- Brian Maierhofer
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- Your Thoughts Are Not Your Own
The 95 Percent Problem
A few years ago, I realized I couldn’t sit still for more than 30 seconds.
Not in a cute, I have ADHD way.
But, in a “silence is deeply confronting” kind of way.
And… I know I’m not alone.
According to the National Science Foundation, 95% of our thoughts are repetitive.
And 80% of those are negative.
Read that again.
95% of what goes through your mind today, you’ve already thought before. And 80% of it is… trash.
Rumination. Judgment. Catastrophizing. Rehearsing fake arguments with people you’ll never confront.
Why?
Because the human brain is a pessimist. It’s not here to make you happy. It’s here to keep you alive. It has a built-in negativity bias.
So our brains evolved to focus on what’s wrong. What might go wrong. What could keep us alive—even when everything’s fine.
And “alive” used to mean not eaten by a bear.
Now?
It just makes you hate your life while you’re in line for Starbucks.
Your Mind is Being Mined
The system figured this out a long time ago.
Your brain is wired for threat → Let’s keep feeding it.
Every headline, notification, and feed is designed to trigger your negativity bias.
Mainstream Media: "Here's everything that's wrong."
Social Media: "Compare yourself to these people."
Advertisements: "You suck, but this will fix it."
And it works.
Your thoughts become more scattered. Your anxiety increases. Your capacity for deep focus diminishes.
They keep you agitated, distracted, overstimulated, and searching. Because that version of you is easier to sell to.
If you’re full of noise, you’ll buy anything that promises peace.
And one day you wake up and realize: you haven’t felt your own life in weeks.
Stillness as Superpower
When was the last time you sat in complete silence for 10 minutes?
No phone. No music. No podcast. No distraction.
Just you and your thoughts.
Most people would rather receive electric shocks than sit alone with their thoughts.
No joke.
In a 2014 University of Virginia study, 67% of men and 25% of women chose to give themselves electric shocks rather than sit alone with their thoughts for 15 minutes.
(Also… men? What are we doing?)
That’s how foreign stillness has become. That’s how much noise we’ve normalized.
In 2025, the average person is exposed to over 10,000 ads a day. Our nervous systems were not built for this.
If you don’t train your attention, the world will train it for you.
Break The Trance
I love traditional meditation, I do it daily.
But, let’s be real— it doesn’t work for everyone.
Most people sit down, close their eyes, and immediately start spiraling.
If that’s you, don’t start with meditation.
Instead, start with a stillness practice. Set a timer for 5 minutes. Sit down. Open your senses.
Feel the weight of your body.
Notice the temperature of the air.
Listen to the ambient sounds.
Literally—start noticing sensation.
When you feel the urge to reach for your phone, don't. Just notice the urge itself.
Where do you feel the urge in your body? What thoughts accompany it? What emotions arise?
Don't fight it. Don't feed it. Just watch it.
The more you build this sensory muscle, the less reactive you become. You stop getting yanked around by every headline, comment, or fear script.
Instead of living in your head, you come back home to your body. You’re no longer an algorithm’s puppet.
Reclaim Your Attention
Your attention is the most valuable resource you possess.
Not your time. Not your money. Your ATTENTION.
Because where your attention goes, your life follows.
The real tragedy isn't that the world is trying to steal your attention.
The real tragedy is that most people never realize it's been stolen.
My invitation: For one week, practice 10 minutes of stillness daily.
And notice how often you reach for your phone when:
You're bored
You're uncomfortable
You're lonely
You're uncertain
At the end of the week, ask yourself one question: "Who is directing my life while I'm distracted?"
The answer might terrify you. The answer might liberate you… Either way, it's time to find out.
If this speaks to you, I made a short guide to help you start building your sensory awareness.
It’s not a “program.” It’s a practice.
Something you can do right now, with zero effort, zero cost, and zero need to fix yourself.
Get to it.
With love and healing,
Brian ‘still working on sitting still’ Maierhofer (Professional Human)
P.S. Thank you so much for supporting my work—I genuinely appreciate you being here.
If this email resonated, I’d love to hear from you. I made a super short, 2-question form to help me better understand what you’re navigating, and how I can be most helpful.
Your answers will shape the content I create going forward.
I read every response personally.
