Think Different. I can hear my 8th grade English teacher correcting me now – “You must say think differently, not different. It’s an adverb.” And to that I say – “It worked out pretty well for Steve Jobs and Apple.”
However we say it, the way we think determines what we experience.
So, if we want a different experience, we need to think different[ly].
At this time of year, many of us are motivated to improve our lives. We’re determined to go to bed earlier, get more exercise, waste less time on social media, eat more greens and less sugar, sign up for a dating site, etc. And, of course, taking these kinds of actions can improve our lives.
But there’s an even more powerful way to enhance our lives. In fact, the most powerful way to upgrade our lives is by upgrading the way we think.
As I continue studying how the brain translates thought into its material equivalent, I’m reminded of a part of the brain called the Reticular Activating System [RAS].
The RAS is a filter, a guard, a gatekeeper, constantly sorting through the ocean of information surrounding us. In order to keep us from being overwhelmed, the RAS serves us only the external stimuli that match the thoughts we routinely think.
Our RAS shows us evidence of what we’re thinking about. If we don’t like what our RAS is presenting to us, the answer is to think differently – focus on our dreams rather than our nightmares, tell a better feeling story, replace thoughts that feel bad with thoughts that feel good or at least better.
Like the Law of Attraction, the RAS can only bring us the people and things that match our thoughts. It can’t override negative thoughts or limiting beliefs.
But we can! We can consciously reprogram our RAS to bring us more of what we do want and less of what we don’t want.
As we think different[ly] – as we think thoughts about what we do want, thoughts of success, thoughts of what’s going right – we’re reprogramming our RAS to present us with a different and improved life experience.
I’m programming my RAS with this mantra – Everything Goes My Way. As I do my part by thinking and feeling and affirming that everything goes my way, I can count on my RAS to do its part and turn my thoughts into my reality.