All about the Reticular Activating System

What is it and how does it work?

Have you ever given any thought about how different people perceive things? One can run into a brick wall and see it as a problem while others sees it as an opportunity. People in similar circumstances find life to be warm and abundant while others perceive it as cold and hostile.

The difference principally lies on a small but all important part of our brain called the Reticular Activating System or RAS which essentially enables us to shape our reality. How does it work and just how important is it?

Let’s delve into what the RAS actually does:

It acts as a filter for all our five senses. The mind constantly processes about 2 million bits of information per second. Thanks to the RAS though, we are able to consciously process a fraction of that (about 120 bits per second)
It relegates a bulk of the information perceived by our senses to our unconscious mind
Hence the RAS makes it possible to shape one’s reality by focusing on things that are important

The RAS serves a powerful and vital function and one that a lot of people often remain unmindful of. Without it, we wouldn’t be able to focus on anything in our lives as our brains are constantly bombarded with information throughout our lives. In a nut shell, you can think of the RAS as a camera lens as it focuses on a subject and blurs the unnecessary things in the background to produce a good photograph.

The Reticular Activating System – Is it empowering or dis-empowering you?

Indeed the RAS is a vital component of one’s mind as it enables us to focus on things that are important to us and whatever it is that you are thinking about throughout the day. The question is, are you mostly thinking of positive things or negative ones?

Herein lies the difference with regards to the situations described above – people who mostly focuses on the positive aspects of their lives have their RAS empower their lives by focusing on things that support their positive and abundant outlook of their lives. Unfortunately the opposite is also true for people who can’t shake of the negative aspects of their lives. These people often feel depressed and convinced that their life is pointless as they simply are unable to see any good things happening in their lives.

The good news though is that it is certainly possible to turn things around and leverage your RAS to empower your life. You simply need to focus on the things that you like or want out of life and filter out the negativity. Notice how a pessimist is often rarely disappointed? It’s easier said than done (we know) but people who manage to that often find that they actually have everything they need in life. They just couldn’t see it before as their RAS was blocking them from ever seeing it. Think of the myriad of great things that you have in your life yet you just couldn’t see it. That’s how powerful the RAS is!

If you want your RAS to empower your life then the first step is to devote your focus and visualize all the things that are significant to you. The things that you want and treasure most out of life – love, success, wealth. Focus on these things and you are more likely to obtain them wherever they may be in your life. Such devotion can be truly life-changing and you just might see things in a renewed and positive perspective.

Need professional help leveraging your RAS to empower and influence positive changes in your life? We at NLP Coaching can certainly help! Call us today on 1800 133 433 (Australia) or +1 888 440 4823 (US) and get started on creating a better future for you and your family!