Chapter 4 opens with an extended example from Groeschel’s life. Groeschel accidentally wired a new stereo system through the wiring for the headlights in his car, so that his stereo only worked when his headlights were on. This illustrates a basic principle: how our minds are wired determines how they work. Drawing on neuroscience, Groeschel describes the natural tendency of the human brain to wire itself into repetitive patterns based on our thoughts and experiences: “Every thought you have produces a neurochemical change in your mind. Your brain literally redesigns itself around that thought” (67). This tendency is an adaptive and protective function of the brain, allowing us to learn new patterns of thought and then easily redeploy those patterns when faced with similar situations. This enables us to learn even very complex patterns and behaviors, like playing the piano. Unfortunately, this tendency also predisposes our brain to hardwire patterns into our minds based on repeated negative thoughts or behaviors.

Groeschel describes these negative patterns as ruts. As is the case with ruts, it is very difficult to get out of them, especially once your brain has hardwired a predisposition for staying in that rut. The first step for getting out is to discern what our ruts are by considering the behaviors or feelings which exhibit a repetitive or compulsive nature.