The key to making your limbic system your b**ch

Our limbic systems get confused and stop us from making progress. This post explains the key to preventing it from hi-jacking your attempts at positive change.

Hello, one and all!

I have been really pumped to be sharing things with you every day, and I already have a bunch of new subscribers because of it (hi new friends! Welcome!). It’s always gratifying when surges of intention begin to show fruit. Those first few days of a new intention can feel electrifying! Changes we thought would be positive are feeling positive! Things we thought might be fun are, in fact, fun! And we are making new friendsies! And there seems to be potential for even more growth and more expansion, which would truly be amazing!… *thunder rumbles ominously in the distance*

Uh oh. Something isn’t quite right here..

Wait a minute. What was that? All is not well in goal-land?

Okay, so let’s face it. This phase—the part where things start to show they are going forward well, and might actually produce the changes and shifts you have been hoping for all along—is also the scariest part of the New Thing. It’s all very fun, but if we are paying attention consciously to our insides, this is the point where you should start to feel a strange rumbling underneath it all. It’s the point in the process where, at least for me, my limbic system wants to jump in with all kinds of caution signs and red tape.

Its script (which is actually more of a feeling that tries to well up inside me without me noticing so that it can lull me into inaction) goes something like this:

“Hey! I see you are so excited about this new thing we’re doing! And you have every right to be! Go us! We are doing great! *comes up and whispers conspiratorially into my ear* but don’t you think you’re being a bit reckless and irresponsible here? [Cue weird rumblings in my tum tum that I hardly pay attention to consciously, but that I also know instinctively will go away with some solid dissociative activity, like scrolling or TV or eating food, which will distract me without me realizing what is even happening] *whispering continues* I mean, all this action is cool and all, but need I remind you that you are absolutely playing with fire? I mean, don’t you remember what happens when things like this start working out for us and then they get really huge? [More tummy rumbling] Remember two summers ago when a viral Twitter thread made you have to expand your whole practice cuz so many people contacted you and it was really overwhelming? Or what about 12 years ago when a blog post went crazy viral and it was SUPER SCARY and CHANGED EVERYTHING and your life is entirely different in large part because that happened? [Rumble Rumble—distract distract] Don’t you understand that you’re playing with FIRE here? Don’t you understand that this whole “changing our brain” thing you’re doing might have the unacceptable and completely unanticipated consequence of changing our fucking brain, AKA, being something different, AKA turning into something life-changIMEAN life-threatening? DON’T YOU REALIZE YOU’RE GOING TO KILL US WITH YOUR RECKLESS BEHAVIOR???? HALT IMMEDIATELY!”

Again, please understand that this script is often not actually words. It’s more like unacknowledged, squishy, thought-bubbles right below the surface of awareness. And that’s because it is all are part of The Program. Yes that Program. The programming described yesterday, that basically runs your whole life in a way that makes you not have to actually be conscious most of the time. The very programming that The Future Self Journal is so good at interrupting gently and shifting.

In my case, with this 30-day project, these icky-feeling bubbles likely tie right into the program of my earliest self in ways I scarcely recognize. It’s probable that some early version of me, like most humans, learned that change was SCAWY, and that sometimes really good-sounding things (like going to my cousins!) had really unsavory consequences (like my mommy leaving us all with a babysitter—BETRAYAL!).

Better, then, to just stay tethered to normalcy, right? To not take risks? To not do fun-sounding things? Wouldn’t we be better off just sticking to our script of inconsistency and not moving forward when things start to grow that we’ve been surviving with all along? After all, we’ve been doing that for a while and we have not died or been killed or expired one single time.

That’s a pretty solid track record if you ask me! So, let’s get on with the forgettin’ and the failin’ and the being scared, and the not-following-through…

Answer: NOPE! THAT IS INSANITY IN THIS DAY AND AGE, BUT THANKS FOR TRYING TO KEEP US SAFE. I LOVE YOU.

That, has to be our answer when we feel these rumblings trying to deter us, energetically and subconsciously, from the changes we so deeply yearn for and are so close to!

A key is to always remember that the “logic” of the limbic system—which is the system that governs these survival scripts we accidentally live (and suffer) by—isn’t the logic of our era; it’s the logic of our most primal ancestors who lived in treacherous, terrifying, life-threatening circumstances where it made more sense. If we did X, Y, and Z things over the last year, then repeating X, Y, and Z over and over and over, ad infinitum, will keep us safe because—the evidence is clear—we don’t DIE while doing those things. Thus attempting to do A, B, or C things—which are different than X, Y, and Z—while tantalizing for whatever reason—is simply not worth the risk to our very being when we are pretty damn sure X, Y, and Z are the things that keep us safe.

This logic was great when X, Y, and Z were things like “staying in our dwelling during daylight hours while predators hunt” and A, B, and C were things like “skipping down the trail to pick fresh bananas at midday when predators were watching because, mmmmmm, bananas are super yummy and I really WANT one!”

But now it’s just silly. Now, when our programming tells us “going up to that store clerk/ applying for that job/ sending out that poem for a contest/ continuing this couch to 10k program we started is going to get us killed by predators…” we can see, logically with our higher brain, how silly billy goat it all is. We can see that doing those things is exactly in line with what we actually want, and that they are the only passageway into positive changes that will make our lives so, so, so much better. But our cute little limbic systems don’t see with that level of insight. That part of our brain is more primitive, and it still uses its more primitive wiring.

So, if we want to change, we have to find a way to—and now I’m the one whispering so that our limbic systems don’t hear us—trick our limbic systems and convince them we aren’t in danger. We have to fool that part of ourselves.

And one of the ways we can do that is with a little magic trick called imagination. Because it turns out that our limbic systems are just as convinced by realities we imagine as it is by realities we live and experience in real time.

The reason this journal works is because it employs just enough imagination of our future self that it actually soothes our limbic system into thinking something quite extraordinary: that we’re already there. That we’ve already fully done the item in question and are living, happily, with the new situation or habit tucked in the X, Y, Z files and no longer in the A, B, C files.

Ah. We’re safe. XYZ files mean SAFE

Perhaps that’s the easiest way to say it. Doing this exercise convinces our brain that this new habit, which is *actually* in the limbic system’s A, B, C (or dangerous threat, must destroy new impulse to stay alive) file, is something we already have full experience with and identity around, which moves it successfully into the X, Y, Z file (or things we already have experience and identity with that we know keep us very, very safe and oh so very not dead).

And doing that turns off the “dissociate, distract, trick-me, get-me-to-fail” yucky thought-bubbles under the surface of our awareness. And instead we get to just feel good and excited and aligned with this surging new identity.

And so, without futher ado (because further ado would be, you guessed it, my limbic system tricking me successfully into not doing the very simple thing below that will help move my ABC’s about this new goal into the the XYZ files, thus allowing me to finish and absorb this experience successfully into a new sense of identity/self), I will now do this entry of my Future Self Journal for you all to see. (I probably won’t post many after this unless someone asks me to because they get kinda repetitive, which is kinda the whole point—imagining the same stuff over and over to lull the limbic system into the comfort of identity and believe. Also, not gonna edit for clarity or anything. Just gonna go with exactly what I’d be writing in my own journal.)

1. What behavior or pattern do I want to change?
   
   I am choosing to change my pattern of becoming fearful of daily online posts (a habit that appears on all of my social media platforms), which leads to inconsistency and a faltering of executing on my intentions, and has for many years. This has been a source of discontent for a long time, and I’m ready to do something about it.
   
   Another way of saying this is: I’m going to shift out of my habit of inconsistency in creative endeavors by becoming the kind of future self that successfully posts on my Substack every day for 30 days.
   
   
   

2. Which affirmations will help me achieve this? (Remember these affirmations are a tiny bit stretchy—they are based in truth, enough so that they don’t ring with incredulity—but they are pushing into the realm of my future self. They are things I WANT to be true, based on things that ARE already true.
   
   A. Writing and then posting something online every day is very easy for someone with my skill-set, and I like doing things that are easy.
   
   B. I am someone who values consistency, and who thus has great follow-through on creative intentions.
   
   C. When I set my mind to something and give myself adequate support, I have a noteworthy history of achieving that thing. I can do incredible creative things!
   
   D. Posting creative work (as well as submitting it for publication) gives me a feeling of excitement, thrilling anticipation, and enjoyment. [Note—this is a technique that is quite well-researched. It turns out the human body can’t very well tell the difference between dread (negative activation/anxiety) and anticipation (positive activation/anxiety). So, telling your limbic system that what you are feeling is excitement when it could also be interpreted as anxiety actually serves to shift one’s perception of an event. It’s a really helpful too for people like me who get stage-fright and other forms of nervous energy around public vulnerability. Identifying the feelings as positive, exciting, and enjoyable actually changes one’s experience of them. Crazy, I know! It could probably be considered similar to the imagination trick described above, but a less concrete version of it.]
   
   

3. How can I practice this new behavior in my daily life? The blogger I got this rendering of the questions from says: “This last question is really important, because it forces you to think about what changing your behavior will look like concretely. The more specific you are here, the easier it will be to actually make these changes every day.” And I will add: this is part of the imagining process that helps soothe the limbic system. So the more concrete and imaginative and anchored, the better.
   
   —I can sit down for at least an hour every single day to write in my Substack. I can do it in the time I have carved out for myself most mornings.
   —If I need to I can do finishing touches during breaks or in the evening, which I will find fun and satisfying to do (just like I am finding this satisfying right now—and I genuinely am!)
   —I can write down ideas I have for posts in my notes app on my phone.
   —I can let Carlos know my plan so he is aware and can be supportive of this endeavor, even in moments it might limit our hang-out time
   —I can follow through, consistently, on my intention to do my Future Self Journal entries as part of my morning routine. (My morning routine already exists, so I am anchoring this to an already existent infrastructure, which is the best way to introduce new repetitive behaviors like this (the routine is: wake up, walk doggy, write Future Self Journal entry AS PART OF MORNING PAGES which I have already consistently done for years, which will help ensure accomplishment of this goal, then run, shower, go to office, etc.)
   —I can also write down my intentions around each new day’s post the night before in the little Argentina book (along with the three things I’m appreciative of/grateful for that I already do most every night—so more anchoring).

   —If there is any lapse in this goal (which I don’t plan to experience, but want to address just in case) I will be very self loving very kind to myself for an understandable human response to change. I will be accountable here. I will move forward, knowing it does not change the outcomes of this exercise.
   

I might not repeat this every day, or I might. When I’ve done FSJ in the past, it wasn’t clear whether this was part of it or not, so I ended up doing it most days and I think it helped. But we’ll see how this part feels as I roll forward. But, overall, I’m satisfied with this brainstorm as a solid representation of my plans for the 30 days, and the ways I can visualize my future self as “someone who does this.”

Step 2: Journaling towards your future self

Once the preparatory step is done, we can move onto the journaling practice itself. It’s fairly straightforward – we simply write down the following 6 things every day for the next 30 days:

1. My daily affirmation
   e.g. My actions represent the person I am becoming.
   
   I am someone who posts in his Substack every single day. I am someone who posts. in his Substack every single day. I am someone who posts in his Substack every single day.
   
   

2. Today I will focus on shifting my pattern of...
   e.g. … prioritizing actions that gratify my present self over actions that serve my future self.
   
   Pushing the finishing touches of my daily post until the very end of the day when I should also be unwinding and relaxing, and instead doing it during the allotted hour in the morning, and making sure I finish during that time. In this specific case, I will be posting. a draft from my drafts file that is already nearly complete, thus teaching my brain how it feels to finish the post at the appropriate time.
   

3. I am grateful for…
   e.g. … the possibility to create my own schedule, my significant other, and access to free yoga on YouTube.
   
   This platform to share my writing; the insights I am having for myself as I break down and describe this process, and the way it is helping me refine my own thinking in a way that might be helpful for myself, future readers, and future therapy clients (as well as future course participants should I decide to adapt this into an online course); the fact that I already have so much personal self-care infrastructure in place from my years of consistent effort towards betterment of self, which allows these things to be easily anchored; all of the people here reading along with me, and the beautiful support I feel.
   
   

4. The person I’m becoming will experience more…
   e.g. … self-growth, resilience and alignment.
   
   Conscious awareness; ability to recognize when he is feeling the icky feelings of avoidance in his tummy; the ability to drill down into what is actually happening, and to soothe any limbic fears that arise; satisfaction in his creative life, joy in his creations, and synchronicities and awesome results as he continues to expand on this and other creative projects; alignment; calm; flow; appreciation of self and others.
   
   

5. I have an opportunity to be my future self today (or in my case, tomorrow—but usually I will do this in the morning) when I…
   e.g. meditate, prepare a healthy meal and take action on my goals.
   
   Sit down to write, finish a draft successfully, and press “post” in the time I have allotted myself
   When I write down my intentions for the next day in my little Argentina journal.
   When do my future self journal first thing in the morning as part of my routine
   
   

6. When I think about who I’m becoming I feel…
   …confident and motivated to take action.
   
   A great deal of confidence in myself and satisfaction for the consistent producer-of-content I am becoming. I feel energized and alive. I feel excited and filled with fun ideas. I feel able to accomplish even more things, perhaps in another round of 30 days. I feel proud of the level of conscious awareness developing in my day-to-day life, and the way it allows me to truly relish in the world I live in and to truly savor so many of the lovely moments of my life.
   

And there we have it… my first actual journal experience of my 30 days! I hope this example, and the explanation of all that limbic stuff, was useful!

Totally cool if nobody is yet inspired to do this alongside me, but if there are any folks out there who have felt the push to try this, I would love to hear from you! What are you doing? How is it feeling so far?

Love to all,

Joshua