How to Switch to Conscious Command?

Bishal Lama
May 7
5 min read

Imagine you’re a character in a movie you didn’t write…

But you act out the script anyway.

Automatically.

Ever said something you instantly regretted?

Or acted on impulse, then sat in the aftermath?

That’s not weakness.

That’s wiring.

You don’t make bad decisions because you’re dumb.

You make them because your brain fires before you do.

Let's understand this with some scenarios:

Scene 1: The Angry Woman

You see a woman’s face.

You feel something.

You know she’s angry.

You sense she’s about to yell.

You didn’t choose that reaction.

It was handed to you.

By what?

By System 1 — your fast-thinking, pattern-hunting, instinctive, primitive mind.

It’s fast.

It’s emotional.

It runs on vibes, not logic.

System 1 is why we judge people in milliseconds.

It’s why you swerve before you consciously see the truck.

It’s why a raised eyebrow or a subtle tone sets off a cascade of feelings.

You're not "thinking."

You're predicting based on compressed past experience.

This is intuition.

This is instinct.

This is what Kahneman calls "automatic mode."

Scene 2: The Math Problem

Now look at this:

Instantly, you recognize it.

It’s a multiplication problem.

Your brain doesn’t hesitate.

You know it can be solved—

Maybe not in your head,

But definitely with a pen and paper.

That snap recognition?

That’s not thinking.

That’s pattern.

Looking at 21 x 37.

No instinct kicks in.

You pause.

You feel a little friction.

You weigh the cost: "Should I solve this?"

That’s System 2.

Your deliberate mind.

Slow. Calculating. Logical.

This is the part of you that can override System 1—but it takes energy.

Mental bandwidth.

Discipline.

System 2 is like the quiet analyst at the back of your mind.

It doesn't speak unless you ask.

It doesn’t rush.

But when you engage it, it’s capable of complex thought.

Here’s the truth of conscious command:

You’re always living between these two systems.

System 1: Fast, emotional, automatic.

System 2: Slow, logical, effortful.

Most of your life?

Run by System 1.

Because it’s easier. It saves energy.

But if you’re building anything meaningful—

A business, a life, a relationship, a philosophy—

You’ll need System 2.

You’ll need to stop reacting, and start responding.

System 1: The Autopilot

This is your default operating mode.

It’s fast, reflexive, effortless.

It’s the voice that says “She’s angry” before you even think.

It’s the reaction that flinches when a loud sound hits.

It’s why you complete the phrase: “Tarak Mehta ka…”

You didn’t decide to do that.

It just happened to you.

System 1 is:

Instinctive
Emotional
Automatic
Often right, sometimes wrong
Effortless

It drives 90% of your life unless you interrupt it.

System 2: The Conscious Commander

This is the system you think is “you.”

The one who reads this and goes: “That’s interesting.”

It kicks in when:

You multiply 21 × 37
You focus in a noisy room
You compare two job offers
You try to remember someone’s name

System 2 is:

Slow
Deliberate
Logical
Tiring
Focused

But here’s the thing:

System 2 thinks it’s in charge, but it’s not.

System 1 feeds it feelings, impressions, and shortcuts — and System 2 just rationalizes the decision afterward.

If you don’t know which system is running the show, you’re not living with awareness — you’re reacting, not creating.

Your biases? System 1.
Your procrastination? System 1.
That instant judgment of someone? System 1.
The life strategy that rewrites your future? System 2.

But System 2 is lazy.

It avoids effort.

It lets System 1 take the wheel unless you train it otherwise.

You aren’t your thoughts. You’re the awareness that chooses which thoughts to follow. Use System 2 to rewrite System 1. That’s how you become who you want to be.

You don't have attention. You spend it.

The phrase “pay attention” isn’t just poetic.

It’s literal.

Attention is a currency. Limited. Scarce. Costly.

Spend too much at once?

You crash.

You burn.

You miss the gorilla walking across the City Center.

You think you can do it all at once.

But truth?

You can only juggle what’s automatic.

Drive + talk = fine.

Drive + mental math = crash.

Focus is a binary switch, not a volume knob.

The Illusion – When Your Mind Deceives You

Look at the famous Muller-Lyer illusion.

Two lines with arrows.

One looks longer — but they’re actually the same.

Your brain knows the truth (System 2 measured it).

But your eyes refuse to believe it (System 1 sees what it sees).

Even after being told, you still see the illusion.

You cannot “unsee” it.

That’s the power — and the danger — of cognitive illusions.

Now apply this to thinking.

You meet someone who says all their therapists failed them — but you understand them.

You feel special. Unique. Capable of helping.

But that charm?

It might be a psychopathic trap.

Your instinct says “help.”

Your trained judgment should say “run.”

The lesson:

Not all illusions are visual. Some are emotional. Some are logical. Some live in your thoughts.

System 1 gives you gut feelings.

System 2 must train itself to ask: “Is this real? Or is this a trick?”

The Add 1 Game

Now, there’s a cool exercise called the Add-1 task, which makes System 2 work hard.

Here's how it goes:

You get a card with four random numbers (like 5294).

You start a steady beat (like a metronome clicking every second).

After hearing the numbers, you need to add 1 to each digit. So, 5294 becomes 6305.
You do this while keeping the beat. The rhythm helps you focus!

Most people can’t handle more than four digits in this task. But if you want a bigger challenge, try adding 3 instead of 1 (Add-3).

While you’re doing this exercise, something interesting happens with your eyes.

When your brain works harder, your pupils (the black part of your eyes) get bigger.

It's like a sign showing how hard you're focusing. If you try Add-3, your pupils will get bigger even faster.

Why is this important?

Well, researchers used this method to see how hard people's brains were working during tasks.

They found that the more effort you put in, the more your pupils dilate (get bigger).

It’s like your brain’s "effort meter."

And here's another cool discovery: when you're really focused on something, like doing math, you can miss things around you.

For example, in another experiment, while people were focusing on numbers, they didn't see a letter flashing right in front of them! It’s like your brain is so busy that it blocks out everything else.

So, when your brain works hard, it’s like a mental sprint. It’s tough but rewarding. The more skilled you get at something, the easier it gets.

Eventually, it’s like walking instead of sprinting.

This helps explain why when you do something hard (like solving a big puzzle), you feel tired and worn out after. Your brain just used up a lot of energy.

But the good news?

You can train your brain to get better at it, and with practice, it will take less effort to do tough tasks.

So, whether you're doing math, solving a puzzle, or just thinking hard about something, your brain is working its magic—and your pupils are showing just how much effort it’s putting in!

Cool, right?