Rewrite Your Mind, McConaughey Style

Don't like the story you're living out? Thanks to your brain's neuroplasticity, you have the ability to change it.

Matthew McConaughey has done some pretty great things with his life. He’s won an Academy Award for Best Actor, he’s a New York Times bestselling author, philanthropist, professor at the University of Texas - and his air time in the 1990s indie flick Dazed and Confused should never be forgotten. (Seriously, look it up if you haven’t seen it.)

Turns out, he’s also a bit of a philosopher.

“We are the author of our own book. If we don’t like the story, only we can rewrite it,” McConaughey once said.

The book he’s referring to is, of course, the story of your life. But I like to think he’s also talking about our minds.

We’re authoring our minds every day, in every moment. If we don’t like the stories we tell ourselves, we can rewrite them.

But how does that actually work? Is it really possible to rewrite your thoughts, attitudes, and beliefs?

The Stories We Tell Ourselves

Sometimes we assume that our ways of thinking are fixed and unchangeable - like eye colour or height. We might describe one friend as having “always been resilient,” and another as “just not a confident person.” And we say things like, “I’ve always been a worrier. That’s just who I am.”

So when someone does radically change their mindset, it can feel surprising - even impossible.

But our brains - and our beliefs - are far more adaptable than we think.

Why We Resist Changing Our Minds

There are a few key psychological biases that make mindset change feel difficult.

One is the Status Quo Bias — our brain’s tendency to favour the familiar, even if it’s not ideal. Change requires risk, and risk creates discomfort. So we often choose the safety of what we know, even if it keeps us stuck.

Another is the Fixed Trait Fallacy — the mistaken belief that our characteristics (like intelligence, confidence, or self-worth) are stable and unchanging over time. This overlooks the powerful influence of learning, environment, and experience.

The truth is, our brains crave simplicity and certainty. They cling tightly to our identities, even the ones that don’t serve us, because those identities feel familiar and safe.

But that comfort zone? It keeps a lot of brilliant women stuck in cycles of self-doubt, second-guessing, and stagnation.

If You Can Change Your Mind…

Back in the 1800s, psychologist William James proposed a radical idea.

“If you can change your mind, you can change your life.”

The excellent news? Modern science has now shown this to be true.

The Science: Your Brain Is Built to Change

Thanks to neuroplasticity, the brain’s remarkable ability to rewire itself, you can literally reshape your brain through the thoughts you think, the experiences you seek, and the learning you embrace.

Or as McConaughey would say: you can rewrite your story.

You’ve probably heard the phrase, “neurons that fire together wire together.” What it means is this: the more you repeat a thought or behaviour, the stronger and more automatic it becomes. You're laying down new pathways every time you reinforce a belief or habit, good or bad.

Studies from Harvard and University College London show that new neural connections can begin forming within just a few days of practising a new skill or thought pattern. And research from Stanford shows that adopting a growth mindset, the belief that you can develop your abilities, can boost your cognitive performance and your resilience, especially in times of challenge (i.e. when the going gets tough, the tough get going.)

In other words, if you choose to believe you can change, you’re already more likely to do it - and to get better at it over time.

Rewire your mind, one thought at a time

Your brain is not a finished product. It’s a living sculpture, shaped every day by your thoughts, your choices, and your focus.

The empowering insight here is this: with intentional, consistent effort - whether through journaling, mindfulness, or learning to reframe your thinking - you change your brain, making it easier to change the ways that you think, feel, and act.

So if you don’t like the story you’re living out?

Do a McConaughey and rewrite it.