Why Your Mind Works Like an Algorithm (And How to Change It)
Did you know your subconscious mind works a lot like an algorithm? It is constantly learning from what you pay attention to and engage with.
Whatever captures your attention - whether it's anxiety, anger, self-doubt, football, music, or relationships - the subconscious assumes it’s important and gives you more of those thoughts.
This is why so many people get stuck. They believe that analysing, fighting, or trying to solve their anxious thoughts will make them disappear. But often, all they’re doing is telling the subconscious that those thoughts matter.
The subconscious thinks “oh, you’re engaging with these anxious thoughts - you’re wrestling with them, solving them, fixing them - it must be important, here, let me give you more!!” Before you know it, your mind is filled with anxious content.
So the solution often isn’t to solve, fix or suppress thoughts or emotions. It’s to change your relationship with them.
That’s why techniques such as the Letting Go Process is so powerful, as it helps you stop feeding the old algorithms. By allowing thoughts and emotions to arise without resisting them, and then releasing them, you’re teaching the subconscious that they are no longer important.
Another powerful approach is to engage more deeply with the things you genuinely value. Music, sport, creativity, relationships, learning, cooking, nature - whatever really matters to you.
Every time you engage with something you value, as opposed to your anxious thoughts, it’s as though you're clicking on a different type of content. Instead of cat videos, you’re clicking on cooking videos (or whatever works for you), and you’re telling the subconscious algorithm, “This! More of this.”
Of course, at first, the old algorithm won't disappear…If you’ve been spending months clicking on cat videos, you’ll still see plenty of those in your mind feed. But if you consistently stop feeding the old algorithm and start engaging with what truly matters to you, the algorithm gradually learns.
Over time, there are fewer and fewer cat videos and more and more cooking videos!
You see, the subconscious isn’t working against you. It wants to serve you, and it’s learning from where your attention goes. Change what you repeatedly engage with, and eventually your inner world begins to change as well.
And of course… If you want to change the algorithm at it’s coding source - the subconscious itself - then hypnotherapy is your friend! :)
Want Support?
Lucas Lindblom is a clinical hypnotherapist with a background in psychology, based in Thornbury, Melbourne. Sessions are available both in person and online. To book, follow the links below.
