The Recurring Cycle: The Stage Before Change

Before meaningful change begins, many individuals find themselves in a place of inertia—a Recurring Cycle where life feels repetitive, stagnant, and frustrating. This stage often feels like “Groundhog Day,” with the same patterns of thoughts, emotions, and behaviours looping endlessly. Despite the discomfort, individuals may not yet recognise that they are stuck or understand the nature of what’s holding them back.

The Recurring Cycle is not just about feeling stuck; it is an active state where internal conflicts and unresolved issues keep us from moving forward. It’s a perfectly human experience, and recognising it is the first step in breaking free.

What is the Recurring Cycle?

The Recurring Cycle represents a state of looping patterns—thoughts, behaviours, and emotions that repeat without resolution. It can leave individuals feeling overwhelmed, disconnected, and unsure of how to break free. Common experiences in this stage include:

• Feeling paralysed by indecision or fear of failure.
• Reliving past emotional wounds or traumas.
• Struggling with ongoing stress or exhaustion.
• Procrastinating or avoiding meaningful action.

Why Does This Happen?

The Recurring Cycle is driven by a combination of psychological, neurobiological, and behavioural factors that reinforce feelings of being stuck. These patterns often stem from deeply ingrained habits and beliefs, including:

• Unrealistic Goal Setting: Many individuals place their happiness and fulfilment on achieving future goals. While striving for improvement is natural, this can become a trap when those goals are unrealistic or when happiness is externalised as something that only exists "out there" in the future. This creates a cycle of striving and disappointment, leaving individuals perpetually unsatisfied in the present.

• Externalising Happiness: Comfort is often sought through external actions or patterns of behaviour, such as seeking approval from others, overworking, or indulging in distractions like food, social media, or shopping. These behaviours provide temporary relief but fail to address the root of dissatisfaction, perpetuating the cycle of avoidance and frustration.

• Psychological Patterns: Negative thought loops, such as “I’ll never be good enough” or “This is just how things are,” reinforce limiting beliefs and prevent growth. Cognitive distortions keep individuals trapped in a narrative of helplessness or fear.

• Neurobiological Loops: The brain’s neuroplasticity—the ability to rewire itself—can work against us when harmful patterns are repeated. Over time, these behaviours become ingrained as default responses. Stress and emotional triggers further solidify these loops, creating automatic reactions that keep individuals in the cycle.

• Existential Struggles: Searching for meaning or a sense of purpose can sometimes overshadow immediate needs, such as physical health or self-compassion. This focus on larger existential questions can leave individuals feeling disconnected from the present and overwhelmed by the search for significance.

Understanding these underlying mechanisms is the first step in recognising the Recurring Cycle and taking action to break free from it.

How Does the Recurring Cycle Manifest?

This stage presents differently for everyone, but common themes include:

• Anxiety & Depression: Repetitive worry or low moods that create a sense of helplessness.
• Burnout: Exhaustion from work or personal responsibilities, feeling like recovery is impossible.
• Chronic Health Issues: A cycle of managing symptoms without resolution, leading to frustration and despair.
• Procrastination: Avoidance of tasks, leading to guilt and self-blame.
• Addiction: Repeated reliance on food, screen time, alcohol, nicotine, substances, gambling, or other behaviours for temporary relief, followed by regret.
• Relational Struggles: Replaying the same conflicts or patterns in relationships without resolution.

Breaking Free from the Recurring Cycle

The Recurring Cycle is not permanent. Recognising that you are in this state is the first step to change. Often, individuals reach a point where the frustration or discomfort becomes too great to ignore—this moment is what creates the motivation to move forward.

The transition begins by learning about how the mind actually works, with a particularly emphasis on how it can be changed - which is the focus of the Preparing stage in the Mind Works process.

What’s Next?

The Preparing stage teaches you how to build the foundation for change. It focuses on understanding neuroplasticity, removing the reliance for perceived future goals, and understanding why we find doing the "right things" so challenging

Breaking free from the Recurring Cycle is possible—and it’s the start of your transformative journey. Learn more about the Preparing stage and discover the tools to begin your process of change.