The primary goal of The Reprogrammed Systems Approach is to help us understand how we can make healthy decisions so that we lead ourselves away from the common path of poor health and modern disease and instead down the path of good health and a good life.
There are two pieces to this approach that are necessary to embrace if we are going to manifest this good, healthy life for ourselves:
- understand what the healthy decision is
- understand how we get ourselves to make the healthy decision
The Reprogrammed Mind Model is designed with the second point in mind – that is, the model can be used as a tool to help understand how to make better decisions that lead to healthier outcomes over a lifetime.
Here’s the magic of this model: if you can understand how to use it in your own life, you become equipped with the skill necessary to manifest the healthy body that you desire. This means that this model holds the key to your own reprogramming process – the aligned action that is required to take you from wherever you are on your own health journey to the healthiest version of you.
Healthy Decisions – The Key to Success in Your Own Reprogramming Process
Learning to make healthy decisions is a tough process – one that is complicated even further by the fact that each one of us has our own unique path to good health. Moreover, some of us may find ourselves at the beginning, taking the first steps towards better health. Others may have been at it a while, with a mountain of experience behind them. This means that, when it comes to making healthy decisions, what the right course of action is for one individual likely looks very different than the course of action for another individual.
Fortunately for us though, we can overcome this problem if we can understand that the secret to living a healthy life is to make the next right decision – the one that will steer us towards better health, whatever that may be.
If we can make the healthiest choice at any given moment, then we are all moving forward towards better health. If we can master this skill, then we can create healthier lives over our lifetimes, continually moving forward.
So, regardless of where you are on your own path, one factor remains constant for all of us: it is the decisions we make that will move us forward on the path of our choosing. Whether your path leads towards better health or takes you along the common path to poor health and modern disease – well, that is up to you.
However, if you allow me to do so, with this article I would love to be of assistance in guiding you through what the decision-making process is exactly so that you are better equipped with an understanding of what it really means to make healthy decisions aligned with The Reprogramming Process.
Because the bottom line is this: your health is a product of the decisions you make in every moment. Therefore, we must ensure that we are clear on how we, as human beings, make decisions. To understand this, we will take a short walk through how the human brain processes information and makes decisions, followed by my thoughts on how we can use this information to make the wisest, healthiest decisions.
With this article, I aim to provide you with an overview of the model with the intention that you walk away with an understanding of:
- the pathways of information processing and decision-making in the human body & mind
- where information related to our decisions arises from
- where space exists to be able to steer our course of action down a path that is aligned with our longterm goals.
If you’re on board, let’s get started.
Pathways of Information Transfer through the Body and Brain
To get started, I want you to think about where your automatic, programmed behavior arises from.
Take, for example, the following questions: Why is it that you find yourself reaching for unhealthy foods even though you truly desire not to? Why is it that you find yourself skipping the gym even though you pay all that money for it and promised that you would go?
Where does our automatic, programmed behavior arise from?
What is it that is the initiator of this action?
What were some of the steps that occurred in-between the initiator and the final outcome?
What was the final outcome?
Have your answers? Let’s walk through mine using The Reprogrammed Mind Models.
There are two categories of initiators (what I will call inputs) into the pathways that end in the decision to consume what we know to be unhealthy foods:
- Internal: physiological changes that are communicated to the brain (e.g. low blood sugar)
- External: information that the body receives through its senses (e.g. vision, hearing, smell)
For example, it may be that you suddenly have an urge to walk to the kitchen and eat a cookie because:
- Your blood sugar dropped, sending a signal to your brain to seek out sugar (internal)
- You smelled cookies baking in the kitchen, which was received as a signal by the brain that this highly palatable food is available (external)
What do you ultimately do with the scenario? Do you continue to move towards the kitchen and, ultimately, eat the cookies (even though you had promised you wouldn’t), or do you notice this action, stop, turn around, and avoid eating the cookies?
In the following images, I will walk through this pathway of information processing and decision-making. Note, I will focus on just the external (sensory) inputs, but keep in mind that internal inputs could lead down similar pathways.
Image 1 shows how the body receives sensory information, sends it to the brain where the information is processed, and several possible outputs are produced.
These outputs may arise as automatic action, as feelings or desires, or as thought. At the time that this occurs, we can finally pick up on this information, which enables us to then process the information consciously. Note that outputs may also take the form of signals sent back to the back (e.g. the release of hormones), but because you will not be aware of these, we will skip over them.
The best way to walk through this pathway from sensory input to output in the form of thought, feeling, or action, is to walk through an example. We’ll stick with the cookie theme, as I think it’s something we can all understand.
Imagine that you are walking down the street when you see or smell freshly baked cookies. What gives you the idea that there are, indeed, cookies in the vicinity? Is it a specific thought? A sensation? A feeling?
As you are walking down the street, a sensation may arise accompanied by a thought: “Ooh! Cookies!”
But before that happens, your body has already done work taking in the sensory input and processing it. What happens inside your body before you become aware?
First, your nose / eyes receive the information that there are cookies available. Then, this information is sent to the brain, which processes this information subconsciously. Finally, this information is brought into your awareness in the form of thought (oh! cookies!), feelings & desires (I want a cookie!), or the noticing of automatic action (become aware that head has turned towards cookies).
Note that most of this process is completed before your conscious awareness comes into play. Your body has already sensed the cookie and made computations as to what you will do about it – all without your control or awareness. At this point, your body may even already be taking action.
It is only once the brain has made its decision and spit out the decision in the form of thought, feeling, or desire, that you have any ability to do something about it.
At this point, now that this information is in your awareness, you have the ability to intervene. Now that you are aware that you may be heading to eat the cookies, you can stop yourself. You may choose to overpower your automatic, programmed desire to eat the cookies.
As shown in Image 2, this is willpower – it is using your conscious mind to understand that your body’s automatic desire to perform an action is not in alignment with your goals. It is noticing that you are thinking about cookies and/or heading towards cookies that then allows you to make a decision to change course.
Willpower is a truly remarkable human trait. It makes it so that we are not complete slaves to the programmed responses of our bodies. It is something to be deeply appreciated and used resourcefully.
It is also something to be cautious with, as it is often incredibly unreliable and, quite honestly, an unpleasant source to draw upon to sustain success.
Willpower can be useful, but it also tends to fail us when relied upon too often. At least, it often fails me, which is why I dislike teaching any sort of approach that requires any sort of dependence on it.
Because of its limitations, combined with my strong dislike of having to spend my days battling against myself to perform the actions that I truly desire – I think it is best that we find a different approach.
This new approach would allow us to navigate the modern world making healthy decisions, but to do so more consistently, and more enjoyably.
But, before we get there, we need to clarify some of this knowledge on decision-producing pathways. The perspective gained from this previous set of diagrams is useful because it helps us understand how the decision-making process actually includes multiple steps:
- First, when the body receives sensory input, the brain makes its own decisions as to what to do with this information.
- This decision is completely out of our control, and we only become aware of it once it pops into our mind as thought or feeling.
However, this model of the pathway of information processing and decision-making has some gaps, leading to a lack in its accuracy. To get closer to an accurate representation of the human body, brain, and mind, we need to tweak our model. But to do so, we need to get a bit more technical with our neuroscience.
Building the Reprogrammed Mind Models
The human brain can be broken up into two categories: that which is under our conscious awareness and that which is not. Understanding what little we have conscious control over will be important moving forward, and furthermore, understanding that most of the brain is really subconscious – out of touch of our conscious awareness – will be important as we learn to make healthy decisions.
Also, note that while we, as humans, live up in our minds amidst our thoughts, the reality is that it isn’t really our thoughts that are doing the conscious decision-making. It is something entirely different that is at work actually making these conscious decisions – a conscious will that is separate from our thoughts, feelings, and emotions – and it is important that we understand this difference as we go about making the decisions that will allow us to become our healthiest selves.
To capture this, I am going to change up the model and clarify some terms so that we achieve a more accurate understanding of our decisions, including the part that “we” play as conscious beings, along with the many parts that we do not have any control of, nor awareness of.
Let’s begin.
At any one moment, your body is receiving innumerable bits of information about your immediate environment:
– tactile information about your feet on the floor
– auditory information about numerous sounds in your environment
– visual information spanning your entire visual field
And yet, you only become aware of a tiny percentage of this information. The question for us is, what happens to make our conscious selves aware of this information?
To understand this answer, we need to expand the idea of the body and brain into more accurate groups.
When your body receives sensory information from your five senses, you only become aware of any of this sensory information once your subconscious mind decides that the piece of information is important enough to require conscious attention:
– when someone speaks your name, now that background voice becomes relevant and enters awareness
– when you see the person next to you pull out your favorite snack, now that unnoticed person becomes relevant and enters awareness
The point is, as we make our way through the day, the body receives a continuous stream of information from its five senses. And yet, we only become aware of a tiny percentage of this information.
The rest of this information is processed and filtered out by the subconscious brain, which encompasses an incredible amount of processing power (enough to manage the load of sensory information, integrate it with previous knowledge and experiences and physiologic demands, all the while maintaining homeostasis within the body so that we continue to function).
Whether or not that sensory input reaches your conscious awareness is dependent on the processing performed by the subconscious.
If the subconscious decides that this information is important enough, it may take action with various forms of output. One output may be a change in an internal sub-system that is completely outside of conscious awareness, and another automatic output may be recognized as an automatic movement.
But there is another automatic output of the subconscious processing to what I will call our “human mind” – which is any form of information that is sent directly into our conscious awareness (e.g. thoughts, feelings, or emotions).
As I mentioned above, it is important to understand these pathways if we are going to make the best decisions possible.
- First, we must understand that this “human mind” is separate from the subconscious processing that goes on before we become aware of any of it.
- Second, we must understand that whether or not we ever become aware of this information is up to the decisions made by subconscious processing.
- Finally, we must understand that once we receive this information, we are capable of intervening, although it takes an effort to do so.
This intervention is what we tend to call “willpower,” which we rely upon when we make a conscious decision to overpower the decision made by subconscious processing. When we tap into our willpower, we can change the course of action that our subconscious minds decided was the best course of action, based on the internal state of the body and the knowledge and experience stored within the brain.
Again, note that this power is something to be cherished and used as frequently as need be. As long as our subconscious minds continue to make unhealthy decisions, there is a need to tap into willpower to steer our bodies in a direction of healthy action.
However, this power is also something to be understood as an insufficient method to meet our needs. Let me explain.
While the common advice surrounds this idea of “willpower” and “self-control” to guide us through life avoiding all the temptations of the modern world – well, the reality is that this method doesn’t work so well. Instead of diving into the many reasons it fails us, I will pose some questions to you:
How has the use of “willpower” kept you aligned with your conscious desire?
While I’m sure it has helped you in some cases, I want you to reflect on how it has failed you. Does it fail often? Are there certain parts of the day in which it reliably fails you? Are there certain circumstances during which it is particularly difficult to succeed in making healthy decisions when relying on willpower?
Moreover, even when you have been able to use its powers successfully, how does it feel to constantly tap into this source? Do you enjoy battling yourself as you move through your day?
Or would you rather spend that energy and attention elsewhere?
The Reprogramming Process: Long Term Decision Making
Individuals living in the modern world regularly face a problem with an abundance of sensory information surrounding the ever-presence of industrial not-so-foods. This information is sent to the brain for processing, and the case for most individuals is that this information appears in conscious awareness as a strong desire to consume these unhealthy foods.
This leads to the need for a conscious decision: will I do what my body wants to do and eat that food, or do I overpower this programmed response and instead choose a different action?
This use of willpower is a great gift, as it allows us to have self-control and make our own decisions. However, we are all aware of the deficiencies with this method of making healthy choices, which include:
– the inevitable failure to consistently make the healthy decision
– the unpleasantness that goes along with constantly battling against the self.
If we want to make it through life making the healthiest decisions possible, while also enjoying the process, we need a different approach.
Which is where The Reprogramming Process comes back into play.
I began this article by bringing your attention to the fact that it is really difficult to navigate this world making healthy decisions. Let’s expand on this idea – not to feel sorry for ourselves or let ourselves off the hook – but rather, so that we have clarity on what we are up against.
Look, I know, making your way through each and every day is tough when the grocery stores are lined with industrial not-so-foods with packaging that speaks to your very core and leaves you reaching in. I know, all you may want to do is go shopping for some clothes, but they waft those aromas through the air and it is so easy to find yourself with deep-fried goo that is perceived by you as a gift from the gods.
I get it – I live in this world too, and I too sometimes hate that I have to turn down sweet-smelling goodies that make my mouth water. I hate it that it is so hard to get groceries without battling past the bakery.
And I hate this so much that I decided to spend this time to help us all figure out how we can make decisions that lead us down a path where we no longer have to fight against ourselves to make healthy decisions.
Here’s the idea:
If, instead of focusing our attention on simply battling with ourself over the years, we instead focused our attention on Reprogramming the underlying circuitry that drives these subconscious decisions, then we could create our own pathways – pathways that lead to a dead end at the subconscious level for industrial not-so-foods, and pathways that lead to a joyful experience for the consumption of real, whole foods.
This way, we wouldn’t have to “force” ourselves to eat healthy foods. We also wouldn’t have to “deprive” ourselves of unhealthy foods that we currently crave. Instead, we could go about our lives effortlessly ignoring the unhealthy junk while easily and naturally enjoying the healthy foods that nourish our bodies.
This means that any sort of information about unhealthy option never even enters our conscious awareness.
Since this information never receives any conscious attention, then we don’t have to fight against ourselves to get our bodies to make the healthy decision. The healthy decision was already made for us, leaving our conscious mind free to handle more enjoyable tasks.
I understand that you may be skeptical about this idea. Sure, it sounds great, but come on – how could that be feasible? How can we change the underlying circuitry of our brain to produce outputs that we desire?
But this isn’t really any crazy new idea – it’s something that has already been happening to us as we go about our lives.
Can you think of any foods that you enjoyed as a kid, but are now revolted by? Similarly, are there any foods that you once thought were disgusting, only to enjoy immensely today?
Let me present my own example:
As a kid, I could not stand any ounce of onion in any food. Even the thought of it was enough to make me cringe. The reasons for this are many, but I can tell you the most significant factor was completely environmental: I grew up in a household that hated onions, and because of this, I learned a story that onions are gross, and I repeated this story to myself, never eating them, and never creating an opportunity for this response to onions to change.
But guess what happened? I went off to college, leaving that household, and began cooking with new people who, guess what – loved onions.
At first, it was a real willpower battle to say yes to these foods. My body wanted to pick out the onions, or even prepare my own meals. But for a short period of time, I made the effort to just eat them anyway. And guess what – I started to enjoy them!
Today, onions automatically, without any conscious effort, make their way into many of my meals, and it’s all because I put in an effort to change my story surrounding onions, allowing them into my routine, and allowing my body to embrace their taste. I put forth no conscious effort to get myself to eat this healthy food, and instead, find enjoyment when I eat them.
The truth is, the decisions that are made automatically (underneath the level of our conscious awareness) – these are subject to change. Even though we may sincerely believe that we like or dislike certain foods, and even though we may crave certain foods while being disgusted by others – this is all subject to change, if only we become wise enough to make the necessary decisions that reprogram the ways in which our subconscious processes information.
The same can be said about exercise or any other choice that we have to “force” ourselves to take on. We not only have the ability to change our course of action away from an automatic unhealthy response and towards a healthy response – we also have the ability to change our automatic responses towards ones that are more aligned with our good health goals.
This means that it is entirely possible to create a life for yourself in which you automatically reach for healthy options while automatically avoiding the unhealthy options. You just have to be willing to put in the effort, now, so that you don’t have to spend the rest of your life battling yourself and instead can automatically make healthier decisions later.