You don’t see the world as it is. You see it as you are.

Ever noticed how once you learn a new word, suddenly you hear it everywhere? Or once you start thinking about buying a red car, red cars seem to be on every street?

That’s not magic. It’s not coincidence. It’s your brain doing its job.

More specifically, it’s your Reticular Activating System (RAS) — a powerful, subconscious filter that controls what information actually reaches your awareness. And once you understand how it works, you can start using it to completely rewire your sense of what’s possible.

Your Brain is Filtering Reality — Constantly

Every second, your brain is processing millions of bits of information — sounds, sights, smells, emotions, ideas, background noise. If you were aware of all of it at once, you’d be overwhelmed. So your brain filters. Relentlessly.

And the RAS plays gatekeeper.

It decides which signals get through and which are ignored — all based on what it believes is important to you. And what’s important to you? Simple: the things you consistently focus on, think about, worry about, and believe.

If your internal belief is “I’m bad at public speaking,” your RAS will helpfully filter the world to show you evidence of that. You’ll remember the time you stumbled over your words. You’ll notice the one unimpressed face in the room. You’ll ignore the positive feedback because your brain has already decided that it’s irrelevant.

That’s how powerful the RAS is. It doesn’t just help you see — it shapes how you see.

Your Beliefs Are Writing the Script

What this means is: your beliefs are not passive. They are programming your perception of reality in real time.

If you believe you’re unlucky, you’ll overlook lucky breaks. If you believe you’re awkward, you’ll find reasons to avoid connection. If you believe you’re not good enough, your brain will find ways to confirm that story.

Here’s the kicker: you might not even realise you’re doing it.

It’s not just mindset. It’s neuroscience.

But the good news is — you can rewire it. You can retrain your RAS to filter for opportunity, confidence, connection, courage.

Shift the Signal

Once you realise how much your internal script is shaping what you see, hear, and interpret, you can start to edit it.

Here’s how:

1. Affirm what you want to believe. Instead of saying “I’m terrible at networking,” say “I’m learning to connect with ease.” Your brain doesn’t argue. It listens. And it starts filtering your environment for evidence of that truth.

2. Notice the lucky breaks. You probably heard about the study where people were asked how many imaged there were in the newspaper, and those who said that they believed they were lucky also were the ones who spotted a large sign in the newspaper that said “Stop counting, there are 42 images.” When people who believed they were unlucky missed it entirely. They were too focused on counting, too focused on being unlucky.

That one belief changed what they saw. Literally.

3. Catch yourself mid-story. Anytime you hear yourself say “I always mess this up” or “This never works for me” — pause. That’s not a fact. That’s a script. And scripts can be rewritten.

Try: “This hasn’t worked yet.” “I’m learning.” “I’m building new habits.”

4. Feed your RAS the right inputs. Follow voices that empower you. Surround yourself with people who see your potential. Read stories that lift you up. Stop doom-scrolling. Your brain is paying attention — and adjusting your filters accordingly.

5. Practise small moments of heroism. Shift your self-image by taking tiny steps in the direction of who you want to be. Don’t just visualise confidence, act in small, bold ways that reinforce it. The RAS doesn’t respond to daydreams. It responds to repetition.

You Can’t Outperform Your Filters

This is the bottom line: You can have ambition, talent, vision, goal, but if your internal filter is still scanning the world for fear, doubt, or failure, you’ll only see more of the same.

Your RAS is listening. It’s always listening. So start telling it a better story.

One where you are capable. One where you are resilient. One where you are open to opportunity.

Because once you do, the world really does start to change.