PWAK: How to Actually Self-Reflect (Without Drowning in Overthinking) | Episode 52

In this episode, I break down the science and structure behind real self-reflection. Not journaling for dopamine. Not spiraling in your notes app.

We’ll talk about how your brain forms loops, why most “reflection” is just rumination, and how to build a system that helps you notice, reframe, and reroute patterns.

Whether you’re stuck in a cycle or just tired of your own BS, this is where the pivot starts! :)

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Articles you could read:

1. Raichle, M. E. (2015). “The Brain's Default Mode Network.” Annual Review of Neuroscience.- https://www.annualreviews.org/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-neuro-071013-014030

2. Barrett, L. F. (2017). How Emotions Are Made: The Secret Life of the Brain.

3. Craig, A. D. (2002). “How do you feel? Interoception: the sense of the physiological condition of the body.” Nature Reviews Neuroscience - https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn894

4. Daniel Kahneman (2011). Thinking, Fast and Slow.

→ The classic breakdown of fast (intuitive) vs slow (reflective) thinking, and how most of us stay stuck in System 1.

5. Beck, J. S. (2011). Cognitive Behavior Therapy: Basics and Beyond.→ CBT's core idea: it’s not the event, it’s the interpretation. Useful for framing how meaning impacts emotional loops.

6. Cognitive Reappraisal

Gross, J. J. (2002). “Emotion regulation: Affective, cognitive, and social consequences.” Psychophysiology. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0048577201393198

7. Donella Meadows (2008). Thinking in Systems: A Primer.

→ Excellent source for understanding patterns, feedback loops, and why repeated behavior often makes sense in context.