BOBL will be talking a lot about how our thoughts create our realities. Here's a quick introduction to some functions of the brain that help explain this:
Neuroplasticity: This is the brain's ability to rewire itself in response to what it experiences. Our thoughts and our actions stimulate specific neural pathways in the brain. When those actions and thoughts are repeated, the associated neural pathways grow, and their function improves. This is a reason we get better at things with practice.
Neuroplasticity helps to explain how your mindset shapes your reality: Your thoughts literally change your brain.
The Reticular Activating System (RAS): The RAS is a network of nerves in the brainstem that serves a few functions. One thing it does is control our ability to focus. It would be impossible and unnecessary for us to give attention to every single sight or sound streaming into our brains at any given time. The RAS filters out the vast majority of outside stimuli. It stops us from processing every little thing around us, so we can focus on what's most important.
Your thoughts tell your RAS what's important and what isn't.
The RAS decides what to let in and what to filter out accordingly.
Here's a commonly used example of the RAS in action: When you're shopping for a new car and decide on a model you want, you start to notice that model on the road left and right. There aren't more of them out there than there were before, you've just told your RAS to start noticing them.
In this way, your thoughts determine what you experience. It's one of the reasons things like self-talk, affirmations, and visualization actually work. It's why "what you focus on expands." If you have your mind set on an important goal, your RAS will help you become aware of opportunities, information and resources to help you achieve it.
This is only a small portion of the science behind all of this. We'll discuss much more in future posts.
Suggested: Rewire Your Mind: How to Change Your Thoughts (and Improve Your Life),
You've Been Programmed: How Your Beliefs Have Created Your Reality