Imagine you have a big library inside your head where every story of your life is kept. Sometimes, you keep reading the same “sad story” over and over, and it makes you think tomorrow has to be sad too. But you are the author! You can pick up a new pen and start writing a “happy story” on the next page whenever you want.

Why This Happens: Your subconscious is a storehouse of total experiences. When you rely on “uneducated comprehension of past events,” your brain uses old, painful memories to predict your future. Because your body wants to save energy, it stays in these “stagnant” loops rather than doing the hard work of learning a new way to be.

How to Fix It: In your mind, look at that past mistake as if it were a movie playing on a screen far away. Realize that you are now “older, wiser, and more mature” than the person in that movie. Mentally “cut the cord” to that screen and watch it fade away, replacing it with a picture of your successful self today.

Context Research: The Austrian founder of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud, viewed symptoms as symbolic ways of dealing with internal conflicts from the past. By unearthing these “repressions” and evaluating them with adult wisdom, we can achieve “enlightenment and permanent change”.