thinkarete Note on Writing Your Goals

Write your goals!

How else are you going to stimulate your reticular activating system?

My what?!?

Uh, you know, your reticular activating system (RAS).

It's that little bundle of cells you have in the back of your brain known as the "control center" which serves as the filter for what enters your conscious and unconscious mind--separating the urgent stuff from the unimportant so that you can function properly.

Today you’re going to learn how celebrities play with their RAS and how you, too, can play with yours to get what you want in life!

OK. So, you can't actually "play" with your reticular activating system.

And there is no easy way to "get what you want in life."

Sorry. That was just to get you to read this far.

The good news, however, is that you can learn more about how your mind works and then help yourself get more of what you want.

You ever notice how once you decide the kind of car you want to buy, it seems like every other car on the road is the one you want!?!

Why is that?

Your RAS is activated.

According to Henriette Anne Klauser in her book, “Write it Down, Make it Happen,”
"Writing triggers the RAS, which in turn sends a signal to the cerebral cortex: 'Wake up! Pay attention! Don't miss this detail!' Once you write down a goal, your brain will be working overtime to see you get it, and will alert you to the signs and signals that…were there all the time."

You’ve probably heard a couple of stories about famous goal setters:

When Jim Carrey was just a stand-up comic in Los Angeles he decided he was going to write a check to himself for future services rendered.

For how much? $12,000,000.00.

He carried that check in his wallet for years--working his way through the stand-up acts to TV until he finally got his check for his first movie, Ace Ventura.

For how much? $12,000,000.00.

Good ol' Lou Holtz had just lost his job as an assistant football coach at a small school in the South. It was 1966. He was 28 years old and his wife was 8 months pregnant with their third child. After reading a copy of “The Magic of Thinking Big” by David Schwartz, Lou decided to think big...and to write down these big thoughts.

In total, Lou wrote 107 "impossible" goals. From having dinner at the White House to appearing on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson to meeting the Pope, coaching at Notre Dame, leading his team to a national championship, and shooting a hole in one.

So far, Lou has achieved 81 of these goals. (And, he shot a hole in one not once, but twice.)

The next time you're in the Planet Hollywood in New York City, check out the letter hanging on the wall that Bruce Lee wrote to himself.

It's stamped "secret" and is dated January 9, 1970.

Bruce's goal?

"By 1980 I will be the best known oriental movie star in the United States and will have secured $10 million dollars."

He continues with, "And in return I will give the very best acting I could possibly give every single time I am in front of the camera and I will live in peace and harmony."

Pretty powerful stuff, eh?

Obviously, it takes a lot more than simply writing a goal down to make it happen, but the act of committing your goals to paper not only starts the conscious process, but also enables your mind to start working for you on other levels as well.

thinkgoals.

thinkarete.