Understanding the Thought-to-Action Cycle for a Better Life and World
Do you wonder why your actions do not always match your original intention?
It all has to do with something I call “The Thought-to-Action Cycle” which is a high-level overview of what goes on in our brain when we want to take action on an intention; a desire; a want.
But before we dig into that cycle, it’s important to understand the 2 main functions of the brain first.
NOTE: Please keep in mind that I am not a neuroscientist, or in any way a brain expert. I am simply sharing what I have learned along my journey.
The 2 Functions of the Brain
The following is a brief summary of the 2 functions of the brain. A more detailed article on the 2 functions can be found here.
The human brain is an amazingly complex organ. Without it, we would not be able to experience life as we know it, but at the end of the day it has 2 main functions to fulfill:
To keep you safe.
To make more of you.
Why?
To help ensure you and the human species survive and thrive.
In order to do this, your brain relies on data. Lots and lots of data.
Data from the body itself – organs, etc.
Data from the environment via our 5-basic senses
Data in the form of thought, specifically beliefs and mindsets (predominant thoughts).
Your brain uses this collective data to take action on a want; an intention; a desire you have no matter how big or small you perceive your intention to be, using what I call “The Thought-to-Action Cycle”.
What is The Thought-to-Action Cycle?
This is the Thought-to-Action Cycle.
The Thought-to-Action Cycle is a very high-level overview of what goes on in our brain when we have an intention; a desire; a want, to take action on something.
As I go through the Thought-to-Action Cycle, please keep in mind the human brain is incredibly complex and my explanation is a high-level simplified explanation of a complex process. Also, for simplicity purposes, this diagram does not take into account the data your brain pulls in from your body and environment. There may also be other factors that limit the actions we take including physical limitations, brain health, life situations, etc.
As the diagram illustrates, there are 6 main components to the cycle:
Intention
Belief
Mindset
Emotion
Conscious Thought
Action
Each plays an important role in the cycle.
The Cycle in Action
At a high-level, when you have an intention; a want; a desire, your brain:
Looks to what it knows related to the intention both indirectly and indirectly associated – your beliefs and mindsets.
It then looks to the emotions it has associated to your beliefs and mindsets.
Which invokes a conscious thought.
The conscious thought drives the action taken -- even if the action would be perceived as an inaction.
The action taken reinforces the belief and the cycle continues.
This Thought-to-Action cycle goes on all the time in your mind at lightning speed and for an endless supply and combination of thoughts.
It is this cycle repeated over and over again, and for an endless array of intentions that creates your individualized perception of reality.
So, it’s important to provide your brain good data to work with.
Why?
To the brain it’s all data. The brain doesn’t know if the data is true or not – it’s just data. It will work with what it has.
In short,
If your beliefs are based on abundance, you will tend to create actions/results based on abundance.
If your beliefs are based on lack, you will tend to create actions/results based on lack.
Let’s look at each of the 6 Thought-to-Action components to get a better understanding of what’s going on.
INTENTION
Intention is simply a want; a desire for something.
For example:
I’d like to buy an outfit for work.
I'd like to write a book.
I'd like to make more money in my business.
BELIEFS
Monitor showing blurred programming code
Beliefs are everything you have been taught to believe is true about the world and you.
They are a statement made from a perception one or more people (including you) have about something they have observed or experienced.
They can be empowering or disempowering.
They are worded in such a way that the belief applies to every person, place, thing, object, etc. that fits the belief.
Although they may take on the appearance of being a fact, they are not.
Beliefs are beliefs, facts are facts.
At a high level, they can be grouped into 3 categories:
General beliefs that apply to ‘everyone’ in the world.
Beliefs specific to your family.
Beliefs directed at you as an individual
Over time, you take these beliefs into your subconscious which means we often are not consciously aware of them.
MINDSETS
Mindsets are the perceptions you have about yourself.
They grow out of your CORE BELIEFS and just like beliefs, they can be empowering or disempowering.
Like beliefs, they are often hiding out in our subconscious.
You and you alone created them and they are how you perceive yourself and yourself in the world.
They typically begin with the word “I” and tie directly back to the beliefs you have.
They contribute to the beliefs you pass on to the next generation and those around you.
I like to call them beliefs in training!
EMOTIONS
Emotion is a feeling (a mental reaction) that is generated by you when you think about or experience something. – person, situation, experience, object.
Emotions have been given many labels (i.e. love, anger, joy, jealousy), but at their root emotions are either FEAR or EMPOWERMENT based.
If you experience an emotion that is disempowering, you experience the base emotion of FEAR brought on by a perceived threat.
While danger is real, fear is not.
I like to call fear “an illusion created by our brains confusion”.
CONSCIOUS THOUGHTS
Conscious thoughts are those fleeting thoughts that zip in and out of your conscious mind with lightning speed.
Just like hummingbirds, they are so fast and fleeting, they can be hard to catch.
They come into your conscious mind in response to the emotion you are feeling.
Just like beliefs and mindsets, and emotions they can be empowering or disempowering.
They typically start with words like:
I couldn’t; I could
I shouldn’t; I will
I better not; I better
I don’t dare
I can’t; I can
I’ll wait until…; I will now
ACTIONS
Action is energy (in the form of thought) in motion. Action is intention expressed.
It is the action/inaction you take as a result of the Conscious Thought.
For example: “I didn’t do…..”; “I did do…..”
It’s important to note that what we perceive as in-action is still an action.
As you look at the actions you are taking in your life right now, are they actions or more like inactions?
The Thought-to-Action Cycle in Motion -- seeing the connection
Let’s walk through a couple of simple examples to illustrate the T-to-A cycle
EXAMPLE 1 – LACK BASED – "Girls don't play with trucks."
INTENTION – I’d like to play with that truck.
BELIEF - Girls don’t play with trucks.
MINDSET – I don’t play with trucks (because I am a girl).
EMOTION – FEAR BASED – I am afraid to play with trucks even though I’d love to.
CONSCIOUS THOUGHT – I better not play with that truck.
ACTION – I don’t play with that truck.
The action reinforces the belief that girls do not play with trucks.
POTENTIAL LIFE IMPACT: The girl doesn’t fulfill a dream of designing trucks for disabled people.
EXAMPLE 2 – EMPOWERMENT BASED – “Girls can play with trucks.”
INTENTION – I’d like to play with that truck.
BELIEF - Girls can play with trucks.
MINDSET – I can play with trucks (because I am a girl).
EMOTION – EMPOWERMENT BASED – I am happy when I play with trucks.
CONSCIOUS THOUGHT – I can play with that truck.
ACTION – I play with that truck.
The action reinforces the belief that girls can play with trucks.
POTENTIAL LIFE IMPACT: The girl lived her dream of designing trucks for people with mobility issues. She also started a “Girls can do anything” movement focused on teaching girls to follow their dreams.
Why learning about the Thought-to-Action Cycle matters?
As you can imagine, your brain is highly complex and works at lightning speed to ensure it takes care of its two main functions.
While the examples I provided show a simple one belief to one action relationship, if we looked deeper at the direct and indirect relationships the brain would draw on in order to determine the action/inaction to take on an intention, the actual Thought-to-Action Cycle would look more like a hair ball version of pick-up sticks.
In the end, the purpose of teaching you about the Thought-to-Action cycle (and the 2 main functions of the brain) at a high level was to help you understand, using simple terminology, how your brain utilizes and processes information (data) to help you navigate and experience life.
It’s about understanding that your unique combination of beliefs and mindsets creates your unique perception of Reality/Life.
Once you understand this, you can begin to look at yourself, your life, others and your world with a different set of eyes.
For example, you can begin to understand:
How you and every human have a unique combination of beliefs and mindsets that are driving their perceptions and actions. Knowing this can help you better understand yourself as well as better understand where a person is coming from knowing that their perception is not going to be identical to yours.
How abundant beliefs can result in abundant actions and lack beliefs can result in lack actions.
How important it is to help your brain help you by teaching it data that is true and empowering. To the brain, data is data. It doesn’t directly know if the data you are feeding it (in the form of beliefs and mindsets) is true or not. It’s up to you to teach it what is true. Feed it facts, not perceptions. Remember, facts are facts and beliefs and mindsets are perceptions.
How we individually and as a species can hold ourselves back without understanding why.
How we can move from a life is happening TO us to a life is happening BY us foundation and create our lives with conscious intention.
How you help you
Begin to observe the action/inaction you take when you have an intention; a want; a desire. Was the resulting action abundant or lack based? Can you identify a belief(s) or mindset(s) that may have contributed to the action/inaction you took?
Question your beliefs and mindsets. Ask yourself, “are they based on fact or perception?”
Let go of the beliefs and mindsets that are based on perception, not fact. For example, pick a belief that stands out for you – ask “Is it true?”, “How do I know?” What if it wasn’t true? Do I know of instances where it isn’t true? Is it possible this belief is only a perception? Can I create a new fact-based belief for myself? etc. Once you negate and replace the belief, the rest of the perception-based Thought-to-Action Cycle for the lack belief falls away and is replaced with a new cycle based on facts.
Teach your brain fact-based data. Remember, your brain loves to learn new data to ensure it can help fulfill its 2 main functions. Facts over perception-based beliefs and mindsets will help it do that. This is even more important at this time in history where misinformation and fake news is increasing. As you teach your brain this new fact-based data, over time it will create new neural connections and will begin to use the new neural pathways and let go of the old pathways.
Imagine the Global Impact
The human brain is an amazingly complex and fascinating organ and I believe the more we understand it, the more we can create a better life and world.
Imagine if understanding the Thought-to-Action Cycle along with the 2 main functions of the brain was part of the standard global education model in every grade so this understanding was second nature to all?
How different would their individual lives be; how different would the global reality be? Would we be more understanding of ourselves and of others? Would we shift away from scarcity and fear-based thinking and living? Would we begin to create our life and world with conscious intention? Would we begin to focus more on the good in our lives and in the world?
Would we begin to work more collectively and compassionately as a species? Would our global systems change to empower humans to be all they can be?
Imagine.
How About You?
Can you see how the Thought-to-Action Cycle and its components impacts the actions/inactions you and others take?
Can you see how wide spread knowledge of this information could help our world?
If you did not learn this in school or in life, do you wish you had known about the Thought-to-Action Cycle earlier?
I'd love to know your thoughts. Feel free to reach out to me here.
Til next time,
I hope you found this article helpful. If you did, please social share it. Together we can help create a global MindShift and better world.
Lisa
p.s. Stay tuned for the next article where I will talk about what I call a "Mindset Turnaround” which is something I use to help turn lack based beliefs into empowerment based facts.
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