Get your RAS on!

I guess I now need to explain what I mean by that statement.As mentioned in a couple of my motivational emails; our minds are bombarded with a huge amount of information daily. It’s your RAS (Reticular Activating System) which sorts through all this information for you so you aren’t overwhelmed, it’s the filter I mentioned. Your RAS sifts through and filters sensory information and stores it in either your conscious or unconscious mind. How much gets stored in your conscious mind is limited, the unconscious mind, however, is limitless! So what do I mean by sensory information?

• Visual - what you see
• Auditory - what you hear
• Kinaesthetic - what you feel
• Gustatory - what you taste
• Olfactory - what you smell

The information that’s filtered into our conscious mind is what we act o, but the information that’s stored in our unconscious mind  can be triggered by a sensory experience that brings it to the fore (your conscious mind). You know how sometimes…a sound, smell or a taste can take you back to a childhood memory? That’s because all memories are sensory.

So, what do I mean when I advise my clients to get their RAS on? I mean switch it on to filter the things you want to your conscious mind…keeping it to the fore. 

A good metaphor:

If you’re looking to buy a new car, you’re not sure what make or model yet but you recently saw a friend’s car in midnight blue and you love the colour, you’ve never seen it before…well actually, you probably have but it’s been filtered into your unconscious mind! But now you want a car that colour…you’ll see cars that colour everywhere!How does that happen? Well, now you have made a conscious decision to buy a car that colour, it has been stored in your conscious mind…you are now switched on to see it because your RAS understands that it’s relevant to you (clever mind!).

Now you know what happens and how it happens, what are the possibilities and implication of this?

All you need to do is practice; direct the things you really want to your conscious mind, set your RAS filter by making those things relevant to you.

“How do I do that?” yes I can hear your mind whirring. Start focussing on those things that you really want:

1. Talk about your dreams, hearts desires, aspirations
2. Have pictures of the thing/s you want
3. Write it down
4. Start setting small step goals towards that dream, hearts, desire, aspiration

Break each one down into finer detail…if it’s a car, what colour will it be? Is it three door or four door? Hatch back or saloon? Automatic or manual? What is the music system going to be? What other extra features do you want…leather interior?

Once you know exactly what it will look like…find a picture similar to it and stick it up somewhere where you will see it daily.

Write it down somewhere…the act of actually writing it down makes it more real (honest!), that’s something to do with the effect the act of writing has on the brain…embeds and releases your creativity.

If you’re like me, then here’s the link to the article and the science behind it:  http://online.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748704631504575531932754922518

Start planning the steps you need to take towards your goal;

Are you saving up for it?

Do you need to put time aside to work towards it?

Do you need to see someone?

Book an appointment to view?

We did this when buying our current car, I knew I wanted a blue/grey; my daughter wanted a leather interior (we have a very furry white cat and that fur gets everywhere, even into the car!). If we were going to have leather seats, I wanted seat heaters…well, I’m not a winter person and those seats get really cold! It had to have an MP3 player and an iPod port or dock (my younger daughter’s requests) and so the list went on.

Our RAS was on!!! So many car dealers in London said we would not find a car with those specifications within our price range…guess what? With three people getting their RAS on…we did find that very car…not in London…but we found it, a couple of hours away on the motorway and it was worth the journey. When I got it back to London, one of the dealers I had approached offered me double what we had paid for it! Now that’s a result don’t you think? You can do the same with parking spaces…my friend relies on her parking fairy…I get my RAS on and visualise a space where I want it and 98% of the time it works a treat.

If you have read or heard of the book The Secret…I think this is precisely what it’s about…think it, bring it to your attention, focus on it and you will be more likely to see the opportunities, the only thing left to do then…is to grab that opportunity…the only thing I would add is that some work is required by you to get what you focussed on. My girls scrutinised internet sites selling cars (their work), my work was to make the calls, eventually strike a deal and take the train there  to buy and drive the car back (big risk!)…all’s well, ends well.

Now go get your RAS on and good luck with it all, I have no doubt that the things you desire, aspire to and really, really want will come to you…let me know how it goes.