RAS Hands!
Do you notice what you notice? Your RAS certainly does! Your reticular activating system (RAS) is the annoyingly excited little sister sitting in your brain stem and continually prodding it to say ‘Look at this,! No wait, look at this! No, this!’ Your RAS is always on the look out for noticing things and keeps your brain on its toes all day long.
RAS - your annoying little sister
The great thing is that RAS, your little sister, really wants to please. She will try to work out what you want bringing to your attention and focus on pointing those things out. But, as with all our relationships, if you give out the wrong signals to RAS she might just make your life more difficult.
Here’s an example; you’re off food shopping and really want to buy healthy food. You keep thinking about the sugary food you want to avoid. RAS is on it! You’re thinking about sugary food, she thinks she’s got this - ‘Look, look at all the sugary food! There’s the chocolate. Over there is the cake. Ooooo sweets’. She’s only trying to help.
But, great news, you can retrain RAS quite easily. You just need to tell her the right things to look for. ‘I can’t wait to get in the shop and look for all the healthy alternatives.’ You can almost see the big grin on her face as she bounces on her toes, ready to show you all you want to see.
Retrain your RAS
Play a game with your RAS today - she loves games. I’ve got to say, I love Tesla cars. There’s something about the shape, the way they work and their interior which appeals to me on many levels. This hasn’t gone unnoticed by RAS. She has listened to my thoughts and the conversations I’ve had with others. Now, as I drive along, I see Tesla’s everywhere! There probably are more on the roads than ever before but now RAS is busy looking out the window and shouting excitedly each time one goes past.
What would you like your RAS to point out today? As I write this it’s raining outside. I could allow my RAS to focus on the cold and damp. Or I can ask her to notice the good things about a rainy day; the wild beauty of nature, the cosiness of my home, the excuse to stay home and write.
Notice what you notice
I’d love for you to try this today and notice what you notice. Consider how amazing it is that we can change the way we think in such a simple way. It’s one of the reasons I love life coaching with NLP - this wonderful ability to retrain our brain. Do drop a comment on this post or send me an email to let me know how you worked with your RAS. Did you get your annoying little sister under control?
