A few months ago I experienced something quite odd...
At the time I was driving around town in my friend's Silver Toyota Prius while she was traveling around Europe for a month.
The car was really great and I was really happy to have it.
However, about a week into having it I started noticing something really strange starting to happen...
Suddenly, out of nowhere I started seeing Silver Priuses everywhere I went.
Sometimes I would drive to the grocery store, grab groceries, come back to the parking lot and almost get into the wrong car... because it was a Silver Prius.
I would take a walk in my neighborhood and turn the corner and... Silver Prius.
Turn right and... Silver Prius.
Take a left and... Silver Prius.
I was shocked by how many Silver Priuses I was seeing!
It was like I was a character of the Truman Show, and my reality was merely just a montage of Toyota ad placements!
Not going to lie, it was kind of creepy...
Have you ever bought a new car with a specific color, and then suddenly you start seeing that car color everywhere your go?
Or maybe you meet someone with a rare name like "Bartholomew", only to run into a second and third Bartholomew later in the week?
I think this is a pretty common phenomenon. It happens to me all the time, in more subtle ways that I shared earlier, but nonetheless it happens to me quite often.
The absolutely intriguing part is that there is actually a neurologically based system that causes this phenomenon to happen.
And once I began to understand that system, I started to realize how knowing this could completely transform the way I perceived my life... literally.
The Reticular Activating System
We all have an organ within our brain called the Reticular Activating System (RAS).
The RAS is a bundle of nerves at our brainstem that is responsible for filtering the massive amount of information that your sensory organs are constantly throwing at it.
This system is literally designed to filter out sensory input that is coming into your brain.
It's specifically designed to do this so that we can make sense out of the billions of bytes of information that are coming at us on a moment-to-moment basis.
In example...
If you are focusing on "red", then your mind will start searching for more things in your reality that are "red." You might start to notice people wearing more red clothing, driving red cars, reading red books, etc.
The beauty of the Reticular Activating System is that it will only focus on the things that we place our focus on.
This is a really important thing to remember so I'll say it again...
The RAS only filters in the information that we place our focus on.
Thus, out of the billions of bits of data that our mind sifts through, the information that the RAS is focusing on is the information that your mind consciously perceives.
This can be information we are consciously or subconsciously focused on, nonetheless whatever we are focusing on is what our RAS will show us the most.
The Google Search Engine Of Your Mind
I like to think of the RAS like the Google search engine of our mind.
On Google, you can search for something and it will give you a list of all the relevant things that are most closely related to the keywords you are searching for.
The search engine is only going to search for items that are associated with the keyword you inputted.
All irrelevant data is discarded.
The RAS seeks information that validates your beliefs (AKA what you are searching for).
It filters the world through the parameters you give it, and your beliefs shape those parameters.
For instance, if you have a positive belief system and are often focused in a positive way, then your mind will often search for things that are “positive” within your reality.
You might start noticing other people who are also behaving in a positive way, when you read the news you might only read the positive stories, or you might believe that the world is a positive place to be or that the environment you live in "feels positive."
Whether or not that is true or not, your mind filters out everything except for the things that are related to what you are searching for.
Your Power Lies Within The Search
Now this is really interesting because if the RAS works like a google search engine...
And we only become aware of the results we receive from the data we input into our mind...
Then all reality is essentially based upon the things that we place our focus on.
So, regardless of if something is happening negatively or not, we might not even notice it if we are focusing on positivity.
Think about how this could apply to your life in such a powerful way...
If you think you CAN'T do something...
...your mind will look for ways in which you CAN'T DO IT.
...your mind will literally look for people who CANNOT DO THINGS...
...you might even find yourself in situations that make you feel INCAPABLE!
That would be kind of a crappy world to live in, right?
Who would want to do that to themselves!?
The simple answer to that is NO ONE!
This is exactly why it's so important to consciously filter the things that you are focusing on.
What you place into your brain is what you are telling your brain to search for.
It's really that simple.
You're literally creating a reality every moment.
Your perception of the world around you is quite honestly up to you.
How do we effectively utilize the Search Engine of our mind?
Making use of this empowering concept can make the difference between you living the reality you choose (i.e. Your Dreams!), or living a reality that others choose (i.e. Truman Show).
Below I've listed my three steps for making sure that your mind is always focusing in a way that is resourceful and empowering, so that you can experience the reality that you truly deserve!
1. Focus on where you want to go
Instead of focusing on what you're trying to get away from.... focus on where you want to go.
So often we focus on what is wrong, what we don't know, or where we don't want to go.
Considering the fact that our mind works like a Google Search Engine, it becomes very obvious that thinking in this way could be very detrimental.
If we are searching for where we do not want to go, then we will find more of where we do not want to go.
So when you find yourself in a situation where you are dealing with some sort of issue or problem, instead of focusing on the problem, shift your mindset to looking for the solution or where you want to go.
Ask yourself this:
What is the ideal outcome here? What solutions are available to me right now?
Focus on the solutions that come into your mind and then select the one that seems the most logical to you in the moment.
Even if it's PART of a solution, focusing on a part of the solution can lead to more searching, that ultimately leads to the FULL solution.
The more you focus your mind on the solutions rather than the problem, the easier it will be to find a solution because your mind begins to search your neural network and external environment for the answers.
2. Shift your frame of reference
It's pretty common to wake up in the morning and suddenly feel a sense of anxiety or fear or depression overwhelm your mind.
I experience this all the time, however if I allow my mind to dwell within this space for too long, I notice that my world suddenly feels a lot more difficult than it needs to be.
When I am experiencing this, I know I need to shift my mind's frame of reference.
The issue here is that my frame of reference is anxiety and fear, and thus, when I think about my business, my relationships, or my life in general, I see it through the filter of anxiety and fear.
You can avoid a lot of frustration by simply focusing on the things that you are grateful for.
By doing this your mind starts to reference the things that are positive and inspiring in your life.
Even though things may be difficult or there may be obstacles in your life, when you begin focusing on what you are grateful for, suddenly the weight that you were feeling (i.e. anxiety and fear) begins to dissipate and it becomes much easier to cultivate a solution-based perspective.
3. Imagine the possibilities
Our imagination is a very important part of our reality.
It's actually a lot more important than we think because when we use our imagination we are essentially telling the mind what to look for.
When we dream about the things that we want in our life, we are saying to our Search Engine,
“Hey Mind, search for this and give me the best results that you can find within my current reality system.”
Our search results might look something like...
"You should call your friend Jack today”
Or...
“You should attend that party you were invited to.”
We might not understand the conscious meaning behind these gut feelings, but oftentimes gut feelings are based off of what our mind has been searching for!
A really easy way to do this is to visualize your greatest possible life.
I like to do this before I go to bed at night and just imagine a world that is truly amazing where I am doing things that I love, I'm around people that I love, and I'm engaged in something that I truly love doing.
As you put your focus on this and really get into it, you'll start to feel emotions and emotions help to amplify the search result.
Emotions are like paying for Google AdWords - your search results are even better because you are applying extra specifically focused energy to your mind’s focus.
Doing this will help you more rapidly find what you are searching for.
In Conclusion
I always find it fascinating how the software and programs on a computer are so similar to the software and programs of the human mind.
I really feel like there's a reason for that, we created computers because they are a reflection of what's going on within us.
It makes sense that a search engine would also reflect how we literally search our reality for what we are looking for.
The next time you notice yourself thinking about something in particular, whether that be good or bad…
Recognize that thought, ask yourself if it's a thought that you would want to search for, then either discard the thought or amplify it with your imagination.
By taking control of what our mind filters, we are taking control of how we perceive reality.
And ultimately...
How we experience life.
Happy searching!
(PS: I’m feeling lucky)
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