Having self-knowledge, being self-aware. is essential if you want to be your best. Understanding how your Reticular Activating System affects you is a very important and necessary step toward that goal.

The idea that we don’t know what we don’t know is scary.

Even more scary is that it is those who don’t know feel most certain that they do.

When you begin to learn things that you don’t know, you begin to see just how much you don’t know.

The reticular activating system will confirm your previously held belief whether what you know is true or not.

This post is about the reticular activating system so that you know how to manage what you don’t know to prevent never knowing what you don’t know.

Reticular Activating System (RAS)

What is RAS?

Gives your brain a way of controlling over-exposure to information
Helps you notice things in the environment that you are focused on
Helps you to control your emotions

The reticular activating system is a part of the brain that controls what you notice. This control system is there so that you can make sense of the world without becoming overwhelmed. To notice everything would be chaos.

So this mechanism is good for our mental health… but if you are not mindful of what you are noticing, or what beliefs you are confirming, you can get other directed in your life by noticing things that confirm things that are not factual.

Why you need to understand the effect of RAS in your life

to be your true life leader/not to be manipulated by others
to learn how to control your mindset
you can make better choices
chance to truly succeed
to be happier
to be better

You have to be careful to protect your mind so that you can protect your life from falsehoods of every kind.

Understanding RAS helps you be mindful about what and how to focus on things to take power over your emotional output as well as the output of your success in every area of your life.

When you are aware of how RAS works, you can proactively take actions that will impact how your life unfolds. And that is powerful because you stop being a victim of your life. You become a master of it.

How to utilize RAS to benefit your life

get clear about what you want in your life
become clear about who you want to be in your life
be mindful of how you want your life to unfold
grateful practice daily
focus on what you have the power to affect
take action on what you have the power to affect
put visual reminders of your goals and wishes
mindfully think about the positive outcome of what you are working on
be mindful of what you are exposing your mind to

Chronically unsuccessful people, often think and talk about how hard it is to do things and how things never work, and really no one can do much of anything in life that they want.

On the other hand, those who are consistently successful at many things in life most often talk about all the ways that things are possible. They take those actions according to their beliefs and they are successful at those things.

Your mind will focus on what you arrange your mind to focus on. You will then notice things in life that confirm that focus, affecting your beliefs. Your beliefs then will help you fail or succeed in what you want in your life.

The amazing and scary part of RAS is how powerfully it can convince you that you are right, even if you are wrong.

It is up to you to decide how powerful or powerless you want to be.

I am here to help!

This post was about understanding the RAS so that you can live as the best version of yourself.