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Reticular  Activating System

by Alex Hutchins



“What lies behind us and

what lies before us are

 tiny matters compared to

 what lies within us.” 

Ralph Waldo Emerson

By the age 3, one’s habits, attitudes, beliefs, and expectations are 85% fixed in their minds and by the age of 5 have become solidified.  While this may seem incredulous, it is nonetheless true, making it very difficult for us as adults to change our habits, attitudes, beliefs, and expectations, even if, they are not true are at the very least, no longer accurate.

Not only does this put a burden on society, it leaves high schools, colleges, and employers handicapped to say the least; but, more importantly, it leaves the individual imprisoned inside a mental cell block from which few, if any ever escape.  The unintended consequences of this unintended madness can be evidenced in our use of drugs and alcohol, divorce and dysfunctional families, and in our basic lack of ability to discipline, control, and take responsibility.

What the eye sees
 with a scotoma

In other words, our self-efficacy (the causative nature inside us) that been all shot to hell, leaving us with blind spots or what eye doctors call scotomas.  It is this scotoma that prevents us from seeing all of the world around us but more importantly, prevent us from seeing other’s points-of-view.  If something we see or hear does not agree with our habits, attitudes, beliefs, and expectations (that we acquired at an early age), then we simply reject it without thinking twice about what we have done.

Can you see
both females?

We journey through life and our careers based upon our habits, attitudes, beliefs, expectations, scotomas, achieving only that which we think we can achieve or deserve.  Some venture beyond but they are few and far between.  Yet, it is our mind, not necessarily us (the individual) that take us where we think we want or need to go.  So, how does our mind work?

We can break down the mind into 3 basic components:

• Conscious
• Sub conscious
• Creative sub conscious

The conscious deals with internal and external reality:  it perceives, investigates, and interprets.  The sub conscious makes sure that the external reality you perceive matches (or agrees) your beliefs about reality and makes adjustments when necessary.  The creative sub conscious deals with motivation, self-esteem, and self-awareness and influences the sub conscious because of a process called imprinting.  Imprinting can change the belief about one’s reality and once that is done, the creative sub conscious can directly influence the sub conscious which then creates a new reality for the conscious mind to pursue.

the teleological argument

What is very interesting here is the fact that human beings for the most part are teleological, meaning that there is a purpose towards life and that we move directly or indirectly towards that purpose because it is logical not random to do so.  That inherent nature of the mind is what moves us towards a goal, or a vision, or a desired outcome in all that we do.

At the base of the brain, is the location of the Reticular Activating System or RAS that provides stimulus to our consciousness and controls one’s motivation.  However, what stands in the way of that motivational stimuli are our scotomas and self-talk.  Basically, self-talk is the little person inside us all that quietly and consistently tells us that we are no good at math or that we do not perform well in front of an audience or that we cannot carry on a conversation with people of the opposite sex.

Our actions happen in the following sequence: 

Self-talk à self-image à self-esteem à self-efficacy

OR

SAY  à   SEE  à   FEEL  à  DO

Believe it or not, but, writing and saying positive affirmations several times a day can, after about 6 months, imprint different images on your mind’s reality guiding you towards that which you want to achieve or accomplish.