Making it Stick – the science behind the power of planning
Posted on 12 July 2010
Achieving plans is as much about programming your mind to focus on them as having a plan in the first place!
In another article in the newsletter we hear some thoughts on the importance of having a business plan. There are some fundamental aspects of planning which relate directly to our psychological make-up - the way that we are wired - our own programming for success.
The "Reticular Activating System" or RAS, is the name given to part of the brain (the Reticular Formation and its connections) believed to be the centre of arousal and motivation in animals… including humans.
The RAS is the bundle of cells you have in the back of your brain known as the "control centre", it serves as the filter for what enters your conscious and unconscious mind.
According to Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi in his book, Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience: "We filter around 2 million bits of information per second down to 7 plus or minus 2 chunks of information". The system in charge of sorting the information is called the RAS. The RAS is a self-filtering system that chooses what you accept and reject based upon your beliefs, expectations, values, experience and prejudices.
Focusing on two or three key areas of business or a single goal does something special to your behaviour. It triggers your RAS. Your brain is assaulted by thousands of messages each second. Everything you see, hear, smell, feel and touch is a message entering your brain. The RAS filters through all these messages and decides which ones will get headline treatment - that is, arouse the brain to action.
Research shows that Entrepreneurs tend to pay attention to the things which are important to them at the time. So, if your dominant thoughts are about creating a new business, you'll start seeing other businesses and ideas. You'll hear conversations about new business ventures. You'll pick up ideas relating to new business ventures and even see things around you in a different way and relate it back to the business you are looking for.
In other words, the RAS will reject or ignore anything unrelated to your focus and highlight anything that is even remotely related to the important issue - in this case the new business venture. From a practical point of view, this means that, if you want to solve a problem or achieve a goal, keep it at the front of your mind. Think about it, talk about it, write about it and imagine it completed. This is one of the reasons why visible, structured planning works so well and why it is important to review your goals frequently.
If you focus on improving a specific key indicator in your business, your RAS will pass through sights, sounds, people and ideas even remotely related to that point of focus. In other words, if you measure it visibly, frequently and attentively, it is very likely to improve! Try it today!
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