LAYER 7: REACTIVITY (Executive Override)

A triage system to interrupt impulses and dismantle the hidden tax on your energy.

Accessibility

Advanced - Requires L1-L6 foundation + commitment

Introduction to L7 (Reactivity)

Embedded L7 (Reactivity) Video Script

The Valence-Reactivity Link

In Layer 6, you learned that your brain tags every experience as Pleasant, Unpleasant, or Neutral. That tag doesn't just sit there—it triggers an automatic response.
This is the Push-Pull-Drift Dynamic—the constant, background friction of wanting reality to be different than it is.
  • Pleasant → triggers The Pull (Craving)
  • Unpleasant → triggers The Push (Aversion)
  • Neutral → triggers The Drift (Restlessness/Delusion)
Layer 7 trains you to interrupt this chain reaction before it hijacks your behaviour.

What Shows Up: The Hidden Tax

Reactivity isn't just about explosions of anger. It is the "hidden tax" on your nervous system—the energy leak caused by constantly negotiating with reality. It manifests in three distinct ways:
  1. The Behavioural "Itch" (Acute): Compulsive checking, interrupting, emotional eating, impulsive buying, or the urgent need to "fix" a silence.
  1. The Background Hum (Chronic): A low-grade friction of never quite being settled. This is doom-scrolling, the inability to sit without a podcast, or the constant mental checking of "what's next."
  1. The Existential Ache (Deep): A subtle resistance to the present moment. It is the feeling that here is not enough, and there is where you need to be.

When to Use: The Reactivity Radar

1. The Acute Spike (The Hijack)
  • The Signal: A sudden, high-voltage impulse to DO something immediately to change your state.
  • Examples: The urge to interrupt someone, the reflex to grab your phone in an elevator, a flash of defensive anger, or the "itch" to send a reactive email at 11 PM.
2. The Chronic Loop (The Noise)
  • The Signal: A persistent habit loop powered by low-grade anxiety.
  • Examples: Procrastination loops, "tab-shuffling" on your browser, or reaching for caffeine not for energy, but to change how you feel.
3. The Drift (The Vacuum)
  • The Signal: A vague restlessness when things are calm (Neutral Valence).
  • Examples: "I'm bored," "Something should be happening," or manufacturing a problem to solve because peace feels suspicious.

L7 (Reactivity) Rewire Scripts

L7: Reactivity Triage

Before you act on an impulse, check the voltage.
Urgency: 0–10 (How strong is the compulsion to act right now?)

Protocol A: The Circuit Breaker (Redirect)

Use when: Urgency is > 8/10 (Overwhelming/Flooding)
Goal: Stop the behaviour by lowering the physiological arousal first.
When the urge is this high, your override capacity (PFC) is offline. You cannot reason with a dopamine spike; you have to breathe it down.
  • The Hard Stop: Physically remove yourself from the stimulus immediately. (Close the laptop, walk out of the room).
  • The Physiological Sigh (3x): Use the 30-second L1 Protocol (Double inhale, long exhale) to manually down-regulate the nervous system.
  • The Friction: Introduce a mandatory delay. "I can do this behaviour, but I must wait 5 minutes and drink a glass of water first."
  • The Pivot: Dump the excess cortisol/adrenaline into a high-sensory task (splash cold water, 10 pushups). Once intensity drops to a 5/10, switch to Protocol B.

Protocol B: The Override (Surfing)

Use when: Urgency is 4–7/10 (Strong but manageable)
EMBEDDED AUDIO OF PROTOCOL B
Goal: Build capacity and rewire the habit loop.
  • LABEL (The Pause): "Stop. This is Reactivity." Name the mechanic: "This is a Pull (craving)" or "This is a Drift (restlessness)."
  • INTERROGATE (The Logic Wedge): "Am I choosing this, or is the stress choosing it?"
  • SURF (The Stance): "I am willing to feel this wave without drowning in it."
    • The Practice: Watch the physical sensation (heat, tightness, vibration). Treat it like a wave in the ocean.
    • The Victory: Wait for the crest to break. Neuroanatomist Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor identifies that the chemical surge of an emotion lasts only 90 seconds. If you don't feed it with a story, it will flush out.

Protocol C: The Deconstruction (Insight)

Use when: Urgency is < 4/10 (Nagging dissatisfaction/Subtle friction)
EMBEDDED AUDIO OF PROTOCOL C
Goal: Uproot the source of the stress.
  • LOCATE (The Somatic Truth): Drop the story ("I need that coffee"). Locate the vibration of the urge in the body.
  • REALISE (The Glitch): Notice that "Craving" actually feels like anxiety. It is tension, not pleasure.
  • DISSOLVE (The Drop): Ask: "Is this 'itch' actually pleasurable? Or is it just stress wrapped in a promise?"
    • The Release: See the wanting as a heavy weight you are gripping. Drop the weight. Rest in the relief of not holding on.

Advanced Support: The Acceleration Arc

When the pattern refuses to break.
EMBEDDED VIDEO OF UPSELL
The Neural Audit (Private 1:1 Series)
You now have the tools to manage 80% of your daily signals. However, seasoned practitioners often discover a "Source Code" glitch—a specific, stubborn pattern (e.g., Chronic Impostor Syndrome, Relational Sabotage, Financial Panic) that refuses to yield to standard protocols.
This is often because the issue is Existential, not Behavioural. It requires a surgical approach.

The Offer: The Neural Audit

A high-precision, 3-session calibration arc for advanced practitioners.
  • Session 1: The Diagnostic.
      • We bypass the story and locate the somatic root of your deepest loop. We manually deconstruct the "glitch" that is keeping the system stuck.
  • Session 2: The Stress-Test.
      • We build a bespoke protocol for your specific architecture and test it under live conditions. We move from theory to direct application in your actual daily life.
  • Session 3: The Expansion.
      • Once the block is cleared, we integrate this new capacity into your highest-stakes domains—Leadership, Creative Output, and Deep Relationships.
[Link: Apply for a Neural Audit]

The Mechanism: How Impulse Control Works

Reactivity (the "Push-Pull-Drift") is a feedback loop where the brain falsely equates "relieving discomfort" with "survival."
  1. Protocol A (The Circuit Breaker) works by manually lowering physiological arousal (down-regulation). By reducing the adrenaline/cortisol load, you bring the prefrontal cortex back online, preventing a "hostile takeover" of your behaviour.
  1. Protocol B (The Override) targets the habit loop directly. By "surfing" the urge without acting on it, you inhibit the automatic pathway. This weakens the neural link between "trigger" and "reaction," building density in the prefrontal cortex (willpower/inhibition).
  1. Protocol C (The Deconstruction) targets the root belief. It reveals that the "itch" (craving/aversion) is actually painful, and that letting go offers better relief than indulging. This is the mechanism of Disenchantment—the brain naturally drops what it clearly sees as painful.

The Outcome: Behavioural Freedom & Existential Ease

  • The Shift: You move from being a "puppet" to your impulses to being the "pilot." You stop automatically reacting to every spike of dopamine, cortisol, or vague restlessness.
  • The Gain: Behavioural Freedom. You regain the power of choice. You can feel a massive urge to check your phone, eat sugar, or snap at someone, and yet choose to remain still. The gap between stimulus and response widens.
  • The Result: Existential Ease. The exhausting cycle of "Reacting → Chasing/Avoiding → Temporary Relief" is broken. You discover Equanimity—the deep, cool independence of being okay regardless of whether you get what you want or not. You are no longer constantly negotiating with reality.