I was power-walking on the beach in Myrtle Beach, my black Nikes sinking into the sand with every stride, when my entire world cracked wide open.
It was an ordinary morning, coffee finished, headphones in, podcast cued up. I'd been visiting my vacation rental properties and had carved out my usual two-mile beach walk before diving into the workday. The salt air was thick, the waves were crashing in their familiar rhythm, and I was listening to James Wedmore's Mind Your Business Podcast when an episode featuring John Assaraf, often called "The Brain Whisperer," stopped me in my tracks.
Not literally, I kept walking. But mentally? Everything shifted.
John was talking about how our brains are the world's most powerful computers. That alone wasn't revolutionary. But then he said something that hit me like a lightning bolt: if you want different outputs from your computer, you have to feed it different inputs. Just like programming a PC.
I'd heard the phrase "thoughts become things" a hundred times. But this was different. This was practical. This was something I could actually do. The idea that I could reprogram my own brain, not with some magical thinking, but with deliberate, science-backed exercises, felt like someone had just handed me the key to a door I didn't even know existed.
Two days later, on my ten-hour road trip back to Ohio, I pulled up Audible and downloaded John Assaraf's book, Innercise: The New Science to Unlock Your Brain's Hidden Power. Those ten hours flew by. It was there, in the driver's seat of my black Honda Accord, that I truly discovered the incredible power of neuroplasticity for entrepreneurs, the brain's ability to rewire itself at any age, in response to new thoughts, habits, and experiences.
This wasn't just some abstract theory anymore. It felt real, tangible, and empowering. Within weeks, brain training became part of my daily ritual. And within months, the limiting beliefs that had kept me chained to a corporate desk I'd outgrown started to dissolve. I could feel new pathways forming. New possibilities opening up. A version of myself emerging that I'd always sensed was there but never knew how to access.
Fast forward to today, and understanding your hidden universe of power, the science of how your brain works, why it resists change, and how you can rewire it for success, is one of the most important concepts I teach in LIVE BIG. Because here's the truth: you can have the best business strategy in the world, but if your brain is working against you, you'll never fully execute it.
In this article, I'm going to take you inside the incredible machine sitting between your ears. You'll learn how your brain actually works, why it loves to keep you stuck, and exactly how to use the science of neuroplasticity to break free from old patterns and build the mindset you need to create the business and life you deserve.
Table of Contents
Your State of Mind: 86 Billion Citizens and Their Information Highways
Neural Coherence: When Your Tiger and Elephant Work Together
The 3-Pound Universe Inside Your Skull
Imagine a control center more powerful than any computer you've ever seen. That's your brain, a three-pound universe of complexity packed neatly inside your skull.
Here's just a glimpse at what this incredible organ does while you're busy conquering your day. It tells your heart to beat, your lungs to breathe, and your digestive system to keep things moving. It runs your immune system, constantly watching for invaders. It repairs tiny tears in your muscles and tissues around the clock. Every move you make, from picking up a pen to dancing at your best friend's wedding, is choreographed by your brain. Every sight, sound, smell, taste, and texture you experience travels through it. Every emotion you feel, from soaring joy to crushing grief, originates there.
And that's just the beginning. Your brain is also the source of every brilliant thought, creative breakthrough, and problem-solving moment you've ever had.
Here's the truly empowering part: the potential within your brain is limitless. Whether you're leading a company, launching your dream business, or working toward any other goal, your brain has the power to make it happen. But tapping into that potential is sometimes way easier said than done.
That's what this article, and this entire pillar of the LIVE BIG framework, is all about: understanding the hidden universe of power inside you and learning to harness it intentionally.
Your State of Mind: 86 Billion Citizens and Their Information Highways
Here's a fun way to think about your brain science mindset. Pick any state in the USA and pretend that it's actually your brain. Picture your "state", it's chock full of more than 86 billion citizens. That's a huge population!
And just like us, every single one of those citizens has a job to do, working hard day in and day out to keep everything running smoothly. They live and work really close to one another, constantly huddled together whether they're in a bustling metropolis or a tiny rural town. And they are talkers, some loud and outspoken, others softer. They're constantly communicating with one another, connecting with people all across the state, sharing information.
How do they communicate? Through information highways, roads of every size. Massive highways, narrow one-lane roads, and everything in between. Cars travel along these imaginary roads, transporting information from one place to another.
Those 86 billion residents represent the neurons in your brain. They're nerve cells constantly talking to each other, making everything happen in your body. And those information highways? They're called synapses.
Some synapses are like six-lane freeways carrying a ton of traffic. These are the connections you use all the time, your well-worn mental habits and patterns. Then there are smaller, one-lane roads for information you don't use as often. And when you're learning something new? That's like a dirt road waiting for concrete to be poured.
Here's where it gets exciting: the more you travel a certain brain-road, by learning a new skill or practicing a habit, the wider and stronger that road becomes. Conversely, if you stop driving down a particular road, it eventually becomes overgrown. Your brain keeps the well-traveled paths and deactivates the unused ones to stay efficient.
But the best news? You can always build new roads and strengthen existing ones. That's the foundation of everything we're about to explore.
"Neurons that fire together, wire together." , Donald Hebb, neuropsychologist
Neuroplasticity: Your Brain's Secret Superpower
Every single day, your mind fires off tens of thousands of thoughts. Research suggests that most of those thoughts are negative, and the vast majority are just reruns of yesterday's mental movies. Not exactly the recipe for building your dream life, right?
But remember those synapses, those information highways in your brain? Here's the incredible news: you have the power to change them.
Think of your negative thoughts as cruising around your brain in a flashy red Corvette, zooming down a six-lane highway at breakneck speed. They're loud, obnoxious, and hogging all the space. Your positive thoughts? They're stuck sputtering along a dusty, single-lane dirt road in a rusty old Model-T. They barely have a voice.
But through neuroplasticity, you can take control of the traffic flow. Imagine ditching that old red Corvette hauling your negative thoughts and trading in that outdated Model-T for a sleek, shiny green Ferrari carrying your positive, empowering beliefs.
Neuroplasticity is the scientific term for your brain's ability to form new connections and pathways throughout your entire life, not just when you're a kid. Think of your brain as the most amazing lump of clay ever. It's constantly molding and changing based on what you do and experience.
Harvard Health has published extensively on how the brain continues to adapt and rewire in response to learning, experience, and behavior well into adulthood. As Dr. Andrew Budson of Harvard Medical School has explained, neuroplasticity is the brain's ability to learn, remember, and change when the circumstances call for it. This is not a fringe idea, it's mainstream neuroscience confirmed by decades of research.
Here are some everyday examples of neuroplasticity for entrepreneurs in action:
Learning a new skill. Remember the first time you tried to ride a bike? Wobbly wheels and scraped knees. But with practice, those neural connections strengthened, and now you can hop on and ride without thinking. The same thing happens when you learn a new business skill, master a software tool, or develop your public speaking ability.
Bouncing back from setbacks. Your brain has the power to heal and adapt. Through deliberate practice and new experiences, other areas of the brain can step in and compensate, helping you regain lost abilities and come back stronger.
Breaking free from bad habits. By consistently replacing negative habits with positive ones, you can literally rewire your brain's pathways. The more you practice the good stuff, the easier it becomes.
Stacey Says: "Discovering neuroplasticity was a game-changer for me. By learning how to build new connections in my brain, I could focus on inner growth, which led to incredible outer changes. My thoughts shifted, my confidence soared, and my life transformed in ways I never imagined."
Meet the Tiger and the Elephant: Your Two Minds
One of my favorite metaphors from LIVE BIG is the Tiger and the Elephant. It makes the complex science of your subconscious mind power tangible and unforgettable.
Picture yourself standing at the edge of a lush, untamed jungle. Sunlight filters through the canopy, exotic birds call out from hidden branches, and the air is thick with the scent of blooming flowers. This jungle is a reflection of the intricate landscape of your mind.
The Tiger , with its sharp, focused stripes , represents your logical, analytical side. This is the voice of ambition, the part of you that sets bold goals, crunches numbers, and charts the most strategic path forward. It roars with the power of "I will LIVE BIG! I'm ready to create the business I want and the life I deserve!" This is your conscious mind.
The Elephant , a giant, incredibly strong, a powerhouse of intuition and habit. It's your subconscious mind, the strongest creature in the land. While it seems harmless, this elephant can be unpredictable and sometimes destructive. It runs on emotions, habits, and deeply ingrained beliefs. Despite its massive size, it's incredibly fast and sneaky, capable of shaping your actions and decisions without you even realizing it.
Your tiger might be consciously planning a product expansion or visualizing your next investment, but the elephant is already making decisions based on past experiences and emotional triggers. It acts like a filter on your reality, influencing how you see the world and respond to situations.
The elephant is also a creature of habit that loves routine and efficiency, especially running on autopilot. Think about brushing your teeth or tying your shoes. Do you really use brain energy for those tasks? But this preference for routine can be a double-edged sword. While automatic routines are great for everyday tasks, they make it tough to break bad habits or build new ones.
Here's the key insight: your elephant doesn't have to be the enemy. Once you understand its power, you can transform it into your greatest ally. Imagine your tiger as the driver setting the direction, and your elephant as the powerful engine propelling you forward. Together, they become an unstoppable force.
Neural Coherence: When Your Tiger and Elephant Work Together
Think back to watching synchronized swimming, all those athletes performing in perfect unison, creating something beautiful through coordination. Now imagine your neurons working together in that same perfect harmony. That's neural coherence.
It's when your brain waves synchronize, creating a unified rhythm. This beautiful collaboration allows your conscious mind to work seamlessly with your subconscious mind power.
The superpowers of neural coherence include:
Laser Focus. When your brain waves are in sync, you can filter out distractions like a boss. Imagine concentrating on that important project without the constant ping of notifications derailing your flow.
Creativity Explosion. When your conscious and subconscious minds are in harmony, information flows freely. Suddenly, you're brimming with fresh ideas and innovative solutions.
Emotional Mastery. Neural coherence helps you manage your emotions more effectively. You can ride the waves instead of getting tossed around by them.
Intuition Amplifier. Neural coherence strengthens the connection between your conscious and subconscious minds. You tap into deeper knowing, making better decisions and feeling more in tune with yourself, this is your GodRod at work.
When you're in neural coherence, every thought and action is aligned. You navigate challenges and take strategic actions without second-guessing yourself. You're not fighting the current, you're flowing with it.
Cognitive Dissonance: When Your Two Minds Clash
Now here's the kicker: the tiger and the elephant don't always see eye to eye.
The tiger craves change, thrives on adventure, and is always ready for the next big challenge. Picture it wanting to hike up a mountain. Meanwhile, your elephant, holding the map, seeing the steep climb and potential risks, is saying, "No way!"
This inner clash is cognitive dissonance. It's when your conscious mind is all about progress while your subconscious clings to the comfort of routine. And guess who usually wins? The elephant. It's the strongest animal in the land.
When you try something new, it can feel unfamiliar and uncomfortable for your subconscious, which just wants to conserve energy and stick to what's safe. So what does it do? It throws doubts, fears, and roadblocks into your path.
This dissonance can be draining. You get frustrated, and achieving your new vision seems insurmountable. You retreat to your comfort zone, letting the elephant win, and forget about the change you were once excited about.
According to research from Entrepreneur magazine, the truth about achieving your highest potential has much more to do with how you use your brain rather than how much of your brain you use. Unhealthy internal dialogues are one of the biggest obstacles to success, and they're almost always driven by this clash between your tiger and your elephant.
Limiting Beliefs: The Silent Saboteur
Those "brakes" that your elephant puts up? They're often driven by limiting beliefs, deeply ingrained stories your subconscious tells you about what's possible, what you deserve, and who you are.
Your elephant isn't being malicious. It's actually trying to be helpful. Remember, your subconscious is all about efficiency and conserving energy, and it controls roughly ninety-five percent of your behaviors and decisions. It stores memories, experiences, and learned behaviors, creating a huge reservoir of information that influences your daily life.
Where do limiting beliefs come from? They're often formed during childhood, when the subconscious mind is highly receptive. They can stem from family attitudes, societal expectations, personal experiences like repeated failures, and messages from education or media.
In LIVE BIG, I share the example of lottery winners to illustrate just how powerful limiting beliefs can be. We picture lottery winners living in luxury, yet research reveals that most end up bankrupt within a few years. The answer lies in a disconnect between their external circumstances (sudden wealth) and their internal beliefs about themselves. Their subconscious minds, in a twisted attempt to restore balance, self-sabotage through reckless decisions.
Limiting beliefs can show up as:
"I'm not good enough."
"Failure is a sign of weakness."
"Money is the root of all evil."
"I don't deserve success."
"People like me don't build seven-figure businesses."
These beliefs operate in the shadows, shaping your choices without your conscious awareness. Until you identify and dismantle them, you'll keep repeating the same patterns.
The path to freedom involves three steps:
Shine a Light. Pay close attention to your self-talk and the stories you tell yourself about what you're capable of.
Challenge the Narrative. Once you've spotted a limiting belief, question it. Ask yourself, "Is this really true? Is there any real evidence to support it?"
Replace and Reinforce. Swap out limiting beliefs for empowering ones. Create affirmations that align with your new beliefs, write them down and say them out loud daily.
Taming Grumpy Greg: Your Inner Critic
Now let me introduce you to another character in this brain jungle, a gorilla named Grumpy Greg. He's your inner critic, and he specializes in limiting beliefs, negativity, doubts, and anxieties.
Picture him sitting in a cage on top of your right shoulder. When he's locked up, Grumpy Greg is harmless. But when your elephant, the master of routine, is running the show, it tends to leave the cage door wide open. Suddenly, you're hit with waves of negativity, and achieving what you want feels impossible.
Here's how to keep Grumpy Greg in check:
Catch him in the act. The first step is awareness. Notice when negative thoughts creep in. Visualize Grumpy Greg getting back in his cage, and lock the door.
Challenge the narrative. Don't accept limiting beliefs as truth. Question them. Is there evidence to support it? Probably not, it's usually just fear masquerading as a fact.
"I am done with that." This is a powerful strategy I learned from John Assaraf. Once you've identified a limiting belief, declare with conviction, "I am done with that!" Stuff Grumpy Greg back in his cage and slam the door.
Affirm your power. Replace the limiting belief with an empowering one. Instead of "I can't," say "I'm learning." Shift "I don't deserve it" to "I am worthy of abundance."
Progress, not perfection. There will be slip-ups. That's okay. Don't beat yourself up. Acknowledge Greg is out of the cage, grab him, stuff him back in, then lock the door. Always give yourself grace.
Stacey Says: "You are the zookeeper of your incredible brain. Now that you're aware of your tiger, your elephant, and even Grumpy Greg, you hold the key to creating the life you've always dreamed of."
Rewiring Your Brain: From Red Corvettes to Green Ferraris
So how do you actually rewire your brain for success? How do you take those negative thought patterns cruising down six-lane highways and redirect all that traffic toward empowering beliefs?
It starts with understanding that this is not a one-time fix. It's a continuous process of deliberate practice. Research from Harvard Health confirms that engaging in diverse, stimulating activities supports brain health by promoting neuroplasticity, and that the brain can change its structure and function in response to learning and experience at any age.
Here's what the rewiring process looks like in practice:
Be intentional about what you feed your brain. After that fateful beach walk and road trip, I made brain training part of my daily ritual. I became intentional about my mindset and what I consumed every day, books, podcasts, affirmations, visualizations. What are you feeding your brain right now? If it's a steady diet of negative news, comparison scrolling, and self-doubt, your six-lane highways are carrying all the wrong traffic.
Practice daily brain exercises. In LIVE BIG, I share several of my favorite exercises, Power Breaths, the Triple D, Switch Gears, the Gratitude Dial, the Experience Coin, and Cloud 9. These aren't random meditation practices. They're specific, targeted exercises designed to build new neural pathways and weaken old ones.
Stack small wins. Every time you successfully redirect a negative thought, choose an empowering perspective, or practice a new habit, you're laying down concrete on that dirt road. Over time, the dirt road becomes a two-lane highway, then a four-lane highway. The old road? It starts to grow over from disuse.
Surround yourself with the right inputs. Jim Rohn famously said, "You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with." The people, content, and environments you expose yourself to directly shape your neural pathways. Choose wisely.
Be patient with the process. Your negative thought patterns have been building their highways for years, maybe decades. You're not going to reroute all that traffic overnight. But with consistent daily practice, you will see change. I promise you that, because I've lived it.
As Mayo Clinic notes, practices like meditation and deep breathing can help calm the nervous system and reduce stress hormones, creating the optimal conditions for your brain to build new, empowering pathways.
Common Mindset Mistakes Entrepreneurs Make
Even when you understand brain science mindset principles, there are pitfalls that can slow your progress. Here are the ones I see most often:
Mistake #1: Thinking knowledge alone is enough. Understanding neuroplasticity intellectually is great, but it doesn't rewire your brain. You have to actually do the exercises. You have to practice daily. Knowledge without action is like a recipe that never gets cooked.
Mistake #2: Trying to change everything at once. Your brain can only build so many new roads at a time. Pick one or two beliefs or habits to work on, master those, and then move on. Trying to overhaul your entire mindset in a weekend is a recipe for frustration and burnout.
Mistake #3: Quitting when it feels uncomfortable. The discomfort you feel when changing a deeply ingrained pattern is your elephant resisting change. That discomfort is a sign you're doing something right, not a sign you should stop. Push through the fear zone.
Mistake #4: Beating yourself up for setbacks. Grumpy Greg will escape his cage sometimes. You'll have days when old patterns win. That's not failure, that's being human. Give yourself grace, stuff Greg back in his cage, and start again tomorrow.
Mistake #5: Ignoring the physical foundations. Your brain needs proper fuel to rewire itself. Sleep, nutrition, exercise, and hydration aren't optional extras, they're the foundation that makes neuroplasticity possible. As Harvard Health research has shown, aerobic exercise triggers the release of brain growth factors that are critically important for promoting neuroplasticity.
Addressing the Skeptics: This Isn't Woo-Woo, It's Science
I know the concept of brain exercises and rewiring your mind can sound a little "out there." When I first started talking about this stuff, some people looked at me like I'd lost my marbles. But here's the thing: neuroplasticity isn't a fringe theory. It's one of the most well-established findings in modern neuroscience.
In 2023, Harvard Medical School neurobiologist Michael Greenberg won The Brain Prize, one of the world's most prestigious neuroscience awards, for his lifelong research into brain plasticity, as reported by the Harvard Gazette. His work, along with decades of research from institutions around the world, has confirmed that the brain's ability to remodel itself never completely ends.
The science is clear: adults retain significant capacity to change neural connections throughout their entire lives. Experience, learning, and environment continuously influence brain structure and function across the lifespan. This isn't wishful thinking, it's documented fact supported by neuroimaging studies, clinical trials, and peer-reviewed research.
So if you're a skeptic, I'd gently suggest that the real question isn't whether brain rewiring works. The question is whether you're willing to put in the daily practice to make it work for you.
What is neuroplasticity and how can entrepreneurs use it?
Neuroplasticity is the brain's scientifically proven ability to reorganize itself by forming new neural connections throughout life. For entrepreneurs, this means you are not stuck with the thinking patterns, habits, or limiting beliefs you have today. By engaging in deliberate practices like daily affirmations, visualization exercises, meditation, and targeted brain training, you can literally rewire your brain's pathways to support confidence, creativity, resilience, and strategic thinking. Research from Harvard Medical School confirms that the brain continues to adapt and change in response to learning and experience well into adulthood. Entrepreneurs can leverage neuroplasticity by consistently practicing new thought patterns, surrounding themselves with positive influences, and engaging in physical exercise that promotes brain health through the release of growth factors like BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor).
What is the Tiger and Elephant metaphor in the LIVE BIG framework?
The Tiger and Elephant is a metaphor created by Stacey St. John in her bestselling book LIVE BIG to explain how the conscious and subconscious minds interact. The Tiger represents your conscious mind, logical, analytical, ambitious, and goal-oriented. The Elephant represents your subconscious mind, powerful, habit-driven, emotional, and controlling roughly ninety-five percent of your behaviors. When the Tiger and Elephant work together (neural coherence), you experience laser focus, creativity, and aligned decision-making. When they clash (cognitive dissonance), the Elephant usually wins, pulling you back toward familiar comfort zones even when your Tiger is pushing for growth. Understanding this dynamic is the first step toward rewiring your brain so that both minds work in harmony toward your goals.
Your Universe Is Waiting
Remember that woman power-walking on a Myrtle Beach shoreline, listening to a podcast that would change everything? She was stuck in a corporate job she'd outgrown, trapped by golden handcuffs, and telling herself the same disempowering story every morning: "Stacey, you make too much money to change what you're doing. Feeling fulfilled isn't really that important. Just deal with it."
Her brain was working against her. But once she discovered the hidden universe of power inside her own skull, once she understood neuroplasticity, learned to work with her tiger and her elephant, started stuffing Grumpy Greg back in his cage, and committed to daily brain exercises, everything changed.
That woman walked away from her six-figure corporate career at forty-eight. She built a real estate portfolio from $50K to $2 million. She created the top training program for women in the short-term rental industry. And she wrote the book you're learning from right now, LIVE BIG.
That woman is me. And your hidden universe of power? It's the same one I used to transform my life. The same neuroplasticity. The same brain science. The same ability to rewire your brain, rewrite your story, and build something extraordinary.
Your brain has roughly 86 billion neurons, trillions of connections, and limitless potential to change, grow, and evolve. The only question is whether you'll tap into that power or leave it dormant.
I'm betting you didn't read this far just to stay the same. So here's my challenge to you: start today. Pick one brain exercise. Practice it every morning for thirty days. Keep a journal. Notice what shifts.
Your hidden universe is waiting to be discovered. And trust me, friend, what you find in there is going to blow your mind.
About Stacey St. John
Stacey St. John is the bestselling author of LIVE BIG: An Entrepreneur's Playbook to Boss Up Your Business, Show Up for Yourself, and Step into Your Dream Life and the founder of LIVE BIG®, the platform helping women entrepreneurs build businesses and lives that light them up.
A Certified Stagnation Assassin (https://stagnationassassins.com) and host of The STR Sisterhood Podcast, Stacey is an advisor to high-performing women and an architect of scalable, life-first businesses. She built the #1 training, mentoring, and mastermind program for women in the short-term rental industry and grew the Female Short-Term Rental Investors community to more than 60,000 members worldwide.
Stacey turned $50K into a $4M real estate portfolio, walked away from her six-figure corporate career at 48, and has been featured in Forbes, named a Wheel of Fortune winner, and recognized as a Guinness World Record holder. She now helps women stop building businesses that drain them and start building businesses that fuel them.
Learn more at LiveBigWithStacey.com.