Success is sitting right in front of you, right now. All of the success you could possibly want is sitting in the coffee shops you frequent, the sporting events you attend, and dance recitals you watch. It’s all around you.So if success is right in front of you, then why can’t you see it?
According to research by Dr. Paul Scheele, your eyes are picking up 10 million bits of information every single second but you don’t actually see all 10 million bits. In fact, if you could you’d probably go insane. It’s too much information to process. So, you have a filter that is there to protect you. It’s there to filter out everything not important so that you only see what’s important to you in that moment. This filter is called your reticular activating system. Its job is to filter out information and only show you what you are programmed to see. With just your eyes, it’s filtering out 9,999,960 bits of information every single second, as not important, leaving you with 40 bits of information of what you’re actually seeing.
Have you ever bought a new car and then all of the sudden you see that car everywhere—it just dominates the roads now? Did this new car start infiltrating the streets of where you are and cause the old car you used to drive (and all of the other cars for that matter) to leave?
No. What happened was you changed one of the data entry points that was important to you—your car.
Last week, I attended a seminar in San Diego that had hundreds of participants. All of the sudden I glanced down at the shoes one of the speakers was wearing. It was the exact shoe I was wearing!
Was that coincidence that I saw his shoes but didn’t notice anyone else’s?
No. It’s not coincidence. It’s my reticular activating system showing me everything that’s important to me and filtering out everything else.
The same goes with your ears and how much you hear, your touch and how much you feel, your nose and how much you smell, and your mouth and how much you taste.
You will sense the world the way you are programmed to. Period.
So why is this important?
It’s important because the opportunities that are right in front of you that could take you ten levels higher in life are being filtered out as not important. You might not be programmed to see the million dollar opportunity that’s right in front of you because you could possibly be programmed with a 6 figure mindset.
Let’s say that you’re a real estate agent who sells low-six figure homes. You’re standing in line at your favorite coffee shop and right in front of you is conversation happening of someone looking for a real estate agent for the high seven figure home. Most likely, you won’t even hear the conversation. Even though you would LOVE to work that deal, your brain is saying not important to the opportunity because you’re not programmed to handle it.
People ask me all the time “Tony is personal development important?” My answer is always a resounding YES!
If you want to go 10 levels higher—if you want to train your reticular activating system to seeing the dreams, the desires, the aspirations of your heart, then it’s massively important.
Thanks –
Tony
