📚 Escaping the Romance Storyline Mindset: Rewriting Your Mental Genre

By Destyn Dagle | March 25, 2025

What If Your Worldview Was Built on Romance Tropes?

This all started with a conversation I had with my wife Krista. We were talking about politics—but not in a red vs. blue kind of way. More like: Why do people get stuck? Why does it feel like entire groups of people are speaking different languages… even when they’re talking about the same topic?

And then it hit me:

People aren’t broken! They’re just stuck in a genre.

Imagine this: Every book, every movie, every binge-worthy series you’ve ever watched—Hallmark originals, reality dating chaos, fantasy-laced romantasy—has wired your brain to expect life to follow one plot:

You meet someone. Accidentally.
Tension brews.
Misunderstandings explode.
Big feelings. Bigger makeups.
And in the end? Love wins. 💘

Now here’s the twist: What if that’s not just your taste in fiction—it’s become your entire framework for thinking?

Then one day, someone hands you a sci-fi novel. Or a war memoir. Or a playbook.

Paradigm shift. 🧠💥

The Real Romance Problem

It’s not the genre—it’s the trap.

When you only consume one type of story, you start thinking that way in real life. You expect love to be dramatic, conflict to be fate, and every problem to resolve with a hug and a monologue.

Social media does this too—but with ideologies, values, and even identities. You’re handed one lens… and everything starts looking the same.

But life doesn’t work like that. It’s not scripted. And most problems don’t end with a viral tweet.

This is what I call Genre Lock. You think you’re just scrolling content, but your brain is wiring itself around that plotline.

Signs You’re Living in One Genre Too Long

Every disagreement feels like a betrayal, not a dialogue.
You wait for moments to feel “meant to be” instead of making a plan.
You expect clarity to come from feeling, not facts.
Conflict feels like an attack instead of a data point.

In short? You’re living your life like a character—not a creator.

Break the Loop. Flip the Genre.

Want to escape the romance-novel mindset? You don’t need to burn your books—you need to expand your shelf.

Read nonfiction. Watch sci-fi. Study someone who doesn’t think like you.
Learn to analyze instead of over-feel.
See strategy in struggle—not just drama.
Find systems where you used to find sparks.

You’re not stuck. You’re just stuck in a storyline that’s too small for your brain.

🧠 The BRAIN Method: Mental Genre Switcher

This is why I built the BRAIN Method. It’s not just a framework—it’s a reprogramming tool for your mental bookshelf.

Background – What story are you trapped in?
Request – What are you actually trying to create?
Additional Info – What facts—not feels—support your goal?
Inquiry – What would a different genre say about this moment?
Next Steps – What’s the action that breaks the loop?

Every BRAIN Note, brainstorm, or structure challenge is a new page in a new genre—one you actually choose.

Rewrite Your Role

You’re not a side character. You’re not waiting on fate. You’re the one holding the pen—and MySideBRAIN is your co-writer.

If all you’ve read is romance, everything feels like fate or failure. But if you switch genres—**strategy, resilience, reinvention—**you unlock a new narrative:

You become the author of your own mind.

🧠 Join the plot twist at MySideBRAIN

💬 What genre has your brain been stuck in lately? Drop it below. Let’s flip the page. ⬇️