This week, I watched the premiere of the television show, “The Irrational.” It’s about a world-renowned behavioral scientist who utilizes an unexpected but highly successful approach when assisting with high-profile cases to expand his understanding of human behavior.

In this particular episode, the protagonist is invited to help with a hostage negotiation. Instead of trying the usual negotiation techniques used by law enforcement, he just began asking the bad guy to be more specific about his demands. He kept asking more detailed questions, interrupting the hostage-taker’s expected behavior.

The simple act of causing the criminal to pause and ponder, in short order, changed the outcome. Instead of acting on his threats if his demands weren’t met, the bad guy turned himself in. By asking so many questions, the behavioral scientist influenced the criminal into thinking that being a criminal was too complicated.

This made me think of something Mark J discussed during our lesson this week about the 3Rs – most decisions are made by determining risk, the potential reward, and the ratio between the two. This decision-making process is governed by the limbic system, an old part of our brain that evaluates the 3Rs and makes split-second judgment calls. This part of the brain may be old, but it is fast-moving. Often, we have started to act on a decision seven seconds before the decision is registered on a conscious level.

The solution to this supersonic feedback loop is to pause that cycle, to interrupt it, so the automaticity is halted, and we have time to break decision loops. The only way we can do this is by reprogramming the subconscious.

I kept thinking of the blueprint I was revising by forming the new habits of reading and speaking my truth out loud with enthusiasm. Being physically still has never been an issue for me. However, I found this week that I still had not achieved what I wanted. Practicing the sit daily creates the focus required to achieve “no mind.” When the old patterns kept popping into my head, I found it easier this week to take that tiny moment to pause and dismiss them.

Daily devotion to the perfection of good habits begets mastery over the limbic system and a new blueprint.