Did you know that your brain has a built-in filter that helps you get everything you want?
It’s called the Reticular Activating System. Most people use it on autopilot, but keep reading, and you’ll discover how to use it intentionally to build your business, make an impact, and create the life of your dreams.
How to activate your Reticular Activating System? It starts with being aware that it exists, and so you’re already on your way.
This filter, the Reticular Activating System – or RAS for short – chooses what you notice and what gets tuned out.
When you train it well, your RAS can guide you to notice opportunities, stay focused, and achieve your goals faster.
Here’s how to activate your Reticular Activating System and put it to work for your success!
How Does The Reticular Activating System Work?
The Reticular Activating System acts like your brain’s personal gatekeeper. I like to call it “the matchmaker that lives in your head.”
Every day you’re exposed to endless sights, sounds, and information. You consume billions of bits of stimuli and information every single day.
Imagine how challenging it would be to process all of that information if we had “consciously” notice and acknowledge it.
And so instead of consciously processing every little color, sound, object, sensation, or any stimuli, your RAS decides what comes to the front of your mind and what stays in the background.
How does your RAS know what to pay attention to?
It notices what you are thinking about and what you are talking about.
This is why I call it “the matchmaker that lives in your head.” Your Reticular Activating System matches your thoughts. It matches your “inside world” (your thoughts, beliefs, and emotions) to your outside world (the outside stimuli you notice, your results, etc.).
When you are thinking about something, it’s like your brain says, “Got it! This is important to you! I’m on the lookout!”
Then your matchmaking RAS pays attention to the things that match your thoughts and beliefs — whether they are positive thoughts or not so positive — and it filters out everything else.
This is why when you think about something, you start to see it everywhere …
- Think about buying a red car, and suddenly you will see red cars everywhere.
- Think about starting a business, and suddenly articles, podcasts, and people who can help show up in your awareness.
By giving your RAS clear instructions, through intention setting, noticing your thoughts, visualization, and affirmations, you train it to highlight opportunities and patterns that support what you want to achieve.
Your RAS doesn’t change reality. It changes what you notice. That’s why training your brain is so powerful.
7 Proven Ways to Activate Your Reticular Activating System
1. Set Clear Goals
Your RAS responds best when you give it instructions. Get clear on what you want and start thinking about it as though it’s already happened.
Remember, your Reticular Activating System is your little matchmaker. When you think about what you want as though it’s already happened, it thinks, “Got it! This has already happened! I better get busy matching that!”
Write down what you want using these guidelines:
- State your intention in the affirmative: Your brain ONLY notices the “subject” of the sentence.
When you say, “I don’t want debt,” your brain hears the word “debt.”
Better to say, “I am financially abundant.” Your brain hears, “abundant.” - State it as though it’s already happened. Remember your brain matches your thoughts exactly.
Say, “I want to be healthier,” and your brain says, “Got it! You want this, but you don’t have it now.”
Say, “I will be rich,” and your brain says, “Got it. One day, but not now,” and that’s what it matches!
Better to say, “I am healthy” or “I am rich.” - Make your intention believable. You want to avoid arguing with it.
Now, here is the kicker … you don’t actually to to “believe” your intention for it to work. It just has to be “believable.” In other words, set your intention in a way that helps you avoid the “angel and devil arguing on your shoulders” phenomenon. - Make sure your intention feels good. With brain training, we always follow the “feel-good!”
If saying, “I am rich” feels ridiculous, then it might be better to say, “I am rich in so many ways.”
If saying, “I am healthy” feels unbelievable, then it might be better to say, “I am getting better and better at taking care of myself.” It’s nice to use “perfect language,” but it’s even better to use language that feels good.
2. Pay Attention to Your Thoughts and Emotions
This is the “awareness” step. Here is some shocking news. Brace yourself …
🧠 If you are like the average human, then you are in an “unconscious state of mind” 95-99% of the day. This means you are acting on “autopilot” and not paying attention to your thoughts.
🧠 You think 60,000 – 90,000 thoughts a day.
🧠 95% of those thoughts are the same thoughts you had yesterday.
Yikes, right?
Now for some good news …
To see MASSIVE change in your life, you only need to do your best to be “aware” around a half-a-percent more each day.
In other words, you can still be unconscious for 94.5 – 98.5% of the day. Haha.
If you can be just slightly more aware of the thoughts you are thinking, you will be a Train Your Brain rockstar.
When you catch yourself thinking a “negative” thought …
- Celebrate! Yes, celebrate! Most of the world is walking around on autopilot.
When you catch a negative thought, you are awake! Say to yourself, “Yippee! I’m a brain trainer! I caught this thought!” - Do your best in the moment to change the thought to something more positive or hopeful.
Here’s the thing … none of us are superhuman, but if you can consistently lean toward a more positive thought, you will build your brain training muscle, and it will start to become a habit.
3. Use Vivid Visualization
Here is a fun fact: Your brain doesn’t know the difference between something real and something imagined. When you imagine a situation, your brain thinks that it really happened.
Visualization strengthens your Reticular Activating System by giving it something “real” to focus on. Something “real” to match.
The best part is that micro-visualizations are easy to do, and you can do them multiple times a day.
Close your eyes, imagine yourself in the new situation, and do your best to generate the feeling that it’s familiar.
Sometimes experts will tell you to supercharge the emotion, but what you actually want to do is generate the sensation that “This is normal. This is my life.”
Remember, your brain is a matchmaker. If that thing was really a part of your life, you might be excited about it when you first achieved it, but soon, it would become “normal.”
Visualize the new situation as though it’s pleasantly normal for you, and your brain will match it.
And remember, longer isn’t always best. Feel good is best. Easy is best. Make visualization a fun little habit
4. Practice Daily Mantras
Your RAS thrives on repetition, and mantras are one of the most powerful tools to reprogram your focus. Choose short, uplifting statements that align with your intentions and repeat them daily until they become second nature.
Examples:
- “Growing my business is so easy.”
- “I am healthy, happy, and abundant.”
- “Money is flowing to me.”
Daily mantras act like gentle instructions for your brain, training your Reticular Activating System to notice all of the good things coming your way.
If you’d like fresh inspiration delivered every morning, subscribe to my Daily Mantra Newsletter and start each day with a mantra designed to keep your energy aligned.
5. Ask Intentional Questions
The brain loves to answer questions, and the questions you ask shape what your brain looks for, so you want to avoid negative questions like, “Why is this so hard?” (There is no good answer to that question!)
Instead, ask yourself questions like …
- “What went right today?”
- “Who do I love to work with?”
- “How am I abundant?”
This simple change gives your RAS a clear directive: start looking for the good, instead of looking for problems.
6. Maintain an Open Mind
After 72 hours of “training your brain” in this new way, your Reticular Activating System kicks in and starts to show you “evidence” that it’s working.
Stay open to new possibilities and unexpected opportunities, because sometimes your brain will deliver a solution even better than what you were asking for.
Relax, keep thinking hopeful, happy thoughts, and trust that it’s working. Your brain is built to help you. Let it do it’s job.
7. Use Songffirmations
You have probably already gathered that brain training just takes practice. As you implement the things we’ve discussed here, you will find that the longer and more consistently you do it, the easier it gets.
Having said that, I have a powerful shortcut for you.
What better way to “remember” the new positive phrases you are thinking than to set them to music! Have you ever had a song stuck in your head? Well, what if that song was singing positive lyrics over and over again?
That’s why I love Songfirmations™.
Music is a powerful tool for engaging the brain. Songfirmations™ are affirmations set to music, and they can help you lock positive beliefs into your unconscious even more quickly than spoken words alone.
I share free Songfirmations™ on my Positive Mindset and Music YouTube channel, so you can sing, listen, and absorb uplifting messages that activate your RAS while boosting your mood.
You’ll notice that there are multiple playlists HERE, so you can listen to the original version (pop music) or the music style of your choice, like country, hip hop, and rock.
Why Do These Strategies On How to Activate Your Reticular Activating System Work?
Your Reticular Activating System (RAS) responds to repetition, clarity, and emotion.
By setting clear goals, visualizing them regularly, and repeating positive affirmations, you train your brain to notice the people, resources, and opportunities that support your objectives. This creates a powerful feedback loop: the more you focus on the positive, the more your RAS highlights relevant cues in your environment, prompting you to take action and accelerating your progress.
Key Takeaways
- Your Reticular Activating System decides what gets your attention.
- Train it with clear intentions, awareness, visualization, affirmations, and focus.
- Consistency matters. Daily practice is key to strengthening your brain’s filter.
- If it feels good, it’s working.
Take the Next Step
If you’d like consistent, daily support to keep your mind clear and your RAS tuned to what truly matters, subscribe to my Daily Mantra Newsletter. Each day, you’ll receive a simple, powerful mantra designed to help you stay focused, aligned, and intentional in reaching your goals. Your RAS is already at work. Let’s guide it toward what you want most. Sign up for the Daily Mantra Newsletter and start your day with clarity and purpose!
