{"id":93924,"date":"2023-03-05T16:59:00","date_gmt":"2023-03-05T20:59:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=93924"},"modified":"2023-03-08T14:26:57","modified_gmt":"2023-03-08T18:26:57","slug":"mental-programming","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/mental-programming\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Use Mental Programming to Change Your Thoughts"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Is your mental programming set in stone? How can you overwrite unhelpful and self-sabotaging mental programs you&#8217;ve internalized throughout the course of your life?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You don\u2019t have to accept your default mental processes as your unchanging reality. According to Ryan A. Bush, the author of <em>Designing the Mind<\/em>, the mind works like a computer, which means that you can overwrite the mental programs that don&#8217;t serve you. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here&#8217;s how you can reshape your mind by treating your thought processes like computer algorithms that can be edited. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-the-mind-as-a-computer\"><strong>The Mind as a Computer<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Bush argues that <strong>the mind is like a computer, with immeasurable inputs and algorithms<\/strong> that prompt the behaviors that make us who we are.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In our<em> minds<\/em>, inputs are external stimuli\u2014for instance, things we see, hear, or experience\u2014that come from events in our daily lives. These inputs then trigger our \u201cmental algorithms,\u201d or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-break-negative-thought-patterns\/\">thought patterns<\/a>, which lead to outputs in the form of our feelings and actions.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Sometimes, our default mental programming doesn&#8217;t serve us. <\/strong>They might be linked to biases and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/faulty-assumptions\/\">faulty assumptions<\/a> that prompt undesirable <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/thoughts-feelings-and-behaviors\/\">emotions and behaviors<\/a>, leading us to act counterproductively to our values and goals. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Bush asserts, however, that you don\u2019t have to maintain faulty thought patterns forever\u2014since the mind functions like a computer, with the proper knowledge, you can alter your brain\u2019s algorithms like an engineer designing computer software. When you learn to modify your mental algorithms, you can better control the nature of your outputs.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-shortform-example-change-a-faulty-thought-pattern-to-change-your-response\"><strong>Shortform Example: Change a Faulty Thought Pattern to Change Your Response<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Let\u2019s look at an example of a faulty thought pattern that you can change to alter its resultant emotions and behaviors. Say there\u2019s an open position at a company you really want to work for. You apply for the job, but you don\u2019t get it\u2014this is the input. This input then triggers a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/negative-thought-patterns-2\/\">negative thought pattern<\/a>: You tell yourself that you weren\u2019t smart enough for the job, and you assume you did poorly in the interview. This thought pattern prompts the undesirable emotional outputs of frustration, anxiety, and embarrassment. Additionally, you respond to the setback unproductively by avoiding future job applications.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Using Bush\u2019s tools (which we\u2019ll discuss further in later sections), you could experience the same thing\u2014not getting hired for a job you want\u2014and change your response by modifying your thought patterns. Instead of assuming that you did something wrong in the application process, you might recognize that you just weren\u2019t the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/hiring-the-right-people\/\">right person<\/a> for that particular position. Maybe the company already had someone in mind and they were just interviewing outside candidates as a formality.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With these altered thought patterns, you might still feel some disappointment, but you won\u2019t experience the previously intense negative emotions about yourself and your capabilities. Likewise, your experience won\u2019t stop you from applying for other jobs in the future or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/seek-feedback\/\">seeking feedback<\/a> that could help you improve.&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Is your mental programming set in stone? How can you overwrite unhelpful and self-sabotaging mental programs you&#8217;ve internalized throughout the course of your life? You don\u2019t have to accept your default mental processes as your unchanging reality. According to Ryan A. Bush, the author of Designing the Mind, the mind works like a computer, which means that you can overwrite the mental programs that don&#8217;t serve you. Here&#8217;s how you can reshape your mind by treating your thought processes like computer algorithms that can be edited.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":72701,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,160],"tags":[919],"class_list":["post-93924","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-psychology","category-science","tag-designing-the-mind","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.3 (Yoast SEO v24.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How to Use Mental Programming to Change Your Thoughts - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The mental programming you&#039;ve internalized throughout your life isn&#039;t set in stone. Here&#039;s how to overwrite self-sabotaging mental programs.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/mental-programming\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to Use Mental Programming to Change Your Thoughts\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The mental programming you&#039;ve internalized throughout your life isn&#039;t set in stone. Here&#039;s how to overwrite self-sabotaging mental programs.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/mental-programming\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Shortform Books\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-03-05T20:59:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-03-08T18:26:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/wordpress.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/brain-emotions-thought-mind.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1746\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1164\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Darya Sinusoid\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Darya Sinusoid\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/mental-programming\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/mental-programming\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Darya Sinusoid\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0421cce75bc249b11e2517b3a91f9c46\"},\"headline\":\"How to Use Mental Programming to Change Your Thoughts\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-03-05T20:59:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-03-08T18:26:57+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/mental-programming\/\"},\"wordCount\":514,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/mental-programming\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/brain-emotions-thought-mind.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Designing the Mind\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Psychology\",\"Science\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/mental-programming\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/mental-programming\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/mental-programming\/\",\"name\":\"How to Use Mental Programming to Change Your Thoughts - Shortform Books\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/mental-programming\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/mental-programming\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/brain-emotions-thought-mind.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-03-05T20:59:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-03-08T18:26:57+00:00\",\"description\":\"The mental programming you've internalized throughout your life isn't set in stone. Here's how to overwrite self-sabotaging mental programs.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/mental-programming\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/mental-programming\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/mental-programming\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/brain-emotions-thought-mind.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/brain-emotions-thought-mind.jpg\",\"width\":1746,\"height\":1164},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/mental-programming\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"How to Use Mental Programming to Change Your Thoughts\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Shortform Books\",\"description\":\"The World&#039;s Best Book Summaries\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Shortform Books\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png\",\"width\":500,\"height\":74,\"caption\":\"Shortform Books\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0421cce75bc249b11e2517b3a91f9c46\",\"name\":\"Darya Sinusoid\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Untitled-design-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Untitled-design-1.png\",\"caption\":\"Darya Sinusoid\"},\"description\":\"Darya\u2019s love for reading started with fantasy novels (The LOTR trilogy is still her all-time-favorite). Growing up, however, she found herself transitioning to non-fiction, psychological, and self-help books. She has a degree in Psychology and a deep passion for the subject. She likes reading research-informed books that distill the workings of the human brain\/mind\/consciousness and thinking of ways to apply the insights to her own life. Some of her favorites include Thinking, Fast and Slow, How We Decide, and The Wisdom of the Enneagram.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/author\/darya\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How to Use Mental Programming to Change Your Thoughts - Shortform Books","description":"The mental programming you've internalized throughout your life isn't set in stone. Here's how to overwrite self-sabotaging mental programs.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/mental-programming\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How to Use Mental Programming to Change Your Thoughts","og_description":"The mental programming you've internalized throughout your life isn't set in stone. Here's how to overwrite self-sabotaging mental programs.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/mental-programming\/","og_site_name":"Shortform Books","article_published_time":"2023-03-05T20:59:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-03-08T18:26:57+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1746,"height":1164,"url":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/wordpress.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/brain-emotions-thought-mind.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Darya Sinusoid","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Darya Sinusoid","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/mental-programming\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/mental-programming\/"},"author":{"name":"Darya Sinusoid","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0421cce75bc249b11e2517b3a91f9c46"},"headline":"How to Use Mental Programming to Change Your Thoughts","datePublished":"2023-03-05T20:59:00+00:00","dateModified":"2023-03-08T18:26:57+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/mental-programming\/"},"wordCount":514,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/mental-programming\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/brain-emotions-thought-mind.jpg","keywords":["Designing the Mind"],"articleSection":["Psychology","Science"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/mental-programming\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/mental-programming\/","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/mental-programming\/","name":"How to Use Mental Programming to Change Your Thoughts - Shortform Books","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/mental-programming\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/mental-programming\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/brain-emotions-thought-mind.jpg","datePublished":"2023-03-05T20:59:00+00:00","dateModified":"2023-03-08T18:26:57+00:00","description":"The mental programming you've internalized throughout your life isn't set in stone. Here's how to overwrite self-sabotaging mental programs.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/mental-programming\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/mental-programming\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/mental-programming\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/brain-emotions-thought-mind.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/brain-emotions-thought-mind.jpg","width":1746,"height":1164},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/mental-programming\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"How to Use Mental Programming to Change Your Thoughts"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/","name":"Shortform Books","description":"The World&#039;s Best Book Summaries","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"Shortform Books","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png","width":500,"height":74,"caption":"Shortform Books"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0421cce75bc249b11e2517b3a91f9c46","name":"Darya Sinusoid","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Untitled-design-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Untitled-design-1.png","caption":"Darya Sinusoid"},"description":"Darya\u2019s love for reading started with fantasy novels (The LOTR trilogy is still her all-time-favorite). Growing up, however, she found herself transitioning to non-fiction, psychological, and self-help books. She has a degree in Psychology and a deep passion for the subject. She likes reading research-informed books that distill the workings of the human brain\/mind\/consciousness and thinking of ways to apply the insights to her own life. Some of her favorites include Thinking, Fast and Slow, How We Decide, and The Wisdom of the Enneagram.","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/author\/darya\/"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/brain-emotions-thought-mind.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93924","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=93924"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93924\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":94919,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93924\/revisions\/94919"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72701"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=93924"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=93924"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=93924"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}