You may have seen the recent press coverage concerning Volkswagen and their emissions data results.

A few days ago I was stuck in traffic on a dual carriageway and listening to the radio. The business presenter on the programme was interviewing a lawyer about possible legal cases that Volkswagen may face.

As I listened, I glanced at the other cars on the road. I smiled when I noticed that the car in front of me was a Volkswagen Golf, the car to the side of me was a Volkswagen Jetta, with a Volkswagen Passet behind me. What a coincidence!

What occurred to me was that if I hadn’t been listening to that programme, I probably would not have noticed that I was completely surrounded by Volkswagens!

What happened with my Volkswagen spotting experience was an example of the Reticular Activation System (RAS) at work.

The RAS is the mechanism in the human brain that brings relevant information to your attention. In essence, the RAS is the brain’s filter between the subconscious and conscious mind.

Without you being aware of it, the RAS sorts through the millions of pieces of information, stimuli and data that enter your brain from all your senses. It then filters out the irrelevant and brings only the relevant information to your conscious mind.

So the RAS decides what you focus your attention on. It allows your conscious mind to focus only on that which you’ve determined is useful to you in that moment.

Recently, I was telling friends about a little challenge I set myself as a bit of fun to prove the theory that you get to spot what you look for in life.

I had been reading a book about someone who was doing some experiments to prove that our thoughts create our reality.

As part of their research they decided to look for butterflies and butterfly images and had been astounded at how many they saw when they started looking for them.

I tried it for myself. A few minutes after starting I looked out of the window and saw a butterfly fly past! I was then looking through some music CDs and came across a various artists CD that had a cover that was full of colourful butterfly images! I have not been able to stop seeing butterflies and butterfly images since I started doing this a few months ago!

What I have described is a good reminder that you get what you look for in life and what you focus on.

It is important to seek to create a clear, focused mind and be clear about what you desire and want to achieve/experience.

If you look for opportunity you will find it, if you look for difficulty you will discover that. If you manage people and you look for their weaknesses and things they do wrong you will find lots of evidence!

Conversely, if you set out to look for their strengths and qualities, you will spot them. If you look for things to be grateful and happy about, they will be there as will things to be unhappy about.

This week notice how many Volkswagens and butterflies/butterfly images you spot now you have read this article.

Also, why not take a few moments to decide the most important things for you to focus on and look out for at the present time.

This week’s quotation:

“I don’t focus on what I’m up against. I focus on my goals and I try to ignore the rest.” Venus Williams .

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