The Mel Robbins Podcast

The #1 Neuroscientist: After Listening to This, Your Brain Will Not Be the Same

Ready to unlock your potential? 🔥 https://bit.ly/2024makeithappen 👈 Sign up for my FREE 2-part training, Make It Happen with Mel Robbins. It’s designed to show you exactly HOW you can go from dreaming to doing! — Today, you are getting a step-by-step guide on how to change your brain so that it helps you get what you want. Joining Mel today is Dr. Tara Swart Bieber, MD, PhD. She has a medical degree from Oxford, a PhD from King's College London, and is a senior lecturer at MIT. This #1 neuroscientist will teach you how you can trick your brain into manifesting your goals and desires and use manifesting as a tool for success, happiness, and better health in 4 simple steps. She will also share the shocking link between stress and your brain and body. She reveals how stress leaks through the skin, is contagious, and gives you belly fat. You’ll also learn the 2 easy ways to reset your nervous system instantly, the 4 foods to eat for better brain health, the science of intuition, and how to use a vision board to achieve your most ambitious goals. Class is in session, because after you listen to this, your brain will not be the same. For more resources, including the link to Dr. Tara’s book, The Source, click here for the podcast episode page. If you are looking for more world-class free resources and support, sign up for Mel’s brand new free training, Make It Happen. This training is designed to help you make your next 6 months extraordinary. It includes a 29-page workbook and 2 video trainings that use the latest research to help you get clear about what you want and create a plan to make it happen. And the cool part? It takes less than a minute for you to get started. Just sign up at http://melrobbins.com/makeithappen If you liked this research-packed episode, here’s one you should listen to next: "What Makes a Good Life? Lessons From the Longest Study on Happiness": https://youtu.be/5jnEizYzQl0?si=qAuxvMen0l2deGqS For more resources related to today’s episode, click here for the podcast episode page: http://www.melrobbins.com/podcasts/episode-160 Follow Dr. Tara Swart Bieber on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drtaraswart/?hl=en Follow The Mel Robbins Podcast on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/themelrobbinspodcast I’m just your friend. I am not a licensed therapist, and this podcast is NOT intended as a substitute for the advice of a physician, professional coach, psychotherapist, or other qualified professional. Got it? Good. I’ll see you in the next episode. In this episode: 00:00 Intro 06:18: 4 simple activities that help your brain thrive. 07:28: How does magnetic desire work in the brain? 10:27: The moment a neuroscientist starts to believe in manifestation. 20:12: A simple 3-step process to figuring out what you really want. 22:28: The one important step you must take before jumping into action. 25:42: How to help a friend who keeps dating the wrong people. 29:28: Try this simple exercise today to build your confidence. 34:34: How neuroplasticity works in your brain. 38:47: Have a hard time believing good things happen for you? Listen to this. 41:33: How to pick the right affirmation for you. 47:20: The most important part of affirmations. 49:02: How does a neuroscientist start her day? 51:31: Does a vision board actually change your brain? 56:24: What do hormones have to do with manifesting? 59:11: What people get wrong with vision boards. 1:01:28: How to tell if you need more magnesium. 1:03:37: Four foods to eat for better brain health. 1:06:27: How to make better decisions. 1:08:02: Wait. Stress causes belly fat? 1:11:25: Why it’s harder to be creative when you’re stressed. 1:16:43: How to keep other people from stressing you out. 1:22:43: Why you keep resisting change. #manifestation #manifesting #podcast #podcastepisode — Follow Mel: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/melrobbins/ TikTok: http://tiktok.com/@melrobbins Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/melrobbins LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melrobbins Website: http://melrobbins.com — Sign up for Mel’s newsletter: https://melrob.co/sign-up-newsletter A note from Mel to you, twice a week, sharing simple, practical ways to build the life you want. — Subscribe to Mel’s channel here: https://www.youtube.com/melrobbins?sub_confirmation=1 — Listen to The Mel Robbins Podcast 🎧 New episodes drop every Monday & Thursday! https://melrob.co/spotify https://melrob.co/applepodcasts https://melrob.co/amazonmusic — Looking for Mel’s books on Amazon? Find them here: The Let Them Theory: https://amzn.to/3IQ21Oe The Let Them Theory Audiobook: https://amzn.to/413SObp The High 5 Habit: https://amzn.to/3fMvfPQ The 5 Second Rule: https://amzn.to/4l54fah

Mel RobbinshostDr. Tara Swart Bieberguest

Apr 10, 20241h 28mWatch on YouTube ↗

WHAT IT’S REALLY ABOUT

Neuroscientist Explains How To Rewire Your Brain To Manifest Change

Mel Robbins interviews neuroscientist and psychiatrist Dr. Tara Swart Bieber about the science of neuroplasticity and how to deliberately rewire your brain for thriving instead of mere survival.
They break down the neuroscience behind manifestation, vision (action) boards, intuition, and affirmations, explaining how practices like visualization, gratitude, and micro‑habits physically change neural pathways.
Dr. Tara outlines a four‑step manifestation process (awareness, focused attention, deliberate practice, accountability) grounded in brain science, and shows how magnetic desire and emotional intensity drive real behavioral change.
The conversation also explores stress, cortisol, gut-brain intuition, social contagion, diet, and daily rituals that support brain health and long‑term personal transformation.

IDEAS WORTH REMEMBERING

5 ideas

Use neuroplasticity deliberately by following a four-step process.

Dr. Tara’s model—raise awareness, focus attention, deliberate practice, and accountability—explains how repeated, emotionally charged thoughts and behaviors form new, more efficient neural pathways that support your goals.

Clarify what you truly want by aligning head, heart, and gut.

Placing your hands on your forehead, heart, and belly and asking at each level, “Is this what I really want and why?” reveals whether your logic, emotions, and intuition are aligned, which is crucial for sustained motivation (magnetic desire).

Prime your brain to notice opportunities through manifestation practices.

Listing goals, visualizing them, and using action boards pushes those desires to the top of your brain’s selective filtering and value-tagging systems, so you literally see and seize relevant opportunities you’d otherwise miss—like noticing a car model you’re considering everywhere.

Overwrite negative beliefs with emotionally resonant affirmations.

You can’t erase old wiring, but you can “overwrite” it by identifying the core limiting belief (e.g., “things like this don’t happen to people like me”) and consistently replacing associated thoughts with a tailored affirmation that feels emotionally true (e.g., “I could be the first”).

Treat vision boards as action triggers, not magical wish lists.

Your board should be realistic enough to act on, viewed daily (especially before sleep), and physically glued down as a commitment; it serves to keep goals front-of-mind while you take concrete steps, instead of waiting passively for things to appear.

WORDS WORTH SAVING

5 quotes

By the end of our conversation, our listeners’ brains are actually going to be different than they are right now.

— Dr. Tara Swart Bieber

If you leave your brain to its own devices, all it wants you to do is live long enough to reproduce.

— Dr. Tara Swart Bieber

Neuroplasticity isn’t about undoing wiring; it’s about overwriting it with a pathway that becomes more energy-efficient than the old one.

— Dr. Tara Swart Bieber

Magnetic desire is the difference between someone who will manifest and someone who will continually take it this far but never actually manifest.

— Dr. Tara Swart Bieber

Manifestation isn’t a luxury. It’s an essential.

— Dr. Tara Swart Bieber, relaying Chanel Haynes

Neuroplasticity and how the brain changes throughout lifeThe science-based framework for manifestation and “magnetic desire”Selective filtering, attention, and value tagging in the brainFour-step neuroplasticity process: awareness, attention, practice, accountabilityVision boards as “action boards” and common manifestation mistakesAffirmations, overwriting negative beliefs, and self-worth in relationshipsStress, cortisol, intuition (gut-brain connection), and daily brain-health habits

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