The Blueprint of Thought: Designing Your Mental Environment

I had been driving my truck for eight years, and it was a great truck. Never really needed any work and never broke down. I drive about 22,000 miles a year and it never let me down. We were going into winter though and I knew I was going to need to put new brakes and tires on it but I wasn't sure I wanted to invest the money in it so I started to think about the potential of a new car. I saw something that I liked and then suddenly, I started seeing them all over. Everywhere I drove, there one was. Like suddenly, the rest of the world realized I wanted this car, and decided to buy it instead. Of course, this wasn't what happened so what did actually happen?

My Reticular Activating System (RAS) started to allow me to see these images because it realized I was interested in them. The Reticular Activating System has often been described as the "gatekeeper" of our consciousness. Our brain processes millions of bits of data per second and to protect us from being completely overwhelmed, this system in our brain filters out the the information and only lets through what it deems as important or relevant. When I started to ponder the thought of that specific type of car, it deemed it relevant and suddenly I became aware of all the models on the road.

As I realized this, I understood the power of my RAS and started to think about it across all platforms of my life. In the most simplistic form, what we focus on controls our life. It is up to us to "feed" our brain the right information. What we consume on a daily basis tells our RAS what to allow through. If we consume the right books, the right podcasts, the right videos then our RAS will continue to allow that type of information through which expedites our ability to grow. Now, what "right" is depends on each person and can vary extensively but the important thing is to identify something and start consuming it so your RAS continues to provide you examples of it.

We move towards what we think about. So, if we are consuming the right type of information, it leads us to take action towards our goals. When we take action, we get to experience life. These experiences that we have come back around and impact our beliefs. Subconsciously we don't ever know this is happening but if we experience something from a negative perspective, the next time we go to experience a similar event we are going to associate it with that negative experience. But if we have consumed the right information, and we know that it wasn't actually a negative experience, but instead an opportunity for us to learn and improve, then we experience the same exact event from a positive perspective and continue to grow and learn.

Our subconscious is heavily influenced by what we "feed" our brains. It listens to everything we say, everything we think. It knows everything we feel, both good and bad. This is why affirmations and daily gratitude are so important. We are feeding our brain with positive thoughts and feelings, which the subconscious can take and use to influence our beliefs. The same beliefs that allow us to think a certain way and see something as an opportunity. The same beliefs that influence our interpretation of an experience.

Athletes have historically used visualization techniques to improve their performance. This is the exact same concept. They are visualizing themselves in that moment. They are seeing themselves hitting the shot, or succeeding in that moment. They are influencing their subconscious so that when they are in the moment, the beliefs that their subconscious release are positive and not negative. They are thinking about their visualization of making the five foot putt, instead of the four foot putt they missed earlier in the round.

With anything, it is a process to get to where we want to be. The first step is exactly that, just taking a first step. Don't try to eliminate all negative thinking from your life. You will fail because you are a human being. Start with adding one thing every day, like a podcast, or reading ten pages. Maybe a morning affirmation every day or daily gratitude. The point is to add one thing, and then remove one thing. Remove the daily complaining to your spouse about your job, or how you can't afford certain materialistic items that will make you "happier." Remove the news, or that social media channel that always makes you afraid of the world. Choose one thing to add, and one thing to remove and do that every day for 30 days. After a month, you will be doing it without even thinking about it, and you can add one more thing. After a year, you will have added twelve small things every day that influence your subconscious. You will have changed the diet of information you allow your brain to see, resulting in your RAC working for you in a positive way.