Have you ever wondered why is it that two people can look at the same glass and one person can see it as half full, while the other as half empty? Why some people know that we are living in a friendly and abundant world, while others view this planet as a hostile place where 'only the strongest wins"? Have you ever wondered how do we create our reality? How do we attract to our experience what we live? And how to attract to our lives what we don't have, but would like to?
HOW MUCH DON'T YOU NOTICE?
Our mind uses our five senses to experience what is going on around us. According to Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi we process over 2 million bits of information per second - in form of what we see, hear, feel, taste and smell. That's a massive amount of information! Our conscious mind, however, can only process around 126 bits of information per second, the rest is process without our awareness, i.e. by our unconscious mind. To put this numbers into perspective, when you have a conversation with someone, this takes about 40 bits of information per second, almost one third of your focusing capacity, otherwise known as a bandwitch. That is why it is difficult to multitask (well, at least for men); because your conscious brain has got limited focus. We can consciously notice only about 0.02 % of what is really happening around us, the true reality is much larger that we can perceive!
On one hand, the fact that our brain filters out a vast amount of information that is presented to our neurology is very helpful. Otherwise we would be simply overwhelmed with that myriad of distractions and we would never get anything done. The trouble starts when we do not notice what we would like to experience, for example love, confidence, business opportunities, or happy life.
So this begs a question: Which 126 bits of information do we actually notice? How does our brain choose what to notice, and what to delete from our experience?
This selection process depends on our internal filters stored in our unconscious mind, such as our beliefs - perceived truths about self and others; values - what is important to us; our attitudes, our self-talk; and our memories. These are just some of the filters that not only drive our behaviour; they are responsible for how we see ourselves and our reality.
RETICULAR ACTIVATING SYSTEM
Can you remember when you became motivated to buy your car? Suddenly, it appeared that you are seeing this particular model of car everywhere! You have never noticed how many of them were driving on the roads before you wanted it yourself.
There is a small part in our brain called Reticular Activating System (RAS for short); "attention centre" of your brain if you like. It is RAS that helped you to start noticing those cars on the road. Reticular Activating System is always looking for information that is relevant to you, and helps you to notice it.
Our internal filters also feed information into the RAS. Depending on our beliefs about ourselves, for example, the RAS will constantly look for the matches to support that belief.
For example, if you 'know' about yourself that you are very lucky, the RAS will look for the matches in outer reality to match this filter of yours. It will attract into your awareness lucky situations and circumstances.
Now here is the interesting bit. If you want to change your outer reality, what you need to do is to change your 'internal filters'. Then different information will be fed into the RAS, attracting completely different experience. Metaphorically speaking, to change our reality we need to change type of glasses we are wearing. Grey glasses full of doubt, anxiety and lack of self belief will allow us to see only very 'grey' reality. Pink glasses full of positivity and self belief will result in us seeing a completely different way.
To change grey glasses for ping ones takes an open mind, taking responsibility for one's life and a good dose of personal development.
So - what type of glasses have you got on right now?