Loop Debugging Shortcuts
A quick reference for spotting and dissolving ego loops
When you notice thoughts with the following structures, it’s a strong indicator that you’re inside a belief loop. The mind is recycling conditioned scripts rather than perceiving clearly. Use these shortcuts to pause, step back, and dissolve the loop before it hijacks awareness.
1. “Should” / “Supposed to”
Indicator: Externalized expectation. Reflects conditioning (“I should be better,” “Life should be fair”).
Loop Mechanic “Should” = the voice of internalized authority — family, culture, society — not your own awareness.
Exit: Ask: *“Who decided this should? Is it true now? What if I drop it?” Replace with curiosity: “What is, right now?”
2. “Always / Never”
Indicator: Absolutist framing. (“I always fail,” “They never understand me.”)
Loop Mechanic Generalizations flatten reality into static judgments. Keeps narrative rigid, blocks nuance.
Exit: Ask: “Really? Always/never? Can I find even one exception?” The loop collapses under contradiction.
3. “Because I am broken / not enough”
Indicator: Core shame belief. (“Why am I like this? → Because I’m broken.”)
Loop Mechanic Tautology: the “answer” references itself, explains nothing, and perpetuates suffering.
Exit: Ask: “Is ‘broken’ a fact or a label? What evidence contradicts this?” See it as a placeholder belief, not truth.
4. “If X, then Y” (Catastrophic Certainty)
Indicator: Conditional doom. (“If I fail this, I’ll never succeed.”)
Loop Mechanic Rigid linear cause-effect assumption. Reality reduced to one negative pathway.
Exit: Ask: “What else could happen? What other pages exist?” Remember the field model of cause/effect — infinite branches exist.
5. “They think…” (Mind-Reading)
Indicator: Assumptions about others’ judgments. (“They think I’m stupid.”)
Loop Mechanic Projected belief loop: you inject your own insecurity into imagined minds.
Exit: Ask: “Did they actually say this? Or is this my thought projected outward?” Return ownership.
6. “What if...?” (Fear Spiral)
Indicator: Endless hypothetical worries. (“What if I lose my job? What if I get sick?”)
Loop Mechanic Attention pulled into imagined futures → tuning awareness to fear-alignment.
Exit: Ask: “What’s actually happening right now?” Use grounding: breath, sensation, simple observation.
7. “It’s my fault / I deserve this”
Indicator: Guilt loop. (“I always screw things up, so this is my punishment.”)
Loop Mechanic Links random events to self-blame, reinforcing worthlessness.
Exit: Ask: “Is this cause-effect real or a guilt narrative?” Check evidence, release inherited moralizing.
8. “If only...”
Indicator: Regret loop. (“If only I had done X, life would be different.”)
Loop Mechanic Fixating on alternate pasts — treating them as real — blocks present tuning.
Exit: Ask: “That page exists, but why read it now? What page can I choose here?”
9. Binary Traps (“Good/Bad, Right/Wrong”)
Indicator: Dualistic framing. (“I’m bad,” “This is wrong.”)
Loop Mechanic Forces reality into rigid opposites. Collapses nuance into judgment.
Exit: Ask: “Outside this label, what is actually happening?” Remember: opposites are part of Māyā’s prism, not absolutes.
Shortcut Formula
Spot the red flag word/structure.
Pause. Don’t chase the loop.
Ask a counter-question. Who decided this? Always? Never? What else could be true?
Shift attention back to what is. (breath, sensation, direct observation).
In short: If it sounds like a script, it probably is. If it feels heavy, looping, or absolute, it’s conditioning. The exit is curiosity, contradiction, or dropping the word entirely.