Have you ever wondered why after you buy the new car in color you choose and immediately after you drive off the lot you see your exact same car in the exact color more frequently? Well, there is a scientific explanation for this and it has to do with a little tiny system called your R.A.S. This stands for your reticular activating system. It is found at the base of your brain. Its primary function is to act as a conscious filter of information. Here’s the kicker though…it filters and processes information based on what you’ve practiced and repetitively played out as the most important information. Without getting too geeky, it works to project a reality that in deed you have trained it to project.
Earlier this week I had the chance to spend what I would consider critical coaching time with two people I care for deeply. Both had become so wrapped up in their own realities and thought processes that their view of their world was fixated, absolute, diminished and less hopeful. As we worked to explore the relationship between what we spend our time trying to convince our brain of and how it then translates into a constructed reality, it was evident that a more productive pathway, including one that could bring more happiness, more confidence and a better basis for the future to be built upon, was possible.
The brain is a powerful weapon for either creation or destruction. Brendon Burchard said once that “that what we apply hate to quickly dies.”
Quite literally, what we choose to see, say, and think about, will scientifically create a farce filter of truth based on what we practice.
With that I leave you with this thought: “That what you focus on becomes your reality!”
Be careful of the language you use, the stories you tell, and the amount of time and energy you spend trying to control the uncontrollables by focussing on everything that is wrong in your world with those around you.
If this is something you struggle with, I would challenge you to be absolutely INTENTIONAL this coming week. Pay careful attention to your view of yourself and the world around you. Listen to the language you use. Pay attention to the labels of circumstance you choose; The I AM’s and THEY ARE’s. The can’ts and won’ts and nevers. Let your future be shaped by the possibilities of a better self. It will take practice, but you come well equipped with a tool that is perfectly designed to get you the results you want if you will feed it with better information. Quite literally, you can shape your view of the world by focussing your thoughts and words on the opposite of what you have been. One step in that direction begins with gratitude. As you seek for and focus on even the smallest things and begin to verbalize and construct working terms around those thoughts, feeling and emotions, you will begin to change your view of the world around you.
The big question: WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO NOW?
If this has impacted you, share it. If it can be of help to someone you care about, share it. As I have shared before, I believe the greatest gift in our mortal lives is the gift of choice; how we honor that gift will shape the eternities. May we each honor.the.gift.
Until next week my friends, make it a great one.