Are You Thinking Or Being Thought?

Listen to an expanded conversation between Bart and Sunny around this newsletter:

Automatic Doesn’t Always Mean Aligned

Breathing is something we do automatically - thank heavens we don’t have to sit and think about each and every breath we take. That would be exhausting, not to mention dangerous.  One small mistake - one moment of forgetfulness - and life would be over. 

But some of us have learned that just because breathing is automatic, it doesn’t mean the way we breathe is always beneficial. Breathwork shows us that by intentionally choosing how we breathe, we can shift our state, release emotion, and unlock deeper parts of ourselves. A basic function becomes transformational when guided by awareness.

You Don’t Have to Be Thinking to Be Having Thoughts

Thoughts, believe it or not, are the same way.

In other words: You don’t have to be thinking to be having thoughts. You’re just scrolling a mental feed you didn’t curate. 

Thinking is a Power Switch

But just like breathwork, there’s another layer available to you: thinking. 

Thinking is active. It’s intentional. It requires focus, effort, and choice. While having thoughts is automatic, thinking is the conscious organization of mental energy into meaning. It’s the act of choosing what to focus on, how to interpret, and what story to follow. It’s how we reclaim authorship over our minds. Thinking is a power switch. You can flip it on, or you can leave it in default mode. But make no mistake: something will be running the show either way.

When you train your mind to think, you tune it to higher frequencies such as gratitude, purpose, clarity, and creativity. You interrupt destructive loops like perfectionism, procrastination, or shame. You begin to respond instead of react. You step out of survival and into creation. But choosing to think is only half the battle. The other half is choosing what to think about.

Where Attention Goes, Reality Grows

Your focus isn’t neutral. It’s creative. Where attention goes, reality grows.

Every masterpiece, every movement, every innovation started with someone who not only thought, but chose what to think about. Look around you - the phone in your hand, the language you speak, the fears you inherited, the systems you live inside - all of it was shaped by someone else’s focused thought. And unless you reclaim your own, you’re still having thoughts… just not your own thoughts.

Thoughts become things. Not sometimes. Always.

You’re always manifesting either by design or by default. If your thoughts are running wild, untrained and unquestioned, then your greatest tool for change has become your greatest weapon against yourself. Instead of creating possibility, it builds prisons. You overthink. You underact. You confuse noise for truth. And if you don’t choose your thoughts, someone else (a voice from your past, a cultural narrative, a fear-based complex) will choose them for you.

Using AI as a Mirror, Not a Master

It can help you name the invisible, pattern-break old loops, bring unconscious material into conscious language, and help you organize ideas, stories, and visions that otherwise feel like chaos.

But when someone comes with a disempowering intent, such as revenge, control, or validation of toxic beliefs… AI won’t stop them. It will often help them do it better. One of the most disempowering ways people use AI is to confirm their existing worldview. 

• “Why are narcissists the worst?”

• “How do I know I am better than everyone else?”

• “How can I manipulate someone into loving me back?”

The AI will pull from language patterns it has seen and reflect that flavor of mind right back. This is why intention is everything in our world of Mind. AI is like a giant field of potential (just like our own, organic intelligence), and our questions are the tuning forks. Whatever frequency you bring, it will echo it back.

How to Consciously Think

So how do you reclaim the steering wheel of your mind? 

Start by becoming the observer of your thoughts rather than the passenger. Just like breathwork begins with awareness of the inhale and exhale, conscious thinking begins with awareness of the mental content you're engaging with. Ask yourself:

• Is this thought helpful or harmful?

• Is this thought mine or inherited?

• Does this thought expand me or diminish me?

Then, get intentional. Choose a thought on purpose. Write it down. Speak it aloud. Anchor it with breath or movement. This is how you start training your mind like a muscle, by bringing presence to the mental space between stimulus and response.

You can also use prompts (you know, the same way you use prompts in ChatGPT) to direct your thinking. Remember, the better the prompt, the better the output:

• “What’s the story I’m telling myself right now?”

• “Is there another lens I could look through?”

• “What thought would I think if I trusted myself fully?”

Finally, create thinking rituals, often called “journaling.” Set aside 5–10 minutes daily to think on purpose - no distractions, no screens. Just a journal, a question, and your focused mind. You’ll be shocked how magnetic and powerful your thinking becomes when you stop letting it be background noise and start treating it like sacred fire.

And If You Choose to Use AI in an Empowering Way:

1. Ask expansive questions. (“What belief might be holding me back?” or “How can I grow from this?”)

2. Challenge your own thinking. Use AI to explore the opposite of your current assumption. (“What would someone with the opposite belief say about this situation?”)

3. Pursue integration, not just information. Don’t just ask for tips, ask for tools that lead you back to yourself.

4. Guard your focus. If you find yourself using AI to stoke resentment, feed comparison, or spiral into over-analysis… pause. Recenter.

5. Remember: You are the soul. AI is the output. You bring the energy, the ethics, the why. AI brings structure, reflection, and scope. Don’t give it your will. Use it with will.

6. Use AI to Draft, But Let Life Edit. Use human feedback to avoid “synthetic confidence.” If you aren’t careful, AI can trap you in an echo chamber of your own brilliance. You will always feel validated by AI, but that doesn’t mean it’s truth. Pushback sharpens logic, disagreement shows blind spots, and conflicting opinions force deeper inquiry. If you are using AI and catch yourself thinking, “Wow, I’m right about everything,” take a moment and ask yourself: “Where am I not being challenged right now?” “Who (or what) have I stopped listening to?” And “Am I seeking confirmation…or truth?”

Above all, remember the most powerful questions will always come from you. AI can hold the lantern, but it cannot name your North Star for you. So before asking AI for help, ask yourself: “Is this a question from my highest self…or my wounded one?”

Because whatever you seek - just like our own bodies and incredible intellect - the algorithm will amplify. 

Thinking and Energetic Tuning

Life Updates:

• This week we have played a little pickleball. One evening was extremely windy and although conditions weren’t ideal, it was kind of fun. It was like the wind became the third player on both sides of the court and you never really knew what was going to happen to the ball once the wind caught hold of it! 

• Sunny has been thoroughly enjoying her morning nature walks, and Bart did head out to go rope last night. 

• We have been doing a 30-day breathwork challenge and just finished it last night. It has really been a transformational experience for both of us, and we look forward to continuing it together! We will also be holding breathwork sessions with our We Play Full Out Life Mastery group once a month. If anyone out there is interested in joining a breathwork session, let us know!

• We head out for Europe on Monday and will be gone for a full 15 days. It’s kind of hard to wrap our minds around! We are really excited and ready for a full reset! 

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