What Is The RAS and Why It’s Key To Achieving Your Goals
Don’t have time to read the entire post now? Watch this video with the summary.
A couple of weeks ago I learned about a part of the brain called the Reticular Activating System (RAS), a network of neurons that filters the information we consciously process. It is like a bouncer at the door of a club deciding who comes in and who does not. The purpose of the RAS is to allow the brain to process information more efficiently, to save energy, and, of course, to keep us alive.
We are the ones setting the filters on the RAS. We give it instructions on who to let in the club. This does not mean that things will magically materialize and that overnight you will attract everything your heart desires. After all, the RAS is a group of cells and not a magic wand. What it does is show you information relevant to what you want. You still need to decide the actions you will take.
In my first semester in college, I had a class about world religions (yes, I went to a Catholic university). And I was assigned to write a paper about a religion called Baha’i. I have heard about this faith only once in my life in one of Isabel Allende’s novels – one of the characters was Baha’i but the book did not explain anything about the religion or rituals.
I was living in the Dominican Republic at the time, a country where more than 90% of the population was Christian of some kind. My only chance of finding something about this mysterious religion was to research in the library (yes, this was before Google).
One day, shortly after I got this assignment and my mind was trying to figure out how exactly to go about it, my mom and I were in the car on a busy avenue. Suddenly, the car that stood next to us had a sticker that said, ‘I am Baha’i’. I could not believe it! I immediately rolled out my window and yelled to the driver where I could learn more about this religion. He gave me the address of the Baha’i center.
That car with that sticker had been around Santo Domingo for a while and passed that avenue many times. It is possible that it was in my line of sight before. But because I did not have the Baha’i religion as part of the things I told my RAS to pay attention to, I never noticed it. I still had to do something with the data I had in front of my eyes – I asked the driver for more information, I went to the center.
To this day I have not seen anything about the Baha’i faith anymore. I did not think about that event until now. That story is an example of how the RAS worked in my favor and before I knew how to manage it.
“If you realized just how powerful your thoughts are, you would never think a negative thought.” Anonymous
Here are three ways you can use to adjust the filters of your RAS to put it to work towards what you want.
1) Be mindful of what you consume
The RAS filters out 99% of what is around us from entering our mind. If we feel overwhelmed with the 1%, imagine what it would be like if we did not have a RAS or had a defective one.
There are four things that the RAS will always let in:
a) The sound of your name being called
b) Anything that threatens your safety or the safety of your loved ones
c) Signals that your partner is interested in having sex
d) Whatever your RAS thinks is important to you – i.e., thoughts and topics you focus on
The filters we set on our RAS tell it what is important to us. They depend on the thoughts we have day in and day out. If our beliefs are around scarcity – I don’t have enough time, money, I will never find the person of my dreams, etc. – the RAS understands that these are the things important to us so it will show evidence of scarcity.
On the other hand, when we think about abundance – I have all the time I need for things that are important to me, I will find the right person for me, I can create financial abundance, etc. – the RAS understands that these things are important to us, and it will show evidence of abundance.
When we constantly watch, read, or hear information about horrible things that are happening, social media gossip, how bad everything is, etc. we are setting our filters to search for evidence of these ‘truths’.
When we watch, read, or hear information that is inspiring, uplifting, informative in the subjects of our interest, we set our filters to search for evidence of these ‘truths’.
2) Visualize
Because our brains are designed for survival, the default is to search and be on the lookout for threats. To counterbalance this default, we want to significantly increase our anabolic energy or perspective.
For this reason, it is important to vividly visualize what we desire. We want to see it, engage our five senses, and create a video clip in our minds. The RAS will adjust the filters to that visualization and start letting in information that will support it.
As we follow that knowledge with action, we will make progress toward our goal and make that image become a reality.
3) Take action
The RAS will show you data based on what you set as important. You may decide to do nothing about it.
By not taking action, there is a risk that the RAS will readjust the filters once more to something else because you send a message letting the RAS know that this is not important.
When you take action, however, you reinforce to the RAS those things that are important to you. As a result, the RAS will continue to show you more relevant information. You will act on it reinforcing once more to your RAS the relevance of your goal, thus creating a virtuous feedback loop.
“You only have control over three things in your life, the thoughts you think, the images you visualize, and the actions you take.” Jack Canfield, American author
In the same way that we are mindful with what we feed our bodies, we want to be mindful with what we let in our brain. Our thoughts make who we are.
As you think about your goals and how to execute them, use your RAS in your favor. Consider what filters you are going to set and what actions you are going to take based on the information the RAS shows you.
I am not suggesting that you need to act on everything that comes up. You may decide to file some items for later. Even that (filing away for another time) is already an action.
How are you going to readjust your RAS? Please, let us know in the comments.
As a leadership coach, I enable talent to achieve bold goals with high standards. My mission is to help underrepresented women in the financial industry transition from mid to senior level leadership positions by creating awareness, increasing emotional intelligence, and unveiling the tools and choices available to them.