Did you know that your brain can rewire itself based on your thoughts and experiences? This concept, known as neuroplasticity, is at the heart of this book, where Dr. Joe Dispenza blends science, philosophy, and spirituality to show how to transform your life by changing your mental processes.
In this free version of Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself summary, you’ll learn how to change your thinking and behaviors to break free from past limitations and create a new, more empowered, fulfilling life.
Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself: Introduction
Drawing from his research and experience in neuroplasticity, epigenetics, and psychoneuroimmunology, Dr. Joe Dispenza shares how you can change your brain and reality by changing your thoughts. He suggests that your genes or circumstances do not fix your destiny; rather, your thoughts and emotions can influence it.
This book presents principles, strategies, and practices to actively reshape your brain and influence your reality, which we break down into three parts:
• The fundamental concepts and theories;
• How to apply those concepts to change your brain;
• How to practice them systematically until you go through a deep internal shift.
The Fundamental Concepts and Theories
Key Ideas from Quantum Physics
Everything in our material world consist mainly of energy. Specifically, an atom is 99.99999% energy and only 0.00001% physical matter. Yet, most of us focus on our physical world, representing a tiny part of reality.
Research in quantum physics has revealed the “Observer Effect,” where observing a quantum event can alter its outcome, indicating a profound interaction between consciousness and the physical realm.
Furthermore, our thoughts and feelings emit electromagnetic signals which can be measured. These signals interact with the quantum field to attract experiences that match their frequency. By highlighting the connection between tangible existence and the vast energy realm, Dr. Dispenza brings to our attention the idea that where we direct our attention, we direct our energy. Focused thoughts and emotions hold energy that can impact your physical reality.
Transcending the Physical World
Most of us think and live in terms of our physical world, especially our body, environment, and time. However, physical matter only comprises 0.00001% of reality. To reinvent ourselves, we must focus on the intangible, subconscious level.
Scientists have found that our brain and body interact through electrochemical signals. Thoughts trigger the release of chemicals that affect the body, which responds by creating feelings that match the thoughts.
This thinking-feeling loop reinforces our current state of being. Repeated thoughts and feelings are memorized by the body to form habitual thought-feeling patterns, which are automatically triggered once you encounter similar cues. Such thought-emotional habits run on auto-pilot, influencing about 95% of our daily actions.
Persistent positive mental states can lead to healthier gene expression (without changing the DNA), while the opposite occurs for persistent negative thought patterns.
Similarly, our external environment unknowingly influences us. Your daily routines, environments, memories, and experiences shape your current reality. When you focus on the past (e.g., recall an embarrassing presentation) or worry about the future (e.g., imagine fumbling at the next presentation), your body responds to those thoughts as if they’re real.
You must consciously inject new thoughts and feelings to change your internal chemical state to create a new reality.
This can be done with mental rehearsals to train your brain to think like your ideal self who
doesn’t face the same limitations. To learn more about mental rehearsals, check out our full 14-page summary for Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself.
How to Change Your Brain
Think → Do → Be
Neuroplasticity is your brain’s ability to constantly rewire itself, regardless of your age. Dr. Joe Dispenza posits that to change your brain; you must move from Thinking → Doing → Being.
Simply explained, the more you think and do something, the more it strengthens the associated neural pathways and the easier the task becomes.
This process occurs in 3 parts of the brain:
• The neocortex is the thinking brain responsible for planning, analysis, innovation, and conscious decisions.
• The limbic brain, or the emotional brain, creates feelings that make the experiences tangible.
• The cerebellum is the subconscious brain that stores your habits.
In the book, Dr. Joe Dispenza suggests you can fast-track the process of re-wiring your brain using meditation. We explore this later in this article.
Closing your Identity Gap
As you progress through the stages of Thinking, Doing, and Being, facilitated by the involvement of the neocortex, limbic system, and cerebellum, you embark on a transformative journey that changes your brain and your identity. Dr. Joe Dispenza suggests this process is critical for “Closing Your Identity Gap,” which refers to the discrepancies between our public persona and private self.
In our complete version of the Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself summary, we’ll explain more about why the identity gap happens and how to narrow it.
Accessing the Subconscious through Meditation
Meditation is about observing your thoughts, feelings, and actions instead of being those things. The goal is to bring the unconscious to the conscious and know your inner habits so you can intentionally select which parts of yourself to prune away or nurture. That’s how you reinvent your mind and body, and we breakdown the concepts further in our complete summary bundle.
Being able to bring the unconscious to the conscious relies on understanding brain activity. Brain activity can be measured using electroencephalograph (EEG). There are several brain wave frequencies in humans: delta, theta, alpha, and beta. With practice, you can detect which brain waves you’re using.
If you want more detailed insights concerning when each brain wave occurs and how you use your knowledge to program the subconscious, check out our full summary bundle for Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself.
Using Meditation to Change Your Brain
There are many types of meditation. In this book, Dr. Dispenza specifically presents a meditative process that’s designed to change your mind, body, and life.
Overview of the Meditative Process
When attempting to change the mind, body, and life, your goal is to focus inward, transcend the analytical mind, and reprogram your subconscious.
Dr. Dispenza presents a step-by-step process to help you internalize the 7-step meditative process in 4 weeks. However, you can take as long as you need to master the process. Here’s a visual summary:
Check out our full 14-page Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself summary for in-depth instructions for each week along with tips on preparing yourself for each meditative session. Briefly:
• Week 1: Prepare your mind by practicing induction (to shift your brain from the alert/focused beta state to the relaxed alpha or theta state).
• Week 2: Start pruning away unwanted habits by adding 3 more steps: Recognition, Acknowledgment/Declaration, and Surrendering your need your control.
• Week 3: Deconstruct your former self, by adding 2 more steps: Catch yourself slipping into old habits, and interrupt ingrained habits to change your automatic responses.
• Week 4: Build a new mind by adding the last step–to reinvent your identity and seal it with mental rehearsals.
Living Your New Reality
You must still work to maintain the new, transformed you in your daily life, by constantly aligning your body, mind, actions, and intentions.
Get more from Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself
Do you want to manifest a new reality and achieve personal growth by reprogramming your thinking, behaviors, and emotions? Check out our full book summary bundle that includes an infographic, 14-page text summary, and a 30-minute audio summary.
Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself is written in a conversational, easy-to-read style filled with examples, personal anecdotes, research references, and practical exercises to help you understand how your thoughts, behaviors, and emotions can influence your reality. You can purchase the book here or visit drjoedispenza.com for more details.
If you’re interested to explore how to create significant transformation through habits, do check out our book summaries for Tiny Habits: The Small Changes That Change Everything and Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits and Break Bad Ones. You might also enjoy our summary of What to Say When You Talk to Yourself, to learn how you can reprogram your subsconscious mind through self-talk.
About the Author of Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself
Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself: How to Lose Your Mind and Create a New One was written by Dr. Joe Dispenza. Born in 1962, he is an author, speaker, researcher, and chiropractor best known for his teachings on creating a happier and healthier life. He appeared in the documentary “What the Bleep Do We Know!” and has written several bestselling books. He holds faculty positions at Quantum University in Hawaii, the Omega Institute for Holistic Studies in New York, and the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health in Massachusetts.
Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself Quotes
“If you want a new outcome, you will have to break the habit of being yourself, and reinvent a new self.”
“Learning how to change your life involves knowledge and the application of that knowledge.”
“Your thoughts have consequences so great that they create your reality.”
“To change your life is to change your energy—to make an elemental change in your mind and emotions.”
“When you think from your past memories, you can only create past experiences.”
“The process of continuously thinking and feeling and feeling and thinking creates a state of being, which produces effects on our reality.”
