"That's Just How I'm Wired," and Other Lies that Limit Your Life

Self-Brain Surgery™ challenges the paradigm of materialistic neuroscience

Most people assume they are “wired” to think, feel, believe, and act in certain ways, and that there’s not much they can do about it.

This idea is everywhere in modern culture: the notion that your genetics, family background, or past experiences (traumas, tragedies, losses) either hardwire you to behave a certain way, or damage you so deeply that you’re destined to stay broken forever.

It’s a big, pervasive problem, even in the messaging we hear from the neuroscience community.

It starts with the materialist worldview (you can learn more about that from my recent talk with fellow neurosurgeon Dr. Michael Egnor).

Here’s the basic premise: if your brain determines what your life will be like (your personality, potential, and how you respond to challenges/adversity), then if something is wrong with your brain or your past, you’re just stuck.

We hear it all the time:

• “I’ve always been this way.”

• “It runs in my family.”

• “God made me like this.”

• “This trauma ruined me.”

But here’s the hidden materialist belief behind this kind of thinking:

Evolution → Genes → Brain Structure → Personality → Behavior → Identity

In this view, how you are becomes who you are.

And that’s a lie.

If your “self”- your soul, your drives, your hopes, your capabilities- is just brain-generated electricity and chemistry, then your identity is only as good as your brain. But what if your brain isn’t in peak shape? What if you're aging, or not the "smart one," or if something tragic has happened (trauma, loss, grief, a diagnosis)?

Then what?

If your brain is broken, and your brain is you, then what hope remains?

I’ve got good news:
It’s not hopeless (In fact, I wrote a whole book about that, and it’s why I sign off every email with our self-brain surgery motto, Dum spiro spero and scripture, Psalm 71:14- see below).

In fact, it’s a lie that’s been thoroughly debunked.

Since the early 2000s, functional brain imaging has made one thing clear to anyone willing to look:
The mind and the brain are not the same thing.
And the brain responds to the mind’s direction.

That’s why I say:
You can’t change your life until you change your mind.

Because “That’s just how I’m wired” is a lie.
And over the next three weeks we’re going to dismantle that lie and replace it with the truth.

And the truth is that your brain is not a fixed structure that seals your fate. It’s neuroplastic, a dynamic, ever-changing organ that reshapes itself constantly based on:

• how you think

• what you pay attention to

• what you believe

• how you behave

Your brain reshapes itself every moment based on how you think, what you focus on, what you believe, and how you behave.

Dr. Lee Warren

This isn’t some metaphysical nonsense, it’s modern neuroscience. And it’s backed by two decades of research (Doidge, Schwartz, Amen, Newberg, and more) that is finally catching up with the wisdom the Bible has been prescribing all along.

But there’s something critical I don’t want you to miss:
If your mind can change your brain—then you are not your brain.

You are the one who can observe your thoughts, choose your beliefs, and direct your responses. That part of you, the choosing, observing, transforming self, is your mind.

And from a Biblical worldview, it’s the part of you that bears the image of God.

Paul wrote:

“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” —Romans 12:2

And:

“We take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” —2 Corinthians 10:5

This is Self-Brain Surgery™, my friend:
The deliberate, repeated act of giving your brain better instructions from your mind.

So hear me clearly:

❌“That’s just how I’m wired” is a lie.
✅You are not stuck.
✅You are not broken beyond repair.
✅And you are not at the mercy of your genetics, your trauma, or your past.

Here’s your first step:

Start noticing that old voice when it whispers,

“This is just who I am.”

“I can’t help it, I got it from my dad.”

Those are thoughts, not facts. And thoughts can be challenged.

Most people are so steeped in the culture of “you are your brain” that they’ve forgotten we were designed with the power to change already built in.

And my job is to remind and equip you to pick up the mental scalpel and get to work transforming your life from floundering to flourishing.

Coming Up: Three Essential Tools Every Self-Brain Surgeon Needs

Over the next three weeks, we’ll unpack three basic instruments of Self-Brain Surgery™. Each of them is designed to help you change your mind and open the door to lasting transformation:

1. Thought Biopsies
   Learning the art of metacognition, or how to examine your thoughts and replace the ones that aren't serving you.

2. Goal Posts
   Rethinking the targets you’re chasing, because if you’re shooting at the wrong target, hitting it won’t make you happier.

3. Patchbays
   Understanding how to direct the rewiring process of your brain so you can become healthier, feel better, and be happier.

If you're tired of feeling sad, sick, stressed, stuck, or always settling, this training will help you start moving forward, one thought at a time.

👉 Subscribe now so you don’t miss this powerful three-part series on changing your brain and your life through Self-Brain Surgery™.

🧠 Paid subscribers, keep scrolling to the end of this message and you can listen to a podcast (ad-free) about these three ideas. They will help you radically transform your hopefulness, no matter what you’re going through. This episode from 2022 is the genesis of a longer video episode I’m going to release in a couple of weeks for everyone, and I can’t wait to hear your thoughts on it.

---

📣Announcing: The Brain Surgeon and the Therapist 📣

On July 11, I’m recording the first in a series (hopefully) of podcasts with Gina Birkemeier, a brilliant therapist and author. Gina was on my podcast before, and we realized that it would be helpful to you to have us get together again and answer some of your questions. (🎩 Hat tip to Gina for the catchy title)

This is your chance to ask questions of Gina, me, or both of us, and we’ll build an episode (or possibly more if you like it). Here are three ways you can submit questions:

1. The most fun would be for YOU to join us on the podcast! You can record a video question using this link, and we’ll include you in the show! It’s super easy, and all you have to do is record. We’ll take care of the rest. Please start with your name and where you’re from, and then ask your question.

2. You can leave your question via voice mail, and we’ll use your voice on the show. SpeakPipe has a limit of 90 seconds for the messages.

3. You can email your questions to contact@drleewarren.com

Please remember: we cannot answer specific medical questions, and we cannot provide medical care or mental health care to you. Answering a question does not constitute a doctor-patient or therapist-patient relationship. If you want your question answered without using your name or voice, please email it to us instead.

---

👉Share this message with someone who needs to learn the life-changing power of self-brain surgery. If you share with three friends who subscribe, I’ll give you a month of access to my paid content for free!

Want more tools for rewiring your brain and renewing your mind?

🎙️ Subscribe to The Self-Brain Surgery with Dr. Lee Warren Podcast for weekly strategies to change your brain—and your life.
📖 Grab my book Hope Is the First Dose for a roadmap to recovery and transformation.
📘 And stay tuned for The Life-Changing Art of Self-Brain Surgery—coming February 2026!

The good news is, you can start today.

Let’s get after it. 🧠✝️

Lisa and I are praying for you.

Dum spiro spero (While I breathe, I hope),

Lee

Psalm 71:14 ("As for me, I will always have hope.")

From the banks of the North Platte river on Moon River Ranch in Nebraska, USA

Be sure to check out the archive of previous posts if you missed last week’s letter.