The Mind Rules
Everything begins in the mind. You are exactly who you are today because of what you believe about yourself and what you have manifest through those beliefs. Who you are, in form, isn’t to be confused with your true self. See Fear, Ego and You to understand further on that subject.
What we are talking about here is what form in person you take and what life you create for yourself. If you can imagine it and put focus and energy into your thoughts in the form of a vision you believe in, it can become true. The same is true for involuntary energy and beliefs however. Those also become true. We’ll get into that a little below.
Think and Grow Rich
“This is the Best Single book on personal success ever written. it made me a millionaire-starting from nothing.” -BRIAN TRACY
The Science of Belief
Scientifically, the brain’s system for manifesting this reality is known as the Reticular Activating System (RAS). What this system does is provide a filter between what is experienced and what enters the mind. The resulting input is perception. In the moment you have very little choice as to what information is let into the mind through the RAS. Over time, even now, but especially throughout your childhood you have been developing subconscious beliefs about various topics and maybe more importantly what you believed to be true about yourself. Those beliefs have led to emotions and actions that have reinforced themselves by seeking new and similar experiences. Don’t worry. You are not stuck with the same line of thinking, however it does take intentional work or emotionally charged experiences to break the patterns.
What the RAS allows us to do is make use of our past experiences both for the purposes of security and safety as well as for generating and reinforcing positive outcomes. Once you begin to stack away experiences of either pain or joy into your memory the RAS begins to interact as a form similar to that of a gateway between your mind and what you experience and, as time goes on, the data within your mind builds and builds into something similar to a full storehouse of data the RAS can utilize to subconsciously and automatically seek out or avoid similar instances. If you believe in either of these taking place in your future or that certain experiences WILL occur again the RAS will also being subconsciously filtering experiences into these ‘old buckets.’ This is how confirmation bias occurs. Not only are we searching for experiences that confirm something about what we believe but we are also filtering experiences and elements of experiences in order to reinforce previous beliefs. Some of that may seem negative or maybe all of it thus far, but for the purposes of this article, that reinforcement can be leveraged to manifest your realities. What does that mean in a nutshell? It Means:
Through positive reinforcement of perceived experiences we can alter our beliefs and reprogram our subconscious minds!
In the case of negative beliefs or fears however the same is also true and your subconscious minds will filter present experiences to align with past ones without consideration of what may be different or true. What we want to believe is more powerful than what is. Therefore, there is work involved in creating this new reality. Work is action and the action ‘word’ to manifest all of this is: Visualization.
Visualization
As mentioned, we can use this almost super human power to our benefit if we are intentional and create and reinforce a vision of ourselves in our minds. How do we do this then? As Dr. Joe Dispenza, author of the Becoming Supernatural states:
“If we keep thinking about making that future become a reality, we naturally begin to insert ourselves into the scene of our future… each time we do this, we’re laying down new neurological tracks (in the present moment) that literally change our brain to look like the brain of our future.”
So how does visualization work then? How do we create this future self with a thought in the present? It’s a five step process:
Focus on the image of the thing you want. What does it look like as exactly as you can imagine it?
If you don’t have an exact image that’s ok. It will begin to form over time.
Attach an emotion to the experience of attaining or living the future moment.
How does it make you feel to be in the future present moment with your achievement?
Gently set any doubts aside from your thinking without giving them life or emotion.
This means you can not forcible press them from your mind or allow a fear of the vision not developing take root. If this happens you will also attract that as well!
This is an important step early as doubt will try and slide in, even disguised as reason in some cases. By practicing gently noting the fear but not reacting to it you will strengthen the muscle for future use in your journey towards success.
Believe this will come true and allow excitement and energy pulse into the idea.
Be grateful for the feeling. Be appreciative of the success seen through.
Bring your thoughts back to the present and let your energies follow into a plan of action executed in the present.
The subconscious mind has been put into play. True energy and your ability to affect change only occurs in the present. Your success will unfold as you make progress towards your goal.
Visualization can be used in any scenario: Visiting your in-laws over the holidays. Speaking in public. Interviewing for a job. A first date. A second date. The big game. Free-throws during the game (for you basketball fans out there). Big goals as well as little goals. It’s all about reprogramming the subconscious mind. Go in to the moment in your mind thinking and believing one way and come out thinking and believing another.
And that’s it.
Does it seem too simple? It isn’t easy. Your mind will wander. Your emotions will be flat, especially at first. If you’re confused as to your goals then a clear vision is more difficult to achieve. Entropy and the randomness of life will throw you off course. What will make this work for you is dedicated time and practice. With time and practice and believing in at first the discipline needed and putting that into motion but then also the repetition and clarity of vision all things are possible.
New You
With emotion, your body doesn’t know the difference between actual experience and imagined experience. This is why visualization works. You are rewiring your mind. “New neurological tracks” as Dr. Joe Dispenza calls it. You’re creating the future version of yourself now! With that future version comes the emotions and following behaviors that will lead to new experiences which in turn result in a new life.
If you want to deepen your knowledge and expand your mind’s horizons you might want check out that article!
