DID YOU KNOW YOU CAN TRAIN YOUR BRAIN to focus on things to help you achieve your goal?  You can by engaging your reticulating activating system (RAS).  The RAS is a part of our brain we are equip with that allows us to filter out important information to us.  I love it when I learn ways to make things easier and this is a simple effective way to help you focus on what is important to you.

"Our brain's RAS provides us with a way we can deal with everyday life and all of the millions of bits of information flooding into our awareness and demanding our attention. If we had to deal with all of this information, all of the messages at once we would not be able to cope. So our brains have given us the equipment to filter this information and extract what is important to us at any given moment. This equipment is your RAS.
Have you ever noticed that once you have decided on the kind of car you want to buy, it seems that every other car on the road is the one you are thinking of buying? Your RAS is working, it’s busy filtering out the other cars (the unimportant information) and bringing the car of your thoughts to the forefront of your mind. The numbers of that particular car have not increased since you took that decision; it’s your perception and your filtering system in action."

"Your RAS has two useful roles to play in goal achievement. The most powerful allies you have when goal setting is the written word and your imagination.
1. By putting your goal onto paper you engage all of your senses – your sight (looking at the words you have written). Your feelings (the feel of the pen and paper and the feelings produced by the excitement of the goal). Even you auditory sense is engaged because when you write you are speaking the words to yourself or even out loud. This is enough to place your RAS on alert.
2. Your mind, including your RAS, cannot differentiate between something that is vividly imagined and reality. It tends to believe your messages. If you see a rope under your bed in the half light and are convinced it’s a snake, then a snake you will see. You are convinced that you won’t like the taste of something even before you have tasted it, (remember the food you thought you hated as a child) chances are that in reality you won’t. The person who is frightened of spiders will see them in every corner, even when there are none."  
See the entire article Goals and Your Reticulating Activating System by Sue Saunders. http://www.selfgrowth.com/articles/goals_and_your_reticular_activating_system

Step 1:  Select a goal that will motivate you.  
When you are coming up with your goal you want it to have such a powerful and important WHY for your goal to provide you with the motivation to ensure you will stick with it.  

Step 2:  Condition the goal.  
Once you have your goal clearly outlined, you must condition the goal.  In order to do this your homework is at least twice a day you must rehearse and envision yourself achieving this goal.  Each time you do this you must create more emotion and joy as you see, feel, and hear yourself living your dream.

Try it.  Start today.  It is simple and it works.  

 (Follow this link to Lucas Falconer's article about these 5 important reasons to set goals.) 

My great mentor and friend, Reggie A. Irving, gave me the book, If it Ain't Broke. . . Break It!:  And Other Unconventional Wisdom for Changing Business World by Robert J. Kriegel & Louis Palter.  I didn't actually read it until 20 years later after my great coach and friend, Ben Bergeron, brought up a topic about the endless pursuit of excellence that I remembered receiving the book inspiring me find it in my basement to read it.   The book is filled with excellent information and tips about working towards your goals.  

Participating in the exercise found in the book prompted me to launch my "inspire happy project."  I encourage you to participate in the exercise from the book as I did and  see where it leads you.   
Happiness Begins Here: 

"Take a moment to answer each of the following questions.  Let your imagination soar.  No holds barred.  Don’t try to make sense of be realistic.  Think about what you really want, what adds meaning and purpose and passion to your life.  Just thinking about it starts the journey.  Write down your responses and read them to yourself out loud.
1.  Someday I'd like to
2.  I’ve always wanted to
3.  I’d really love to
4.  Wouldn’t it be great if I could
5.  If it were a perfect world, I would
Close your eyes and imagine you’re in your home watching a videotape.  As the tape begins, you see your own name on the screen and it is dated five years from now.  You have accomplished everything you set out to do and are in an ideal situation, living out your dream.

Just watch the tape run.  As  you view it, don’t edit or firehose anything.  Let the tape play itself out unencumbered by your rational mind.  Don’t analyze it or think about it or firehose it.  Where are you?  What are you doing?  How does it feel?

After you have viewed your video, while it is still fresh in your mind, write down a few key words that capture the essence of how you felt watching it, not what you were doing on the tape.  Thees “seed” words are the point of departure.  Some typical examples are “proud,” “independent,” “courageous,” and “creative.”  Keep a card on your desk with the seed words on to trigger your memory of the video and to remind you of your dream.

Reverse visioning

Imagine you are 85 and looking back over the years.  You have lived an active and fulfilling life.  You realize that you have gone far beyond what you ever expected you would do or be.  As you look back from age 85, ask yourself these questions:

1. What did you do with your life?
2. What were the significant milestones at age 30, 40, .  . . .80?
3. What qualities did you exhibit?
4. How do other people describe your life?
5. Do you have any regrets?  If so, what are they?
6. What would you have done differently?  

The magazine cover
Imagine yourself as Time magazine’s Man or Woman of the Year five years form now.  What did you accomplish that got you on the cover?  Write out the quotes of the people describing you on the cover.  What are some of the key adjectives they use?  How many of these key qualities have you already developed?
Find three adjectives Time used to describe you.  Write them down, then think about what you will have to do to make those teams accuracy describe you now."  

​Congratulations for going through this sole searching exercise.  Take a moment to really capture and reflect on your answers.  We are about to start a new year so this is an excellent time to think about what is important to you and what your priorities and goals are for the future.

In the upcoming weeks we will focus on goals, how to make them and how to stick to them.  

These are the unedited notes I scratched in the margins of the book as I did this exercise myself that motivated me to begin this project:  (I got to this part of the book and wanted to stop right here.  Big wake up call for me.)
1.  Someday I’d like to raise a happy, healthy family.
2.  I’ve always wanted to inspire my family to be good humans.
3.  I’d really love to change peoples lives for the better.
4. Wouldn’t it be great if I could develop something that would help people everywhere realize their potential for happiness and help show them ways to finding it in themselves.
5.  If it were a perfect world, I would have a business that would provide ongoing uplifting information and inspiration, gifts and items that support happiness, and class or counseling options to educate people how they could embrace and achieve happiness."

If it Ain't Broke...Break It!: And Other Unconventional Wisdom for a Changing Business World Paperback – March 1, 1992 pp. 46-49.
by Robert J. Kriegel (Author), Louis Palter (Author)​  Warner Business Books, Inc, 1992 
Follow this link to learn more about this book:  https://www.amazon.com/If-Aint-Broke-Break-Unconventional/dp/0446393592