Your brain is stuck on repeat, but you can change the track, explains our columnist John Sanei
The reality is, most of us wake up, think the same thoughts, react to the same problems, scroll the same feeds, and somehow expect life to throw us something new and exciting. The problem? It’s not life that’s stuck. It’s our brains. Your brain is a brilliant, energy-saving, prediction-obsessed machine. It’s designed to help you survive, not surprise you with miracles. And until you disrupt its loop, you’ll keep living on autopilot, even if the scenery changes. Let’s break this down…
Your Brain’s Prediction Loop
1. 90% of your thoughts are repetitive thoughts
Yes, you read that right. Most of what you think today, you thought yesterday. And probably the day before that. But here’s the kicker: most of those thoughts didn’t serve you well the first time around. They were filled with doubt, old narratives, unresolved emotions, or just plain noise. And yet, the brain loops them because, well, it’s efficient. If nothing changes, nothing surprises. And if you’re wondering why your life feels like it’s stuck in rerun mode, it’s because it is.
2. High beta keeps you wired and rigid
When your brain is in high beta, it’s basically running from a sabre-toothed tiger. Alert. Anxious. Addicted to control. It’s that clenched-jaw, jittery-email-checking, future-panicking frequency that so many of us mistake for “being productive.” But in high beta, creativity doesn’t stand a chance. Calm? Forget it. You’re surviving, not thriving. The irony? You can’t outthink your way into a better future from this state. You need to downshift to upgrade.
3. The same prediction traps you in the same reality
Here’s the sneaky part: your brain doesn’t wait for reality to unfold. It predicts it based on your past. So, if you’ve been hurt, disappointed, rejected, or just stuck for a while, your brain assumes tomorrow will be more of the same. It’s not trying to be negative; it’s just trying to be prepared. But without disrupting this loop, you’ll stay safe… and small. The comfort zone is rarely comfortable for long. It’s just familiar. And familiar doesn’t equal fulfilled.
Your Brain’s Most Expensive Moves
It turns out that your brain has a luxury tax; it charges more energy for anything that forces it to grow. And that’s exactly where your magic lives.
1. Moving your body
Movement is one of the quickest ways to jolt the brain out of stagnation. It’s energy-intensive, coordination-heavy, and signals the brain that something new is happening. That’s why a good workout doesn’t just make your muscles sore; it gives your mind clarity. Motion shakes loose old thought patterns. Literally.
2. Learning something new
New knowledge is expensive real estate in the brain. It takes time, effort, confusion, and a bit of identity stretching to install. But that stretch? That’s where reinvention begins. Your brain doesn’t like the chaos of not knowing. But if you can sit in that discomfort long enough, you’ll come out on the other side with more capacity and a radically different outlook.
3. Living with constant uncertainty
Ah, yes, the dreaded unknown. Your brain hates it. It scrambles for control, clings to old beliefs, and reverts to outdated behaviours. But here’s the twist: if you can train yourself to remain steady in the storm, you unlock a form of resilience that most people never tap into. Mastering uncertainty is less about knowing what’s coming and more about knowing who you are when you don’t.
To Change Who You Are
So now that we know how the brain loops, what it resists, and what it values, how do we actually shift?
1. Rewrite what you remember, heal the past
Your sense of self is a collage of memories, most of them unexamined, many of them inaccurate, and a few of them still painful. Healing doesn’t mean erasing the past. It means updating the story you tell about it. When you change the emotional charge of a memory, you change its influence on your future. And that changes you.
2. Rethink what you expect, disrupt the autopilot
Expectations are predictions dressed in confidence. If you don’t update them, they run your life without your permission. So, ask yourself, what am I expecting today? More stress? More of the same? Or am I willing to be surprised, delighted, expanded? Break the loop, and your future stops being a copy-paste of your past.
3. Refocus your attention, new input, new output
You can’t build a new life with old data. What you watch, who you spend time with, where you put your energy, all of it shape your internal operating system. Want different thoughts? Give your brain different ingredients. New books. New places. New conversations. New hobbies. It’s not fluff. It’s a strategy. Curate your inputs, and your outputs will upgrade naturally.
So, if your life feels repetitive, dull, or stuck, it’s not a lack of opportunity. It’s a glitch in your prediction loop. And the good news? You can rewrite it, not with wishful thinking, but with movement, learning, healing, and attention. Change your inputs. Change your memories. Change your expectations. Your brain will catch up. And when it does, your future will stop feeling like a rerun and start feeling like the breakthrough you’ve been waiting for.
