By Carla Daniels

“Who do you think you are Mr. Big Stuff?” That was a song by Jean Knight back in 1971. We danced and shook a tail feather to it. Okay, some of us heard it about 15-20 years later but, hey, it was new to us. That song made me think of the T in A.C.T.I.V.A.T.E.: negative thoughts/thinking.

Our thoughts are killing us; some people actually, others literally. If you grew up hearing that you are a failure yet you have achieved great strides, you sent that desire to your Reticular Activating System. Your RAS is the automatic mechanism inside your brain that brings relevant information to your attention.

Your reticular activating system is like an obedient trained dog. You tell Butch to go get the ball and he goes and gets the ball and brings it back. He will do that until you get tired of telling him to get the ball. What if you threw the ball in a basket of balls, what would Butch do? He would just keep bringing you ball after ball. That is what your RAS does. Once you set a goal or go in search of something you deem important, you send it to your RAS and it goes looking for it. Actually, you start seeing it more because now your RAS has been A.C.T.I.V.A.T.E.D.

This also works in reverse. If you think negative thoughts, you attract negative thoughts and people into your life. You think about it and then you start seeing it. If you keep telling yourself you are a loser, guess what your RAS does? It finds other losers to hang with you. Or better yet, it opens your eyes to see nothing but losers.

How do your overcome this madness? Retune your RAS to search for something different. Stop thinking negative thoughts. If you write down some positive attributes about yourself, say them aloud daily, and believe them, soon you will no longer be the Mayor of Loserville. It sounds easy but it is not. Years of negative conditioning can’t be changed in a day; because this is the era of instant gratification, you may become discouraged and want to stop. Don’t stop. Keep doing it.

Keep telling yourself that you are awesome, you are blessed and highly favored, you are the next best selling author, and your screen play will be the next big thing. Whatever your thought, desire or goal is, you have to put it in your mind. You can think yourself into a new life. There are many books that say think and something. If you put it in your brain, your brain will put it into you and then broadcast it out to the world.

Carla is a certified NCTI Real Colors Facilitator and Gallup Strengths Quest Certified. Contact her at Carla@hmgconsultants.com or visit her website at www.hmgconsultants.com