35 pages • 1 hour read
Craig GroeschelWinning the War in Your Mind: Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life
Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 2021A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Themes
The Essential Role of Self-Reflection
Self-reflection is one of Groeschel’s most advised habits for future growth. As a writer of self-help books, Groeschel assumes that his readers come to the book with a desire to understand the workings of their inner lives, and that they will be motivated to improve them. In Groeschel’s words, we need to be able “to think about what [we] think about” (21).
While Groeschel assumes that readers can reflect upon themselves, he does not assume that they are experts at introspection and offers significant guidance along the way. Most of the end-of-chapter exercises are based on the principle of self-reflection. This is especially true near the book’s beginning. Chapter 1’s exercises delve into self-reflection, which Groeschel refers to as a “thought audit” (20). He begins with a simple log of the kinds of thoughts we think about, and then moves on in Chapter 2 to an exercise in analyzing those thoughts to discern if there are any unhealthy patterns. By the end of the book, our habits of self-reflection have been tied in with several active disciplines, including meditation, reciting personal declarations, prayer, and praise. In this way, the book keeps its focus on self-reflection from merely becoming a process of passive navel-gazing.
For the most part, Groeschel’s guided recommendations for self-reflection are meant to be undertaken independently. The end-of-chapter exercises operate on the assumption that the reader will be able to do them without outside assistance. This stands in contrast to a broad contemporary movement in favor of talk therapy and community support. That movement holds the psychological assumption that there are subconscious levels of thought patterns which we likely will not be able to perceive, and for which we may need the help of others, including professional counselors or psychologists. At times, Groeschel recognizes the limitations of a purely independent process of self-reflection, giving his readers the option to consult with outside sources. In his exercise on cognitive bias, for instance (Chapter 7), he says, “Consider talking with a spouse, loved one, or friend and asking them to help you identify some of these [biases] they may see in you” (124). All in all, though, the assumption throughout the book is that independent self-reflection is both necessary and effective.
The Importance of Intentional Habits
A second major theme in Winning the War in Your Mind is the importance of intentional habits. Like the book’s emphasis on self-reflection, this theme is a standard assumption in the self-help genre. Groeschel assumes that readers want to win the war in their minds and will be motivated to undertake actions toward that end. Unlike some self-help books, Groeschel does not offer his proposed solutions as something easy. Rather, he underscores the idea that transformative actions have to be repeated over and over again. They are habits, not merely tips or tricks, and as such, they will require significant time and concerted effort. As Groeschel notes about one of his recommended practices: “This is not something you do once. This is something you will have to do thousands of times in your life, maybe dozens of times a day” (56). He emphasizes the difficulty of uprooting negative thought patterns, but also expresses the belief that they can be overcome by biblical meditation, professing personal declarations, and prayer.
The importance of intentional habits is grounded in neuroscientific evidence which the book marshals for its argument. Neuroplasticity means that the brain can adapt itself to repeated behaviors and prepare for more behaviors in the future: “The more you do something, the more natural it becomes. […] As a neural pathway forms in your brain, thinking a thought or taking an action can go from very difficult to very easy. With enough repetition, falling into a neurological rut will become automatic” (70). This neurological principle, which makes getting into ruts easy, also provides the way out of them. Repeated thoughts or behaviors oriented around positive affirmations, biblical truth, and healthy mental and spiritual habits will eventually produce new neural pathways. As these intentional habits of thought and behavior are put into practice, the brain adapts itself to think and do such things with ever greater ease. The intentionality of the practice is important, especially at the beginning, because the reader’s brain will not initially be wired for new thoughts and practices. The habitual nature of the practice is also important, because it is only by frequent and persistent repetition that new pathways are formed. Thus the importance of intentional habits stands at the center of all of Groeschel’s counsels.
Maintaining a Broader Perspective
A third major theme in Winning the War in Your Mind is the need to maintain a broader perspective on our lives. This theme is present throughout the book but is emphasized in Parts 3 and 4. The human mind is accustomed to focusing on what is immediately around it; we tend to get caught up in the details of our present circumstances and the emotions associated with them. This is particularly the case in situations that arouse our deepest anxieties, when the amygdala’s responses take over: “The amygdala is responsible for emotions and survival instincts […], producing a fight-or-flight response. […] The problem is that the amygdala is not objective. The way it responds to a hurtling cow [in a tornado] is the same way it responds to a hurtful conversation” (153). Sometimes just a conversation or another day-to-day occurrence can flood our minds with a pinpointed fixation. In such cases, it’s easy to lose sight of the larger perspectives on the meaning of life, one’s own value and self-worth, and the abiding truths that ought to undergird our responses.
The solution is to train our brains to stay anchored in a deeper reality. If we can do that, then the passing storms to which our amygdala responds so forcefully can’t trouble us to the same degree. For Groeschel, maintaining a broader perspective is all about staying grounded in the presence and character of God. Many of his end-of-chapter exercises are geared toward producing habits that remind us of God’s presence in our lives. They also remind us of his love, which proclaims an inherent value in us that other circumstances cannot diminish. The book notes that it is not only the presence of God that gives us perspective, but also knowledge of God’s character. While our circumstances may change, God’s character does not: “Your circumstances may be bad, but your God is still good. He is near, his promises are still true, his love still unconditional, his grace still amazing, his timing still perfect. You may not like what’s going on, but you can still praise God for the who of who he is” (183). By maintaining a perspective on the presence and character of God, cultivated by intentional habits of prayer and praise, Groeschel believes we can ride out the storms of life without sinking into panic, helplessness, or mental crisis.
