The Ultimate Sales Machine - Chet Holmes [124]
Harnessing the Power of the RAS
When I go in to help a company that’s in trouble, the most powerful thing I do is to get them focused on solutions and setting goals for improving the situation. This shift in focus shows up in the results the company is getting. With every one devoting at least an hour a week to focusing their RAS on finding solutions and improving the business, solutions begin to appear and the business begins to improve. One way to harness the power of the RAS is to do proactive workshops to get every one focused on solving the problems instead of focusing on the problems.
Strings into Steel
The truth is that RAS is already fully functioning in your life, helping to create a reality that is in line with your thoughts. Any statement you make to yourself begins in the subconscious as a thread of an idea. Each time you make a statement, the thread gets thicker. Say it to yourself a few more times and the thread turns to string, then rope, then bands of steel that absolutely obey the reality you create.
We all have programmed beliefs about our own limitations. We tell people things like “I can’t remember names,” “I’m a klutz,” “I can’t cook,” “I can’t dance,” or “I always mess these things up.” When we first said them, they were just a tiny thread, but now that we’ve said them to ourselves and others hundreds or even thousands of times, imagine how ingrained they’ve become. We’ve focused our subconscious on fulfilling our programmed reality of forgetting names, tripping up the stairs or over our dance partner, burning dinner, and messing things up. But what if you believed that you were great at names, extremely coordinated, and a great cook and dancer—and that success came easily to you? If that were your belief system, what activity would your subconscious be working on right now? Creating your success!
A Shortcut
Keeping your mind focused on your success may be difficult at first, but here’s a shortcut to help you make the transition. Your mind is more receptive when it is less busy. Right before you go to bed and right when you wake up, you are at your most receptive. That’s the best time to really focus your RAS on all the positive things you want in your life. If you picture yourself succeeding or overcoming something at those times, your brain will grab hold of that much easier. If you’re about to have a big meeting, picture it exactly as you want it to go. This visualization will stick with you as you enter that meeting and help create the results you want.
It’s important to keep your brain working in the present. Tell yourself, “It’s a great day today,” rather than “I will have a great day today.” Or “Success comes to me easily” rather than “Success will come to me easily.” This is called autosuggestion. Phrase your goals and desires as if they already exist because then your brain will work on fulfilling them faster for you. If you say you will be a billionaire, the brain says: “Oh, okay. I will do it. That means I don’t have to do it right now.” Instead say, “I am a billionaire.” Then your brain says: “Oh, wow, I have to make that happen.”
Have you ever gone to sleep saying to yourself, “I have to wake up on time tomorrow,” and the next morning you wake up right before the alarm goes off? How did your brain know? Think about that. In addition to the billions of calculations per second that our brain makes, it also has a clock that can tell you exactly when to wake up. Or have you ever said to yourself, “I better not oversleep tomorrow,” but then you did? Note the difference in the way you say things. With “I have to wake up on time tomorrow,” all your brain hears is “Wake up on time tomorrow.” Say, “I’d better not oversleep tomorrow,” and all your brain hears is “Oversleep tomorrow.” So phrasing