Skip to main content

Day 60: Learning to Unlearn

"The greatest prison we live in is the fear of what other people think." - Baz Lutz

Let me tell you something. We're walking around carrying more baggage than a budget airline during peak season, and most of it isn't even our own. It's the hand-me-down trauma, beliefs, and "brules" (bullshit rules, for the uninitiated) that our parents, grandparents, and entire ancestral lineage have packed neatly into our psychological suitcase. Cheers, family!

The Invisible Chains: What Vishen Taught Me About Brules

Vishen Lakhiani, that cheeky mind-hacker from Mindvalley, talks about "brules" like they're these invisible monsters living in our mental closet. Remember when your gran told you that "real success means working a 9-to-5 job" or your dad insisted that "men don't cry"? Yep, those are brules. Pesky little belief systems that have zero scientific backing but somehow managed to become your life's operating manual.

Proverbs 13:20 says, "Walk with the wise and become wise, for a companion of fools suffers harm." But what if the 'wise' people are inadvertently passing down generational nonsense?

The Science of Stuck: What Research Says

Dr. Bruce Lipton (yes, him again with his mind-blowing cellular biology insights) discovered something wild. Our beliefs are essentially programs downloaded before we're seven years old. Seven! Most of us are running decade-old software that's never been updated. Imagine still using Windows 95 and wondering why your computer is failing to run Microsoft office 365 lol.

A study in the Journal of Traumatology found that generational trauma can literally change gene expression. Let that sink in. The fears, limitations, and unprocessed emotions of your great-grandparents could be swimming around in your DNA right now. Not a pleasant thought, eh?

The Mythical Perspective: Breaking Generational Curses

Let's get a bit mystical. In many ancient traditions, breaking generational patterns is seen as a sacred act of healing. The Native Americans have a concept of "seven generations healing", the idea that when you heal yourself, you heal seven generations before and after you.

Think about that for a moment. You're not just healing yourself. You're potentially rewriting the entire script for your family line.

How to Actually Unlearn

  1. Awareness is Your Superpower Catch yourself when you're repeating phrases or behaviours that don't align with who you want to be. That moment of pause? Pure gold.
  2. Question Everything Just because something was true for your parents doesn't mean it's true for you. Curiosity didn't just kill the cat; it liberated the human. Mhm...................
  3. Meditation and Mindfulness Dr. Caroline Leaf's research shows that 16 minutes of targeted mind management can start rewiring neural pathways. Sixteen minutes! You spend more time scrolling through TikTok.

The Final Word

Your generational patterns are not your destiny. They're just a starting point. You're not bound by the limitations of those who came before you. You're here to evolve, to break cycles, to be the wild card in your family's narrative. Being a progressively productive person (ppp).

We unlearn, we grow, we become. Because This is What We Do Now!


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 86: Branding

Let's talk about something that's often misunderstood. When I say "branding," what pops into your head? Probably corporations with their fancy logos, catchy slogans, and those adverts that somehow know exactly when you're most vulnerable to buying another appliance you don't need. But here's the thing... branding isn't just for businesses trying to sell you overpriced coffee in minimalist cups. It's actually something far more personal and potentially transformative than we give it credit for. What Even Is Personal Branding Anyway? Think about the first human "brand" if you will. Back in Genesis, God essentially gave Adam a personal brand: "caretaker of Eden." Simple job description, decent benefits package, minimal dress code. One rule to follow. And then... well, we know how that ended up. The serpent came along and essentially offered a "brand upgrade", "You will be like God, knowing good and evil" (Ge...
Post a Comment
Read more

Day 77: Add Value

We've all heard some version of it, haven't we? "You reap what you sow." "Give and you shall receive." Those timeless principles packaged and repackaged across centuries, religions, and TED talks all essentially saying the same bloody thing: value out follows value in. But let's be honest, shall we? In our swipe-right, instant-gratification culture, the patience required for genuine value creation feels almost... quaint. The Great Value Misconception (Or Why Everyone's Waiting for Their Ship That Never Bloody Sails) I was reminded of that brilliant exchange from "The Wolf of Wall Street" between Matthew McConaughey and Leonardo DiCaprio: Mark Hanna: "You know what a fugazi is?" Jordan Belfort: "Fugazi... it's a fake." Mark Hanna: "Fugazi, fugazi. It's a whazy. It's a woozie. It's fairy dust." That's what most people's understanding of "adding value" is fairy dust. They bel...
Post a Comment
Read more

Day 71: When Life Gives You Lemons

We've all heard it, haven't we? That saccharine platitude: "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade." It's slapped onto mugs, embroidered onto pillows, and plastered across Instagram feeds by people who've likely never faced a proper lemon-level catastrophe in their lives. I was reminded of an exchange fictional, but bloody brilliant between Roderick Usher and C. Auguste Dupin in the series fall of the house of Usher: Roderick Usher: "When life hands you lemons..." C. Auguste Dupin: "Make lemonade?" Roderick Usher: "No. First you roll out a multi-media campaign to convince people lemons are incredibly scarce, which only works if you stockpile lemons, control the supply, then a media blitz. Lemon is the only way to say 'I love you,' the must-have accessory for engagements or anniversaries. Roses are out, lemons are in. Billboards that say she won't have sex with you unless you got lemons. You cut De Beers in on it. ...
Post a Comment
Read more