How to Control Your Mind & Redirect Your Energy to Self Transformation
Here are the top 10 key takeaways from Mel Robbins' podcast that will help you control your mind and redirect mental energy toward positive transformation.
1. Your brain is a supercomputer that needs direction
Your brain functions like a powerful supercomputer designed to solve problems, spot patterns, and constantly process information. When this mental processing power isn't directed toward something productive, it can turn against you by focusing on negative self-talk and personal flaws. This explains why people often become their own harshest critics when they're idle or understimulated.
This supercomputer capability is constantly working - processing information, maintaining bodily functions, and analyzing your environment. Understanding this fundamental nature of your brain is crucial because it means you can harness this power by redirecting it away from self-criticism and toward positive outcomes. Mel uses the example of her daughter's analytical mind that, when not engaged in meaningful projects, would criticize herself relentlessly.
2. Give your mind a project to focus on
Providing your brain with a meaningful project or goal is essential to prevent negative self-talk. Like a retriever dog that needs a ball to chase, your mind requires something productive to pursue or it will turn its problem-solving abilities against you. Research from the University of Exeter shows that having a project actually rewires your brain away from rumination.
Additional studies from the University of Michigan and Oxford demonstrate that working toward goals increases dopamine production, which happens during the process of working toward completion, not just at the finish line. This is why creative activities like cooking, gardening, or organizing can quickly shift your mental state from anxiety to engagement. Pennsylvania University research confirms that goals provide direction, purpose, and increased resilience against stress.
3. Train your brain to see what you want to find
Your reticular activating system (RAS) functions as a filter that determines what information reaches your conscious mind. With 6-10 million bits of information bombarding you every second, your conscious brain can only process about 50-100 bits. This filtering system can be intentionally programmed to notice specific things, like heart shapes in everyday objects, which demonstrates how flexible and trainable your perception is.
This same principle applies to opportunities, positive outcomes, and solutions. By actively training yourself to look for specific positive patterns, you'll naturally begin noticing them more frequently in your environment. This isn't magical thinking but rather a practical application of neuroscience - deliberately programming your brain's filter to prioritize information that serves your goals and wellbeing. The practice of looking for hearts serves as proof that this filtering system works and can be directed.
4. Use the neuroscience of manifestation
Manifestation isn't magical thinking but rather the scientific process of embedding intentions in your subconscious. Dr. Jim Doty, a Stanford neurosurgeon, explains that writing down your intentions, reading them silently, reading them aloud, and visualizing them repeatedly creates neural pathways that support those intentions. This process makes your goals salient (important) to your brain.
The process activates three critical brain networks: the salience network that identifies what's important, the attention network that focuses mental resources on that priority, and the executive control network that actively pursues related opportunities. This scientific approach to manifestation requires consistency and patience, starting with small manageable steps rather than overwhelming goals. With repetition, these intentional thoughts become embedded in your default thinking patterns.
5. Direct your thinking with simple daily questions
Start each day by asking yourself, "Why is today going to be a great day?" and end each day by reviewing "What went well today?" These questions, recommended by brain health expert Dr. Daniel Amen, actively direct your brain to search for positive aspects of your life. This practice triggers your brain's problem-solving mechanism to find answers to these positive prompts.
These simple questions work because they activate your brain's task-positive network, much like programming a search engine to find specific information. Even on difficult days, this practice helps identify moments of goodness or learning that might otherwise be overlooked. By consistently using these prompts, you establish new neural pathways that make positive thinking more automatic over time.
6. Practice mindfulness to quiet rumination
Allowing thoughts to rise and fall without attachment helps prevent negative rumination. Recent research from Lawrence University and Goucher College published in the Journal of Mindfulness confirms that this practice helps steer clear of negative thought loops and promotes a more positive outlook. Instead of getting caught in cycles of negative thinking, you can observe thoughts without identifying with them.
Mel describes visualizing thoughts as pieces of paper cast into a flowing river, watching them float away without giving them importance or power. This practice helps separate your identity from your thoughts, recognizing that thoughts are temporary mental events rather than facts or reflections of your worth. Regular mindfulness practice gradually reduces the grip that negative thought patterns have on your mental experience.
7. The default mode network affects self-perception
When not actively engaged in tasks, your brain's default mode network activates, which can lead to rumination and negative self-talk. This network creates the narrative of who you are and what you believe about yourself. Understanding this process gives you the power to intentionally reshape these default patterns through consistent practice and awareness.
Dr. Doty explains that creativity and problem-solving actually shut down anxiety by redirecting brain activity away from the default mode network. This means that engaging in creative activities isn't just a distraction but actually changes your brain's functioning in the moment. By understanding how your default mode network operates, you can take steps to program it for more beneficial self-narratives rather than harmful ones.
8. Small consistent actions create lasting mental changes
Significant mental changes don't happen overnight but through small, consistent actions repeated over time. Dr. Doty emphasizes starting with manageable steps rather than overwhelming goals. Just as you wouldn't expect to run a marathon without training, mental reprogramming requires patience and consistent practice. Begin with simple daily habits that gradually build into substantial cognitive shifts.
These consistent actions create neural pathways through repetition, eventually making new thought patterns your default response. The brain follows the principle of neuroplasticity, meaning it physically changes structure based on repeated use patterns. Each time you engage in positive mental practices, you strengthen those neural connections, making them progressively easier and more automatic over time.
9. External focus creates internal calm
Directing your attention outward onto projects, goals, or creative activities naturally reduces self-criticism and anxiety. This shift in focus allows your brain to engage with the world productively rather than turning inward in harmful ways. Martha Beck's research confirms that creativity actually shuts down anxiety by redirecting mental resources toward problem-solving and away from rumination.
This external focus creates a sense of flow and presence that's difficult to achieve when caught in self-referential thinking. By engaging with projects that require your hands and senses, you naturally move into a state of mindfulness without explicit meditation. This process functions as a form of active meditation where your attention is anchored in the present moment through engagement with a task rather than through intentional breath awareness.
10. You can reprogram your mind at any age
Regardless of your past experiences or current thought patterns, your brain remains flexible and capable of forming new neural pathways throughout life. This neuroplasticity means that negative thought patterns, no matter how ingrained, can be replaced with more positive and productive ones through deliberate practice. Dr. Doty emphasizes that this ability is available "24/7" regardless of your history.
The five techniques Mel describes - focusing on projects, looking for hearts, practicing manifestation, using morning and evening questions, and practicing mindfulness - provide practical tools for leveraging this neuroplasticity. Each technique approaches brain reprogramming from a slightly different angle, offering multiple pathways to shift your default thinking patterns. With consistent application, these practices gradually transform your mental landscape, creating lasting changes in how you perceive yourself and the world.