We Do Not Cut the Branch, We Remove the Roots

If we keep driving over grass through the same route again and again, we create a rut. The same goes for our negative thinking patterns. The more we think, the more we reinforce them.
The opposite is to create our own trench of truth. We should write a declaration of the truth and keep reading and reciting it again and again until we internalize the truth.
This is creating a new neural pathway and developing a healthy habit over a bad one. ⭐

Recognize Your Ruts, Create Your Own Trench

Thy word have I hid in mine heart, That I might not sin against thee.

The limbic system located in our brain, is a neuronal circuit that controls emotional behaviour and motivational drives. Two major part of the system are <ol><li>The Hypothalamus</li><li>Hippocampus </li></ol>The Hypothalamus also controls the body temperature, our drive to eat and drink and our body weight. The limbic system classifies a sensation as Pleasant or Unpleasant. This is also known as Reward and Punishment. If a stimulus causes any of these sensations, the response of the brain becomes progressively intense and the memory is reinforced.

The Limbic System

Short Term Memory: New information results in memory traces in the brain. Initially what we get is Short Term Memory. Memory Sensitisation: If activated repeatedly, there will be initiation of chemical and physical changes in the neural junction called synapse. This causes facilitation or strengthening of the neural pathways Long Term Memory: Our brain has the tendency to rehearse new found information, especially those that create a sensation of reward or punishment. This eventually causes formation of Long Term Memories.

How Memories Are Formed?

And be not conformed to this world: but ye be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

Inspired by the book "Winning the War In Your Mind" by Craig Groeschel

Understand yourself and those around you.

psychology

Psychology

religionandspirituality

Religion & Spirituality

personaldevelopment

Personal Development

problemsolving

Problem Solving

books

Books

Thoughts, Memories and Behaviours: The Triplets That Rule Us

"Our lives are always moving in the direction of our strongest thoughts."

Do you ever feel locked up or trapped? Do you feel held back from living the life you want to live? We all do at some point in our lives.When we believe that the door is locked, and there is no way out, it is a lie that we are feeding into. We often lie to ourselves.<ul><li>If we speak harshly to someone, we say "I am an awful and hateful person who will never be loved."</li><li>If we help out a difficult person, we say "I have done enough good deeds; I do not need to try anymore."</li><li>If a date does not go well, we say "I will remain single forever."</li></ul>To find the unlocked door, we have to recognize our lies first.

The Locked Door

Have you ever tried getting into a healthy diet plan? Did temptations hit you, driving you crazy to the point that you had to give in? There are moments when you are able to say "no," and then there are moments when you feel very weak. The same goes for smoking, losing our temper, or trying to avoid negative thinking.
Our mind is a battlefield.
Every day, we are engaged in a battle, but are we aware of it? If we ignore the battle, we lose.
We have to stop being a prisoner of war and start taking charge.

The Battles in Our Mind

Think 💬<ul><li>Are my thoughts tearing me down?</li><li>Do I think worried thoughts?</li><li>Are my thoughts self deprecating?</li><li>Do I find myself sceptical of others?</li><li>Do I lean towards imagining worst-case scenario?</li><li>Do I think peaceful thoughts?</li></ul>

Auditing Our Thoughts

"Finally brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things."

The saying dates back to 8th century Buddhist teachings. There are similar phrases in Confucius philosophy. Mahatma Gandhi adopted the principle and this popularly came to be know as 'Gandhiji's Three Monkeys'Caution 🚫 : The saying does not imply turning a blind eye.Inference💡: We must not wilfully subject our mind to negative contents that have no significance in our lives. Because what we hear and see is what we think; and what we think is what we become!

See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil

⚡ Step back and pause for a while. Observe the thoughts crossing your mind.⚡It may be difficult to point out the lies we tell ourselves; but it is easy to identify the problems we face. Identify the problem, then find out the trigger.⚡We do not possess the power to win this war alone. Borrow the power! Seek help from friends, family, therapists, and experts. If you are a religious person, seek God's guidance.⚡If we keep doing the same things, we must not expect different results. If we want a change, we have to figure out a new approach.⚡Do not let your past hurts blind you from the truth.

One, Two, Three, Four, I Declare a Thought War

We can interpret this in different ways, but it all leads to the same destination: Freedom👩🏽‍🔬 If you are a science person: The lies stand for cognitive bias. Identify the bias by asking the right questions and do your best to get rid of them.🙏🏽If you are a religious person: The truth stands for words of God. "God created me, God loves me more than I love myself‌, he has my best interests in mind. I believe in God's plans."

Remove The Lies, Replace Them With Truth

Are your thoughts out of control--just like your life? Do you long to break free from the spiral of destructive thinking? Let God's truth become your battle plan to win the war in your mind!We've all tried to think our way out of bad habits and unhealthy thought patterns, only to find ourselves stuck with an out-of-control mind and off-track daily life. Pastor and New York Times bestselling author Craig Groeschel understands deeply this daily battle against self-doubt and negative thinking, and in this powerful new book he reveals the strategies he's discovered to change your mind and your life for the long-term.Drawing upon Scripture and the latest findings of brain science, Groeschel lays out practical strategies that will free you from the grip of harmful, destructive thinking and enable you to live the life of joy and peace that God intends you to live. Winning the War in Your Mind will help you:<ul><li>Learn how your brain works and see how to rewire it</li><li>Identify the lies your enemy wants you to believe</li><li>Recognize and short-circuit your mental triggers for destructive thinking</li><li>See how prayer and praise will transform your mind</li><li>Develop practices that allow God's thoughts to become your thoughts</li></ul>God has something better for your life than your old ways of thinking. It's time to change your mind so God can change your life.

mindfulness

Mindfulness

Craig Groeschel

Winning the War in Your Mind

Confirmation Bias refers to our tendency to interpret new information in a way that supports our existing theories and beliefs, rather than objectively considering all the facts.
<ul>
<li>We often filter out or ignore any information that contradicts our current views, leading to a strong and often disproportionate support for our preconceived ideas.</li>
<li>Indications to the contrary are quickly dismissed as exceptions or special cases.</li>
<li>Our bias is often influenced by our emotions and past experiences.</li>
</ul>

Confirmation Bias

CONFIRMATION BIAS

Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored! ⚡To overcome confirmation bias, write down your beliefs and consciously seek disconfirming evidence.<ul><li>Set aside preconceived notions</li><li>Be open-minded to opposing viewpoints</li><li>Challenge your own beliefs</li></ul>Next time, before jumping to a conclusion, make sure you have thoroughly examined all evidence.

How To Deal With Confirmation Bias?

Our minds tend to focus on examples that are easily remembered. Example: When we see news of car accidents, we become anxious when driving on the highway ourselves. "May be I'll end up in an accident too". However, the likehood of dying from lifestyle diseases like Diabetes or Hypertension is much higher. Since that is not often highlighted in the news, they are often overlooked. <ul><li>Our minds prioritize information that is most easily accessible or most recently encountered.</li></ul>

Availability Bias

We are confident that we notice everything in front of us. But in reality, we often only see what we are focusing on.Simply put, whenever we are paying attention to something, whether it is painting, reading, driving, or observing a person of interest, we tend to not notice certain events around us, no matter how notable they may be.

Illusion of Attention: The Gorilla in the Room

Whatever we fail to notice remains unheeded. We may overlook important details, leading to potential biases in our decision-making.The Danger of Illusion: Focusing on only certain aspects can lead to us missing out on key information that may have a negative impact in the future.Be Mindful:<ul><li>Pay attention to your biases and try not to prioritize certain information over others.</li><li>Take a step back and reassess your decisions to ensure all important factors are considered.</li></ul>

Avoiding Attention Bias

Know how our subconscious mind controls our action with illusions

A world-class thinker counts the 100 ways in which humans behave irrationally, showing us what we can do to recognize and minimize these “thinking errors” to make better decisions and have a better life Despite the best of intentions, humans are notoriously bad—that is, irrational—when it comes to making decisions and assessing risks and tradeoffs. Psychologists and neuroscientists refer to these distinctly human foibles, biases, and thinking traps as “cognitive errors.” Cognitive errors are systematic deviances from rationality, from optimized, logical, rational thinking and behavior. We make these errors all the time, in all sorts of situations, for problems big and small: whether to choose the apple or the cupcake; whether to keep retirement funds in the stock market when the Dow tanks, or whether to take the advice of a friend over a stranger. The “behavioral turn” in neuroscience and economics in the past twenty years has increased our understanding of how we think and how we make decisions. It shows how systematic errors mar our thinking and under which conditions our thought processes work best and worst. Evolutionary psychology delivers convincing theories about why our thinking is, in fact, marred. The neurosciences can pinpoint with increasing precision what exactly happens when we think clearly and when we don’t.Drawing on this wide body of research, The Art of Thinking Clearly is an entertaining presentation of these known systematic thinking errors--offering guidance and insight into everything why you shouldn’t accept a free drink to why you SHOULD walk out of a movie you don’t like it to why it’s so hard to predict the future to why shouldn’t watch the news. The book is organized into 100 short chapters, each covering a single cognitive error, bias, or heuristic. Examples of these concepts include: Reciprocity, Confirmation Bias, The It-Gets-Better-Before-It-Gets-Worse Trap, and the Man-With-A-Hammer Tendency. In engaging prose and with real-world examples and anecdotes, The Art of Thinking Clearly helps solve the puzzle of human reasoning.

Rolf Dobelli is a Swiss author and businessman. He began his writing career as a novelist in 2002, but he is best known internationally for his bestselling non-fiction The Art of Thinking Clearly (2011, English 2013), for which The Times has called him "the self-help guru the Germans love".

Thoughts, Memories and Behaviours: The Triplets That Rule Us

Winning the War in Your Mind

The Art of Thinking Clearly

Kasturi Nath