February 17, 2025 • 1hr 10min
How to Control Your Mind & Redirect Your Energy to Self Transformation
The Mel Robbins Podcast
Key Takeaways
- Your brain is a supercomputer designed to solve problems, spot patterns, learn, create and grow - if you don't intentionally direct it toward positive goals, it will turn against you with negative thoughts
- The 5 key skills to take control of your mind and redirect negative thoughts:
- Give your brain a project or creative task to focus on
- Train your reticular activating system by looking for hearts
- Use manifestation techniques to embed positive beliefs
- Direct thinking with morning/evening reflection questions
- Practice mindfulness and letting thoughts pass
- Your brain is like a retriever dog - it needs something to chase and focus on or it will become destructive
- Through intentional programming and repetition, you can train your brain to work for you rather than against you
Introduction
In this episode, Mel Robbins teaches listeners how to take control of their minds, let go of negative thought patterns, and redirect mental energy toward happiness, success and self-transformation. She shares a conversation with her adult daughters that inspired the episode, where they discussed being stuck in negative thought patterns despite working hard and doing well in life.
Topics Discussed
Understanding Your Brain as a Supercomputer (2:00)
Mel explains how our brains are like supercomputers designed to:
- Solve problems and spot patterns
- Learn new information and create connections
- Keep us safe and regulate bodily functions
- Process millions of bits of information
"If you don't aim this supercomputer at something positive, it will aim itself back at you and turn you into a problem to solve," explains Mel.
Skill #1: Give Your Brain a Project (15:45)
- Research from University of Exeter shows having a project turns down negative self-talk
- Small steps on projects help rewire the brain away from rumination
- Projects boost dopamine during the process, not just at completion
- Creative projects are especially effective at reducing anxiety
"When you're idle, your thoughts turn negative. When you've got nothing that you're focused on, the supercomputer focuses on you," notes Mel.
Skill #2: Training Your Reticular Activating System (31:14)
Mel introduces the concept of the reticular activating system (RAS) - the brain's filtering system that determines what information reaches our conscious awareness.
- The RAS processes 6-10 million bits of information per second
- Conscious brain can only handle 50-100 bits of information
- Looking for hearts exercise trains the RAS to spot positive things
- What you tell your RAS is important becomes what you notice
Skill #3: The Science of Manifestation with Dr. Jim Doty (47:18)
Stanford neurosurgeon Dr. Jim Doty explains the scientific process of manifestation:
- Write down your intention with pencil and paper
- Read it silently to yourself
- Read it aloud and visualize it
- Repeat daily to embed in subconscious
"This is fundamentally basic neuroscience. There is no magic here," states Dr. Doty.
Understanding Brain Networks (50:56)
Dr. Doty explains the three key brain networks involved:
- Salience Network - Makes things important
- Attention Network - Focuses cognitive resources
- Executive Control Network - Takes action on intentions
Skill #4: Morning and Evening Direction (1:02:09)
Dr. Daniel Amen shares two powerful daily questions:
- Morning: "Why is today going to be a great day?"
- Evening: "What went well today?"
"The brain is lazy. It does what you nudge it to do," explains Dr. Amen.
Skill #5: Quieting the Mind (1:05:59)
- Let thoughts rise and fall without attaching to them
- Visualize thoughts floating away like paper on a river
- New research shows mindfulness reduces negative thought loops
- Avoid dwelling on negative feelings and rumination
Conclusion
The episode concludes with Mel emphasizing that these five skills are simple to understand and implement, but can create powerful changes in how we think and experience life. By intentionally programming our brains through projects, training our RAS, using manifestation techniques, directing our daily thinking, and practicing mindfulness, we can take control of our minds and redirect our mental energy toward positive outcomes.
"Your brain is a super cool thing because it has the ability to change. And you now know simple ways you can program it every single day to work for you," concludes Mel.