Good Morning, I Love You summary

Once, while attending a meditation session at a monastery in Thailand, Shauna Shapiro found herself struggling with her mindfulness practice. When she told a monk about her difficulties, he laughed, and said that at the moment, she wasn’t practicing mindfulness. Instead, she was practicing impatience and judgment.

Then, the monk said five words that Shapiro would never forget: “What you practice grows stronger.”

This is absolutely true. What we practice grows stronger. It’s something that Shapiro has learned through her own experiences, and years of research as a psychologist specializing in mindfulness.

It turns out that the monk’s teaching is backed up by science. You may have heard of something called neuroplasticity. Essentially, it means that the structure of the brain can be changed – and we have the power to change it.

A Harvard study looked at the brains of people who practiced mindfulness. Amazingly, they found that certain parts of the brain were bigger and stronger – the parts connected to learning, attention, and processing emotions.

The monk was right – what you practice grows stronger. And that means we can rewire our brains for the better, to become happier. 

The science shows that external changes won’t change our baseline happiness – not even winning the lottery. But internal changes – the work we do on our brains – can make a surprising difference.

In a moment, we’ll look at some ways to train your brain. They’re simple, straightforward exercises you can start right away. But before we get going, here are a couple of things to keep in mind. 

First, the goal here isn’t self-improvement, but rather liberation. You’re not trying to fix yourself. The aim is to become free from limiting beliefs. And second, take things slowly. True change happens gradually. So again, take the pressure off, and set yourself small goals – the smaller the better. 

For instance, ask yourself, “Can I do five percent more?” Can you do five percent more practice? Or even just one percent? If you set yourself small goals, you’re more likely to achieve them. This will help you to stay motivated as you do the gradual, life-changing work of rewiring your brain.