Understanding Focus: The RAS Have you ever noticed that once you buy a new car, suddenly that model seems to be everywhere? Or you hear a new word and then it pops up all the time? That's not magic – it's your Reticular Activating System (RAS) at work. In this Five Minute Quickie, I'm breaking down the RAS in plain English. It's the part of your brain that decides what to notice – and it's powered by emotion. The good news? You can train it to look for opportunities, positivity, and success. The bad news? If you're stuck in negative emotions, it will keep showing you reasons to stay stuck. So let's flip the switch. Learn how to focus on what serves you rather than what drags you down. Because when you understand your RAS, you can use it to fuel your goals, dreams, and everyday happiness. And keep listening – in the next longer episode I'll guide you through a process ( with a bit of hypnosis ) to help your unconscious mind focus deeply on what you truly want. You could start by focusing on sharing. Here is a link to this episode https://personaldevelopmentunplugged.com/fmq-514-understanding-focus-the-ras Shine Brightly 🌟 Paul Hey there! I'd love to hear from you—questions, feedback, requests—all welcome. Drop me a line or leave a comment. If you've enjoyed this episode or any other, please share and subscribe ! You can reach me at
[email protected] . Subscribe to the Podcast Ready to subscribe? Click here to explore your options. Or, if you're on Apple Music or iTunes , you can go straight to subscribe or leave a review here . Special Programs for You For tools on developing Supreme Inner Confidence , finding Freedom from Anxiety , or specialized Hypnosis Tracks , visit PaulCloughOnline.com . Free Hypnosis Tracks Want access to my FREE hypnosis tracks ? Head over to paulcloughonline.com/podcast . Connect with Me Follow me on Twitter: @pcloughie Remember: I'm a therapist, but I'm not your therapist. This podcast and any of my online resources are for educational purposes only. Never use the hypnosis tracks or exercises if you're operating machinery, driving, or if you have epilepsy or psychiatric conditions. Always consult a healthcare provider if you're unsure. Find Us on Other Platforms Catch the podcast on Spotify , Castbox, iHeart Radio , YouTube, or on our Libsyn page . Stay tuned, and keep shining brightly. ✨ Music Credits Music by Wataboi from Pixabay , Music by DreamHeaven from Pixabay , Music by ccjmusic from Pixabay , Music by freegroove from Pixabay , Music by prazkhanal from Pixabay . And the transcript WARNING if you're a lover of the written word this may make you frustrated, or angry - you have been warned - is it an 'ism Have you ever noticed that when you buy something, say for example a car, or another way, you hear a word that you think, do you know what, that is a brilliant word. I love that word. Or there's somebody you start, you hear and you go, oh, that's a, they're really, really, a really good person. So interesting. And then suddenly the whole world is full of that, those cars that you thought was so special. That word that you thought was so interesting. That person seems to be everywhere. But where the bloody hell were they just a little while ago? You see, there's a thing called the reticulating activating system. And I want to put that into plain English because it's a natural phenomena that we use, your body uses to notice things, focus on things. And the thing is, because you're in an emotional state, when you buy that car, you feel so good. You hear that word, oh, it's so interesting. Or that person was so, so captivating. You're in an emotional state and your unconscious mind and your reticulating activating system, or some people just call it RAS, A-R-S, looks for it because you're in that emotional state, thinks it's good. But also here's the downside. Here's the downside. If you're in a negative state, you're feeling down, feeling depressed. You're feeling, I don't know, fear of missing out, FOMO. You've got that social anxiety. You know, you've got imposter syndrome, any, you feel in the bloody bank. I'll say that again. And I'll even still swear again. You feel in the bloody blank. What happens? You start to see issues, that issue, every bloody where. It's as if your whole life is full of those issues, but it isn't. It isn't. It's just this reticulating activating system, because you're emotional. It's focusing on what you're focusing on. Now we can use it though. We can use it because now you know, now you know what's happening. Now you can start to think about different things. If you start to have and think about different emotions, say positive emotions, highly charged positive emotions, we can get your mind and your brain and your focus to start focusing and looking for those type of opportunities, those events that would give you that feeling. So I want you to be able to learn how to focus your attention, have your brain, your mind focus
