When You’re Ready to Change Your Mindset…Think About This

How many of you have ever decided to make a change in yourself? Say like to lose weight or to build strength? If you have, then you’re in great company. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC):

Globally about 1 to 2 out of every 5 people are trying to shed pounds, and they’re using everything from diets to exercise programs to supplements to help them reach their goal. www.livestrong.com/article/13764581-weight-loss-statistics/

You see, you really aren’t alone. It’s a universal pastime. Therefore, I won’t bore you with any more statistics on this, as it’s easily found on Google.

But how many times have you read or heard about changing your mindset? Oh yes, your can research it (if you like doing that kind of thing). But what if I could give you a 5-minute reading on a new way to change things up. Would you be interested? If you are, then read on.

Before I begin, there are a few preliminary principles you need to think about. Such as your brain works constantly to match your reality to your thoughts. Basically saying, what you think is where your focus will be.

I know, that’s pretty heavy stuff but, read through it again. It just makes sense, what you think is where your focus is. If life is good, then you are probably feeling good and doing good. Yet the opposite can be true. When there is a major stressor in your life, do you feel good? I’d say, probably not.

Whether you know it or not we have a bunch of neurons that are constantly at work in our brain. It’s called the Reticulating Activating System or RAS for short. The biggest function is to filter out the junk we don’t need to think about so only the necessary stuff gets through.

RAS according to a blog by Tobias van Schenider, he explained it like this:

Your RAS takes what you focus on and creates a filter for it. It then sifts through the data and presents only the pieces that are important to you.

The RAS programs itself to work in your favor without you actively doing anything. https://medium.com/desk-of-van-schneider/if-you-want-it-you-might-get-it-the-reticular-activating-system-explained

So you see, RAS is a pretty powerful tool for anyone to have. However, it does come with some drawbacks. For instance, RAS will seek out information to validate your beliefs.

And herein is the rub. We all want our RAS to validate our beliefs because it believes in us! But what if we are feeding it the wrong messages, what can happen then?

I mentioned this before, but this is the crucial part of the RAS, ‘What you think about is where your focus will be.’

But what if you genuinely want good and happy things to happen for you, just by saying this…will it make it so? Will your RAS immediately go there?

I’d say this can happen. But the only thing to stop this from occurring is your own self-limiting beliefs. You may want to be positive and for good things to happen. However, if you’re still carrying the stress or fear of negative emotions, the RAS becomes confused.

Another way of thinking about your RAS is like the Law of Attraction. You have to be able to focus on the best possible outcome 24/7. And when you buy into the belief that your thoughts can shape your reality, well, the rest can be a marvelous experience

When we think positive, we act positive. Our brain, specifically our RAS, recognizes this and acts accordingly. Do you see the power this can bring into your life? It truly can be life-freeing.

Now if this seems a little too over the top for you, I’d like to do a little experiment. Find a place where you can sit quietly for 5 to 10 minutes. Close your eyes and let your breath flow easily. As you quiet your mind, let it go to something positive that you would like to have happen.

The trick is to really want something to transpire. For example: a better relationship with a friend or a family member, or anything that is important to you. Do this activity for 7 days and see if you don’t experience changes .

The point is to talk to yourself in positive terms about the situation and wait for the result. Keep focused on the good that can come out from this. I’d venture to say overall, you will feel happier with yourself because you and your RAS are communicating in harmony.

If done often enough, you brain will train itself to see each day in a more positive way. And that can bring about an entire world of change.

For more information on how Rise Above Counseling can help you retrain your brain to become more resilient, feel free to contact me at 920-340-0939 or andy@riseabovecounselingwi.com to set up a consultation session at no charge.