This article is based on an interview with Dr. Joe Dispenza on Tom Bilyeu’s YouTube channel “Impact Theory”, delving into its content and independently analyzing and considering it.
Dr. Joe Dispenza is a researcher who integrates neuroscience, epigenetics, and quantum mechanics to scientifically unravel “how thoughts affect matter (body/reality)”.
His book “You Are the Placebo” became a worldwide bestseller, and there are many reports of terminal cancer and intractable diseases being cured by meditation in his workshops.
In this article, we will unravel the core parts told in this video from the perspective of “Mindset Design”, and while incorporating insights such as James Clear’s “Atomic Habits”, we will lead to concrete conclusions for us to escape from unconscious programs and create the life we desire.
What image do you have when you hear the word “brainwashing”?
Probably many people react negatively, thinking it’s “scary”, “suspicious”, or “being manipulated”.
However, from a neuroscientific perspective, we are already in a state of being deeply brainwashed by our “past selves”.
Waking up at the same time every day, getting out of bed from the same side, drinking the same coffee, going to work on the same route, and pushing the same emotional buttons with the same people…
These distinct routine thoughts and behaviors firmly fix your “reality”.
Why can’t we change even though we wish to change?
That is because your body is addicted to an “unhappy chemical state”.
Key Points of This Article
- The Wall of 35: 95% of human behavior is an unconscious automatic program formed by the age of 35.
- Hebb’s Law: “Neurons that fire together, wire together”. Every time you recall the past, the past circuits are strengthened.
- Dive into the Unknown: The known (past) is comfortable, but there is no evolution. The unknown (future) accompanies discomfort, but that is the only place for creation.
- Newtonian Mechanics vs Quantum Mechanics: Do you live by “cause and effect”, or become the “cause of the effect”?
1. 95% of You is a “Past Program”
60,000 Thoughts, 90% Repeats
Humans have 60,000 to 70,000 thoughts a day, but it is said that 90% of them are the same thoughts as the day before.
The same thoughts produce the same choices, lead to the same actions, create the same experiences, and produce the same emotions.
There is a basic principle in neuroscience called “Hebb’s Law”.
“Neurons that fire together, wire together.”
If you think about the same worries and feel the same anxiety as yesterday every morning, those neural circuits in your brain fire repeatedly and are physically strengthened. The more you think “I am no good”, the more the brain is remodeled into a structure that makes it easier to think that thought.
According to Dr. Dispenza, by the time we turn 35, 95% of our personality becomes a set of memories, behavioral patterns, and emotional reactions (automatic programs) formed by these “repeated experiences”.
Even if you wish “I want to be happy!” with the remaining mere 5% of “conscious mind (willpower)”, life does not change because 95% of the “unconscious supercomputer” continues to run the past program.
Body Hijacks the “Mind”
The most troublesome thing in this automation process is that the body begins to function as the unconscious.
Recall practicing riding a bicycle. At first, you think with your head and operate the handlebars, but as you repeat it many times, your body remembers the movement and you can ride without thinking.
The same thing happens with emotions.
If you feel anxious every day, your body remembers that “anxious chemical state”. Then, one day, even if you think “Let’s live positively today!”, the body sends a command to the brain saying “Hey, the usual anxious chemicals are missing.”
And the brain unconsciously searches for thoughts that make you anxious (worry about the future, past failures) and completes the loop of thinking and feeling.
The master-servant relationship is reversed, and the body (servant) comes to order the mind (master).
2. Stress is the Strongest Addictive Substance
The Trap of Survival Mode
All living things, including humans, enter survival mode of “fight or flight” when they feel stress (danger).
At this time, the body releases powerful energy substances such as adrenaline and cortisol.
The problem is that humans have a huge brain (neocortex).
Even if there is no lion in front of us, we can trigger this stress response just by thinking, such as remembering a nasty boss from the past or worrying about old age in the future.
Many people spend 70% of their day in this survival mode. Always chased by something, wary of someone, assuming the worst-case scenario. And they become addicted to this intense state of arousal (rush).
Refractory Period Creates Personality
The doctor gives an interesting definition of the duration of emotions.
- Emotional reaction lasts for a few hours to a few days → Mood
- Lasts for a few weeks to a few months → Temperament
- Lasts for years → Personality trait
When we say “That person has a bitter personality,” it is not innate.
They were unable to shorten the emotional reaction (refractory period) to a certain event, and as a result of dragging it on for decades, it just became that person’s identity.
3. Becoming a Creator: Dive into the Unknown
The Unknown is “Uncomfortable”, but Only There lies Evolution
The body (past program) feels that “predictable unhappiness” is safer than “unpredictable unknown”.
So when you try to change, it tries to pull you back to the “known territory” using emotions such as discomfort, anxiety, and fear.
But Dr. Dispenza says.
“The unknown is the place of creation.”
If you cling to the known past, the future will only be an extension of the past.
To create a truly new future, you need to cross the river of discomfort, break free from the control of the body, and step into the unknown territory.
When you feel discomfort, instead of thinking “I’ll stop”, it is important to recognize “Ah, now, I am crossing the river (the body’s program is dying)”.
4. Newtonian Model vs Quantum Model
Here comes the true value of Dr. Dispenza’s theory.
He contrasts the approach to reality with two models of physics.
Model of Dependence (Newtonian Mechanics)
Newtonian mechanics is a world of “cause and effect”.
This is the attitude of “waiting” that many people live by.
“If I succeed (cause), I can have confidence (effect)”
“If the illness is cured (cause), I can be grateful (effect)”
Living by this model is the same as declaring “I will not change my inner self until the environment changes”.
This is the way of life of a victim. Because you are admitting that “the outer world controls me”.
And while waiting for the environment to change, you continue to feel “lack (not having)”. Speaking quantum mechanically, if you emit “lack”, you will continue to attract “lack” in reality.
Model of Creation (Quantum Mechanics)
On the other hand, the quantum mechanics model is a world of “causing effects”.
This is the way of life of a creator.
“Because I have confidence (cause), I succeed (effect)”
“Because I am grateful (cause), healing begins (effect)”
The doctor says.
“Do not wait for success to be successful. Do not wait for healing to be healthy.”
Feel the emotion in advance before the phenomenon occurs.
Gratitude is usually an emotion felt “after something has happened”. In other words, by thanking in advance for a future that has not yet happened, the body misunderstands that “the event has already happened”.
At this time, you have started living according to the map of the future, not the memory of the past.
5. Epigenetics: Genes are Rewritten
You Are the Placebo
Dr. Dispenza’s book “You Are the Placebo” details the mechanism of the placebo effect, where diseases are cured just by taking a fake medicine (sugar pill).
Why does a fake medicine cure? Because the patient believes “This will cure me” (thought), anticipates the joy and relief of being cured (emotion), and changes the chemical state of the body.
This is strong evidence that gene expression can be changed by thought and emotion alone, even without medicine.
Research in epigenetics has shown that genes are not fixed, but switches are toggled by environmental signals.
And as mentioned above, emotions substitute for environmental signals.
If you can create higher emotions such as “bliss” and “gratitude” in meditation, you can turn on gene switches and upgrade your body while staying in your room.
6. Next Action: Concrete Steps to Transformation
So, based on these, what should we do?
I propose 3 steps you can practice starting today.
1. Block the “Morning Unconscious”
The moment you wake up in the morning is the most important. Many people download memories of the past the moment they wake up.
“Today is a meeting (stress)”, “My lower back hurts (pain)”, “I have to check LINE (impatience)”
Block this automatic program.
When you wake up, do not touch your smartphone, first have a quiet time.
And ask yourself.
“What kind of self do I want to be today?”
Stop living the continuation of yesterday, and intentionally start a new life called today.
2. Train Metacognition
When you try to change, your body always resists. It sends thoughts like “It’s troublesome”, “I’m anxious”, “I can do it later” to the brain.
What is important here is “metacognition”.
Observe your thoughts as an observer and notice them.
“Oops, my body is complaining now because it hates change.”
“This is not my thought, but a past program.”
The moment you notice, you are out of the program.
Like disciplining an animal, gently but firmly return the raging body to “here and now”. Repeat this hundreds of times. That is the process of undoing “self-brainwashing”.
3. Remember the Future with Mental Rehearsal
At the end of the day, or first thing in the morning, rehearse the ideal future.
It is essential not only to imagine the image but also to accompany it with “emotion”.
The key to accessing the quantum field is a combination of “clear intention (thought)” and “elevated emotion (love, gratitude, freedom)”.
When that future is realized, what emotions are you tasting?
Feel it now.
Until the body remembers that emotion and the brain starts to create new circuits.
You can choose to live history (past) as a victim of the environment, or live the future as a creator of life.
The unknown territory may be scary. But there is nothing new in the known territory.
Have the courage to dive into the unknown and rewire your own brain and body for “success”.
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