How To Program Your Mind To Achieve Your Goals

And The Mental Mechanism That Guides Achievement

You’ve probably heard it before: “Review your goals often.”

Does the simple act of reviewing and thinking about a goal bring us closer to its attainment?

In order to achieve something, we must first have the thought to achieve it.

But how many goals have been born throughout history, and remained nothing more than a fleeting thought, lost to the annals of our cerebrum?

Thinking about a goal can indeed bring us closer to achieving it, but the way in which we think about it — and how often — play a critical role.

“Hey Kid, Look Where You’re Going!”

Ships leave the harbor with a plan, a destination. They know where they’re heading and the purpose of their trip. Venturing by sea costs time, money, and effort. Think of a ship leaving harbor with no plan, no destination in mind. Sounds crazy — and possibly dangerous.

So many of us live our lives that way.

We left harbor long ago with a vague destination or maybe, no destination at all. Lacking a destination, therefore, lacking direction — going where the current takes us. Aimlessly wandering the sea of life, hoping for someone (or something) to show up to extend a lifeline.

Lucky for us, our ship is equipped with GPS.

All we need to do is input a destination, and start heading in the general direction it tells us to go. As we head towards our destination, we’ll be off course much of the time. Because of frequent glances at our GPS coupled with action to correct back to course, we will eventually make it to our destination.

Like the ship example, the same is true for life.

And each of us is equipped with a GPS-like system called the Reticular Activating System (R.A.S.) that helps us reach our destination (our goals).

Standard Equipment

The R.A.S. is a two-inch piece of the brain that starts near the top of our spinal column. It deals with filtering information from our various senses, ensuring we don’t get overloaded by all of the continuously incoming data.

It also decides what information should be allowed into our conscious minds. Certain things automatically make into our conscious minds, such as something that threatens us, or the sound of our name.

We can also program our R.A.S. When we purchase a new car, and we start to notice the same type of car everywhere, that’s the R.A.S. at work.

Because we have been thinking a lot about our new car, our R.A.S. has been continuously searching for the same type of car. When we think about something often, our R.A.S. is constantly on the lookout for things related to that which we hold in our minds.

The R.A.S. also plays a critical role in goal achievement.

We can’t achieve something without first having the thought of achieving it. But having a few spaced thoughts about achieving a goal won’t cut it.

In order to get the most value out of our R.A.S., our goals must be on our minds often. This is why it’s important to know what we want at any particular point in life— to give our R.A.S. something to aim for and work towards. Like the ship leaving the harbor, we should always have something programmed into our R.A.S.

Using The Reticular Activating System

The importance of knowing our destination cannot be understated. The R.A.S. plays a huge role in helping us get to where we want to go.

But we must know where it is we want to go.

To take advantage of the R.A.S. the first thing we must do is spend adequate time deciding what it is we want. Write down exactly what it is you want in each area of life. Personally, professionally, financially, etc. Use language that gets you excited and makes you want to create a more compelling future.

Napoleon Hill often talked about successful individuals having a ‘burning desire,’ and ‘definiteness of purpose.’ His book, “Think and Grow Rich,” expounds on these ideas.

Most of us aren’t born with a burning desire and unifying life purpose, but we can create one. How? Simply by creating a compelling goal (or many), and reviewing it often.

I have a list that I titled, ‘My Top Life Goals.’ It’s the top 10 goals I have in life. It’s posted as an image on my phone, and I have multiple printouts in my home. I look at the list just about every day.

Over time I’ve become more specific and have altered the language of many of my goals to something that inspires me. Specificity and language play a huge role in the excitement we’re able to feel towards our goals. The more excited we are about something, the more likely we are to take action.

For over ten years, I’ve had a goal to live to 114. I originally wrote it as, ‘Live to age 114.’ Last year, I changed it to, ‘Live a healthy, vibrant and happy life past age 114.’ The simple act of changing the language we use can have a big impact on the outcome.

“Don’t concern yourself too much with how you’re going to achieve your goals, leave that completely to a power greater than yourself. All you have to do is know where you’re going. The answers will come to you of their own accord.” -Earl Nightingale

We may think we have to know all the answers right away, but that’s not the case. Deciding what we want gets our R.A.S. working. Once we know what we want, and we start reviewing it and thinking about it often, we’ll see the steps we need to take become clearer over time.

Achieving big goals won’t happen overnight. Some of the goals on my Top 10 List have sat dormant for years. I had no idea how I would make them a reality.

But I continue to focus on them and keep my mind oriented towards their accomplishment. Over the years, I’ve had experiences and ideas that have given me clarity and a path to achieve many of them.

For instance, I wasn’t initially sure how I would accomplish my goal of living past 114 years old. In the last few years, I’ve read books, attended conferences, and made relationships that have given me insight on how to actually achieve living past the age of 114.

I’ve come to understand how the R.A.S. works. By doing what I’ve mentioned here, I’ve been able to accomplish multiple goals from my Top 10 Life Goals List.

And you can too!

To Summarize:

First, we must have at least one goal in mind. Next, we must constantly review our goal. By constantly reviewing our goal, we constantly orient our R.A.S. to keep an eye out for ideas and solutions that will bring us closer to achieving it.

To program you R.A.S.:

1. Decide what you want: Spend time thinking about your goals and what you want out of life. Ask yourself, ‘what do you want?’ personally, relationally, professionally, financially, etc.
2. Write down your goals: Make them S.M.A.R.T. Use compelling language that excites you. Use your journal, cell-phone, computer, etc., then, post them in your home and/or as a background on your phone.
3. Review your goals often: Continuously review your goals as often as you can. Daily or more is optimal.
4. Take action: Come up with a plan and take action. If you’re unsure of the action to take, that’s ok. Continue to review your goals often and over time, the action will become more clear.

Conclusion

Each of us comes with a piece of standard equipment that will help us achieve our goals, known as the Reticular Activating System. We program our R.A.S. by first deciding what we want, and then by continually reviewing it.

Constantly reviewing our goals keeps our R.A.S. focused on finding ideas relating to their achievement. Over time, the path towards achieving a specific goal we have will become clearer, as the R.A.S. assists in directing us towards its accomplishment.

Thanks for taking the time to read!