Have you ever noticed when you’re driving along and you notice a pothole that you want to avoid, that the more you focus on not hitting the pothole the more you seem to hit it?
Your brain is a very powerful tool. Let me introduce you to a little part of your brain called your Reticular Activating System or RAS for short. Your RAS acts like a filter, sorting through the information constantly flying at you to help you sift through what is important and what is not.
Most importantly the RAS will process a positive and a negative exactly the same e.g. “Don’t hit the pothole” is processed as “Do hit the pothole”. Your RAS is your brains radar – you control it so be sure to have it honed in on what you WANT not what you don’t want.
Here are three easy steps to follow to help you program your thoughts:
- Eliminate distractions – take care of your personal issues as they arise and learn that it’s ok to put some items on the backburner. Not everything needs your immediate attention
- Read over your long-term goals – whether they span one year, five or twenty, have them easily accessible so that you can read them daily. This helps to keep your bigger vision and purpose alive and enables you to adjust your short-term goals as needed to ensure you stay on course.
- Read over your short-term goals – break down your long-term goals into shorter timeframes with actions so that what seems big and unattainable becomes a simple stepping stone that you can easily manage. Like the saying goes “What’s the best way to conquer a mountain….one step at a time!!”
Read your short-term list last. This will activate your RAS to filter out information you don’t need and focus in on what you DO – so that you’re able to tune into the things that are most valuable to the outcome you seek.
This is why the rule of focus on what you want, not on what you don’t want is so massively, utterly important. When you’re focused on what you want, your RAS eventually leads you to find the solution.
Have you got your radar conspiring for your success?
