Neuroscience shows we have around 6,000 thoughts each day and that most of them are running on loops — most of them are yesterday’s reruns. If you’re not careful, you’ll live the same week or year again and again, calling it a life, when it’s really just a pattern.
Our brains are designed for efficiency, not novelty, so unless we interrupt the cycle, we tend to live the same week on repeat. Same thoughts, same emotions, same problems — just in different ‘clothes’. What seems like another different problem is really the same root problem, but just in the form of a different person or situation.
Unconscious living isn’t always dramatic. Sometimes it looks like:
• Reaching for your phone the moment you wake up or when there’s a moment in your day
• Saying yes out of habit, even when your gut says no
• Hustling through the workweek without asking why you’re still doing it this way
• Checking your email first thing in the morning before you’ve even decided what matters that day
• Working late “just to get ahead”, even though you said this year would be different
• Having the same weekly meeting that no one finds useful, but no one questions it
• Filling your calendar with back-to-back calls or meetings, then wondering why you feel disconnected or burnt out
• Telling yourself you’ll get healthy later, when you “have time”. Living on “Someday Isle”
Or maybe your day kinda feels the same as yesterday did and this week feels much the same as the one before.
And outside of external changes, your life is really much the same as the year before.
These aren’t moral failures. They’re just patterns, automatic loops you’ve been running.
If most of your thoughts today were the same as yesterday’s...
If your reactions feel familiar...
If you’re not challenging your OWN beliefs and thoughts…
If you’re checking off the boxes but wondering if there’s more to life or business...
That’s not failure. That’s a signal.
Most of us weren’t taught how to live consciously. It wasn’t even a saying when we were young.
We learned how to avoid conflict and survive the chaos. We were taught how to soldier on, please, prove and repeat.
I’m not here to judge that. I’ve lived it too.
I remember being in my last business and just wanting to get through each day. Just wanting to get to the weekend. Just wanting to numb and escape.
“I just need six months away,” I would consistently tell myself. But deep down I knew I would just be coming back to the same mess, dissatisfaction, over-functioning, and overwhelm.
I’ve seen what’s possible when we start paying attention and choosing differently. Living from intention. Clarity. Calm. Grounded. Honest. Authentic.
And my clients see it in themselves too.
So if life feels like a loop right now, maybe it’s not because you’re broken, maybe it’s because you’re finally starting to notice the pattern. And that’s a gift.
The moment you see the loop is the moment you can begin to change it.
You can keep writing the same chapter, hoping the ending will somehow change, or you can open your eyes wider, take the pen back, and start leading your life the way you always envisioned: on purpose. Start writing the next chapters so that you’ll love reading them when you’re done.
Chris Wilkinson is a high performance business coach, speaker, and columnist who helps growth-minded entrepreneurs create more clarity, confidence, and lifestyle freedom both in business and in life. Email Chris at [email protected]
