Ideas that change
how you see yourself.
Articles, podcasts, webinars, and downloads — all built around one idea: you have three brains, and aligning them changes everything.
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BOOKS BY CHRISTOFFEL SNEIJDERS
The ideas in print.

2026 — Pre-order Now Available
3 Brains Intelligence: Break Free to Thrive
Forget mindset and discipline — work with your biology. The neuroscience-based approach that explains what every self-help book has missed.

2023 — Available on Amazon
Relationships? Which Brain Is Talking?
The ultimate guide to understanding why people act the way they do in relationships — and what to do about it.

2026 — Available on Amazon
3 Brains Intelligence
76 pages. The insight in how your 3 Brains work what makes them thrive and make then get stuck, with many real life examples.
A quick read to assit in to be in charge of yor 3 Brains

2026 — Available on Amazon
Reclaim Your Brains: Change That Works
74 pages. 8 chapters. Practical, direct, and immediately actionable. Break free from the patterns that keep you stuck.
What people are reading more.


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Are you in the 0.1% when it comes to discipline, or do you, like most of us, belong to the 99.9%?


Why “Follow Your Heart” Is Terrible Advice


Why do I feel nothing when nothing is actually wrong? Is it depression?


Bessel van der Kolk: The body keeps the score, but which part of the body?


What 5,218 professional decision-makers reveal about leadership
What people are watching. The Podcast enjoy listening to them

If you've ever been the one who never says no — at work, at home, for everyone — this conversation is for you. Christoffel burned out at the top of his career despite training four days a week. What finally got his attention wasn't a bad week. It was his body forcing him to stop.

In Part 3 of our Three Brains series, Christoffel Sneijder and I explore the head brain, the part of the system responsible for analyzing information, learning from the past, thinking ahead, and trying to predict what might happen next.
And that ability is incredibly useful. Until it isn’t.
Christoffel explains that while the gut is focused on survival and the heart on connection, the head is uniquely capable of thinking about the future. But because it wants to make the best possible prediction, it can also keep searching, analyzing, replaying, and gathering information long after we already know enough to act.
That is where overthinking enters the picture.
In this conversation, we explore why you can understand your patterns intellectually and still repeat them, why your body sometimes reacts before your conscious mind can explain what is happening, and why more information does not necessarily create more certainty.
We also get into one of the biggest themes in my own work: self-trust.
At some point, you can gather all the information available to you and still not know exactly how the business, relationship, conversation, career move, or decision will turn out.
Some answers only become available through participation.
In this episode, we explore:
What the head brain is designed to do
Why the mind is constantly trying to predict what happens next
How the search for certainty turns into overthinking
Why your body can react before your conscious mind understands why
How past experiences influence present-day reactions
Why your brain attaches stories to emotions
How information overload can interfere with deeper thinking
Why perfectionism and uncertainty are so closely connected
The difference between confidence and self-trust
Why we become observers of our lives instead of participants
Why knowing your patterns doesn’t automatically change them
Why survival responses can overpower logic
How gut, heart, and head compete during major decisions
How to know which “brain” to listen to
Why regret may come from ignoring one part of yourself when making a decision
One of my favorite ideas from this conversation is that some information can only come from action.
You can prepare.
You can analyze.
You can gather information.
But eventually, there is something you cannot know until you participate.
Instead of asking:
“How do I know this will work?”
The more useful question may be:
“Do I trust myself enough to find out?”
This is the final conversation in our Three Brains series:
Part 1 — The Gut Brain
Part 2 — The Heart Brain
Part 3 — The Head Brain
And toward the end, we bring all three together to explore how understanding which system you rely on most—and which one you tend to ignore—may change the way you make decisions.
If you struggle with overthinking, perfectionism, uncertainty, analysis paralysis, repeating patterns you already understand, or waiting until you feel completely sure before acting, this conversation is for you.
00:00 The Head Brain: What Is It Actually Designed to Do?
03:47 Why Your Brain Keeps Searching for the Perfect Answer
06:45 When Your Body Reacts to Something Your Mind Can’t Explain
11:12 Your Body May Decide Before Your Brain Knows
15:05 How Your Brain Gets Tricked Into Thinking Fast
18:52 Why We Keep Searching for Certainty
27:35 Self-Trust: The Missing Piece in Decision-Making
31:23 Why You Understand Your Patterns… But Still Repeat Them
35:43 What Happens When Survival Overrides Logic
40:32 When Self-Awareness Becomes Another Form of Avoidance
42:04 How to Use All Three Brains to Make Better Decisions
50:09 What Most People Get Wrong About Decision-Making
58:47 The Real Reason We Regret Our Decisions

In Part 2 of our Three Brains series, Christoffel Sneijder and I move from the gut brain into the heart brain, the system he describes as deeply involved in bonding, connection, empathy, belonging, shame, guilt, and the fear of rejection.
And this is where the conversation gets personal.
We explore why people can desperately want connection while simultaneously pulling away from it, how childhood experiences can teach us to put other people’s needs ahead of our own, and how empathy can slowly become self-abandonment when we stop expressing what we actually want.
We also talk about people-pleasing, emotional burnout, boundaries, guilt, rejection, attachment, heartbreak, and why old relationship wounds can continue influencing new relationships long after the original experience is over.
One of the central ideas in this conversation is that the heart brain wants to stay connected, but it is also deeply sensitive to rejection. After painful experiences, it may begin treating new opportunities for intimacy as if the old danger is happening all over again.
We discuss:
What the “heart brain” actually is
Why human beings are wired for bonding and connection
The connection between empathy and people-pleasing
When compromise turns into self-abandonment
Why guilt and shame make boundaries so difficult
How rejection of a behavior can feel like rejection of your entire identity
Why heartbreak can make future intimacy feel dangerous
Why some people want closeness but pull away when connection gets real
How emotional memories influence dating and relationships
Why people stay in unhealthy or toxic dynamics
Plus much more
I also share some very personal experiences from my own marriage, divorce, dating life, and the realization that for years I had unconsciously treated other people’s priorities as more important than my own.
Toward the end of the episode, we explore one of the most important questions of the entire series:
How do you listen to an emotion without letting that emotion make the entire decision for you?
Christoffel’s answer begins with something surprisingly simple: create space between the emotion and the decision.
This is Part 2 of The Three Brains series.
Part 1: The Gut Brain
Part 2: The Heart Brain
Part 3: The Head Brain
If you’ve ever wondered why you keep repeating relationship patterns, why setting boundaries makes you feel guilty, why you pull away from people you care about, or why love can sometimes feel more threatening than comforting, this conversation is for you.
00:00 What Is the Heart Brain?
05:04 How the Heart Brain Reads Connection & Rejection
06:44 When Connection Turns Into Self-Abandonment
10:37 Why We Repeat the Same Relationship Patterns
12:45 The Moment I Realized I Never Prioritized Myself
18:20 The Relationship Question That Reveals a Red Flag
21:16 People-Pleasing, Burnout & Losing Touch With Your Needs
25:08 When Empathy Becomes Emotional Self-Sacrifice
29:07 Why Guilt & Shame Keep You Stuck
37:22 Why We Pull Away From the Love We Actually Want
43:31 How Past Heartbreak Keeps Controlling the Present
52:38 How to Feel an Emotion Without Letting It Decide for You
57:46 A Simple Exercise to Separate Past Fear From the Present

We often hear people say, “Trust your gut.” But what exactly is a gut feeling? And more importantly, how do you know when your gut is detecting something important versus simply reacting to fear, anxiety, past experiences, or an old survival response?
In Part 1 of this three-part conversation on the gut, heart, and head brains, I sit down with Christoffel to explore the fascinating concept of the gut brain, often called the second brain, and the role it may play in survival, motivation, anxiety, intuition, and decision-making.
We explore why your body can react to a situation before your conscious mind understands what's happening, why uncertainty can trigger endless overthinking, and why the same internal system that pushes someone toward achievement can also keep them trapped in fear.
Christoffel also explains how the gut constantly evaluates the world through questions like: Am I safe? Am I in danger? How do I win? How do I avoid losing?
In this episode, we explore:
What the “gut brain” or second brain actually is
How the gut may influence your decisions without conscious awareness
Why fear and anxiety are so often felt physically in the stomach
The connection between survival instinct, ambition, competition, and success
Why your gut seeks safety, control, and certainty
How past experiences can influence what feels like intuition today
The difference between a genuine signal and an old fear response
Why blindly following “trust your gut” can sometimes be misleading
How breaking overwhelming decisions into smaller questions can reduce anxiety
Why your head, heart, and gut may need to work together to make better decisions
Plus much more
One particularly useful insight comes near the end of our conversation: anxiety can grow when we collapse an entire imagined future into one giant story. Breaking that story into smaller questions can make the situation far easier to navigate.
This is Part 1 of our Three Brains series. In the next episode, we move from the gut to the heart brain and explore a different question:
How do you know what you actually want versus what you've been conditioned to want?
If you've ever wondered whether to trust your intuition, why your body reacts before your mind catches up, or why fear sometimes feels indistinguishable from a gut feeling, this conversation is for you.
00:00 What Is the “Gut Brain” And What Does It Know?
06:53 Why High Performers Have a Strong Gut Brain
13:31 How to Train Your Gut Brain
21:23 How Your Gut Communicates With Your Brain
23:11 Why Uncertainty Can Turn Into Anxiety
28:24 Your Gut Is Making Decisions Before You Realize It
36:11 Intuition or an Old Fear Response?
44:05 Should You Actually Trust Your Gut?
50:14 Why Fear of Rejection Feels So Physical
52:18 The Simple Question That Can Stop Overthinking
57:33 Why the Gut, Heart & Head Need to Work Together


Once a bullied child, he used that pain and anger and emotion into a beautiful mission. Now, that message is being heard and felt by many.

Do you feel stuck or held back in some way? The answer may lie in understanding and harnessing the power of your three brains: the head brain, the heart brain, and the gut-brain. Join host Stacey Chillemi in a thought-provoking conversation with renowned neuroscience expert Christoffel Sneijders.
In this episode, we delve deep into understanding the internal conflicts and blocks that hinder our decision-making process and how to overcome them by tapping into the power of our three brains. Discover practical insights and actionable techniques to align your thinking, emotions, and instincts for lasting personal growth and success. Don't miss out on this insightful episode that will transform the way you approach challenges and decision-making.
Learn how to overcome what may be Holding You Back from Success.




Discover how to tap into your Heart, Gut, and Head to transform your decision-making and leadership skills. Learn how to balance emotional intelligence, neuroscience, and intuition to set yourself up for unprecedented success in 2025.
Tune in for actionable insights and practical tips on how to navigate the complexities of your three centers of intelligence and unlock your full potential. Don't miss out on this transformative conversation that will empower you to make 2025 your best year ever.

Join us on an enlightening journey as we unveil the connection between the three distinct brain systems: the Reptilian brain, the Limbic brain, and the Neocortex. Learn how each component shapes our thoughts, emotions, and actions.
Whether you're a psychology enthusiast, a lifelong learner, or simply curious about the mechanics of intelligence, this episode is a MUST LISTEN! Don't miss out on the secrets that could change how you think about your mind and those around you.

We also examine how evolutionary biology can hinder change and how the different responsibilities of these Brains can sometimes lead to conflicting directions.
Most importantly, this session will equip you with practical tools. You will understand how analysing the language of our 3 Brains can help us and our clients pave the way to a more successful and satisfying life.

We'll share simple yet effective tricks to help you beat holiday stress and enjoy the festive season to the fullest. From time-management tips to self-care strategies, we've got you covered. So, sit back, relax, and get ready to take control of your holiday stress once and for all!
Explore cutting-edge approaches to stress management and holistic wellness at 3BrainsIntelligence.com.











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