MSS #087: If Your Brain Had a User Guide, This Would Be the Most Important Chapter

MSS #087: If Your Brain Had a User Guide, This Would Be the Most Important Chapter

7 Sept, 2024

🕒Read time: 3.5 minutes

🚀In a hurry? Cut straight to the heading "Harnessing the Power of Focus" - reduced read time 1.6 minutes

Last week, we explored how the Reticular Activating System (RAS) shapes your experiences by filtering information based on your focus - a key part of of brain.

But what if your brain came with a user guide? This would be the chapter you’d turn to first.

Understanding how your beliefs interact with the RAS can either trap you in negativity or propel you toward the happiness and success you seek.

Why "Be Careful What You Wish For" is True

The phrase "be careful what you wish for" holds profound truth when you understand how your mind works.

The RAS acts like a gatekeeper, filtering the information you receive based on what you’ve told it to prioritise – it filters four of your senses (not smell) and your past experiences.

If your thoughts are focused on fear, scarcity, or failure, your RAS will filter your experiences to validate those thoughts and help you notice more of the same.

Conversely, if your focus is on abundance, success, and happiness, your RAS will help you notice opportunities to achieve these outcomes and prove you rights.

Your Beliefs and the Cycle They Create

Your beliefs are the foundation of how your RAS operates.

To manage the overwhelming amount of information your brain encounters, your mind relies on established beliefs and perceptions as shortcuts for decision-making (there are other mechanism’s but let’s keep this simple).

Unfortunately, many of these beliefs aren’t based on factual truths but on perceptions you’ve developed over time.

Some of those perceptions you might be able to associate with a specific experience or learning, others quite possibly are a mystery to you – both origin and existence of the belief.

These deep-seated opinions often masquerade as facts, subtly influencing how your RAS filters your world.

This leads to what I call the Belief Cycle:

1. Perception/Mindset: You start with a belief—such as "I have no control over my life."

2. RAS Programming: Your RAS accepts this belief as an instruction and begins filtering information to find evidence that supports it. The RAS is in a part of the brain that does not challenge your thinking, if you submit a belief it accepts this as an instruction, no questions asked.

3. Evidence: As your RAS filters the world, it brings examples of lack of control to your conscious mind, reinforcing your belief.

4. Reinforcement: The more evidence you experience, the stronger your belief becomes, creating a tightening spiral. Very much along the principle of “see, I told you I was right".

5. Result: You end up more convinced of your lack of control (in this example), which further strengthens the cycle, leading to feelings of helplessness, anxiety, and unhappiness.

If, however, you believe you do have choices and control, your RAS will filter information to support that belief, creating a positive, empowering cycle. This results in a mindset of opportunity, freedom, and happiness.

Just to be clear, the RAS filters what is already present. It filters information that supports what you asked it to focus on from four of your sense (not smell) and you past experience.

So if you give your RAS a goal to focus on, it will find all the relevant information to help nudge you towards that goal, from new information from your sense and old information from your past experiences. There is speculation that all our brain’s may be connected in some for of electromagnetic network, if that were true (I have a 50/50 open mind to this), then potentially we have access to more information other than our own. One day science will help up confirm or deny this theory.

Harnessing the Power of Focus

The good news is that you can break negative belief cycles and reprogram your RAS to support your goals and well-being. Here’s how:

• Clarify Your Goals: Be specific about what you want to achieve.

Vague goals lead to vague results. Your RAS needs clear instructions to filter the right information.

• Visualisation and Emotional Connection: Regularly *visualise your desired outcomes as if they are already happening.

Engage your emotions in this process—feel the satisfaction, joy, or peace that comes with achieving your goal. This reinforces the programming of your RAS. The RAS is part of the brain that’s main “programming” language is images and its close to another part of the brain that operates best on emotion. That’s why images and emotions are key. By all means use words to articulate what you want to focus on, but translate them into images and associated emotions.

• Focus on Positive Outcomes: Direct your attention toward what you want, not what you fear.

If you’re preparing for an important presentation, imagine yourself delivering it confidently and successfully. Your RAS will then support you by bringing relevant information and resources to your conscious mind that can help you achieve this positive outcome. Sometimes our thoughts drift to what we are fearful of happening, inadvertently we are “programming” our RAS on those images and emotions - as the RAS does not judge what is good for you, it just accepts what you feed it.

• Mindset Shift: Understand that where you place your attention has a powerful impact on your reality.

Choose to focus on thoughts and beliefs that empower you and reflect the life you want to live.

Applying This in Everyday Life

Let’s consider a common scenario: you’re thinking of buying another car, replacing the one you have now.

You’ve decided on a specific make and model.

Now you start noticing that car everywhere—in car parks, in advertisements, even your friends seem to be talking about it.

This is your RAS at work, filtering the information around you to support your focus. That car has always been around you, it just was not of interest before.

The same principle applies to your life goals and happiness. What you focus on expands, so make sure your attention is directed toward the positive, empowering outcomes you want to achieve.

Summary

Your mind is a powerful tool, and the RAS is its filter, determining what information reaches your conscious awareness.

By focusing on positive outcomes and empowering beliefs, you can reprogram your RAS to work in your favour.

• The RAS filters information based on your beliefs and focus.

• Your mindset and focus can either reinforce negative cycles or create positive ones.

• Clarifying your goals and visualising success can help your RAS bring the right opportunities to your attention.

• Where you place your attention will shape your reality—focus on what you want, not what you fear.

Understanding and leveraging the RAS is more than just an interesting concept—it’s a game changer for those who want to take control of their lives and achieve their goals.

If you’re ready to dive deeper, consider exploring this further in my workshops or coaching sessions, where I delve into these techniques and more ping me a quick email at [email protected] or DM me on LinkedIn Matt Sturgess | LinkedIn

*Visualisation

Be aware for some this comes easily, for others its challenging and for 4% of the population it’s not possible.

We all (but 4% with Aphantasia) visualise differently some with full 3D, colour, cinematic. Others with quite clear, colourful images, some with fleeting, mainly black and white images (me). A few with nothing at all.

Whichever visualisation situation you are in, linking visualisation with emotion and thinking of experiencing what it is you want to achieve helps. The “programming” language of the RAS is mainly images and emotion. So top up on the emotional side if visualisation is challenging or not possible.

I did a survey, these were the results.

Aphantasia (no visualisation) 4%
Subtle, little or no colour. 12%
Clear picture, some colour. 32%
Full colour, cinematic wonder. 52%

See you next week. One more thought 👇

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That's it for this week. Thanks for reading, really hope this helped. Contact me if you think I can help you further at [email protected].

Happy thinking.