Ever wonder why some people spot opportunities everywhere while others miss them? Your brain filters 8 million bits of info per second, leaving only what it thinks matters.
The story
Ever wonder why some people seem to spot opportunities everywhere while others miss them completely?
Your brain processes about 11 million bits of information per second. But here’s the wild part – the Reticular Activating System filters about 8 million bits, leaving only a fraction for your conscious awareness.
That massive filtering explains a lot.
Most of us walk around thinking we’re making conscious choices, but we’re actually running on autopilot. Your brain’s filtering system determines what you notice and what you ignore based on whatever you’ve programmed it to care about.
This is where visualization gets interesting. It’s not some mystical practice. It’s simply directing that powerful filtering system toward what matters to you. When you clearly visualize what you want, you activate your Reticular Activation System. Think of it as your brain’s search engine, suddenly highlighting relevant information you’d normally scroll past.
But here’s what most people miss – this only works when you’re operating from your authentic self. Carl Jung called this individuation: developing who you really are instead of copying what everyone else is doing. Emerson put it bluntly: “Insist on yourself; never imitate.”
When you’re trying to be someone else, your subconscious gets confused signals. It doesn’t know what to filter for. But when you’re clear on who you are and what you actually want? That’s when the magic happens.
Your brain starts connecting dots you never saw before. Conversations, articles, random encounters – suddenly they all seem relevant. Not because the worl
For more about Chapter 6 of Attila B. Horvath’s book, “The Journey – I wish I knew this before I was 21”, visit https://attilahorvath.net/the-journey.
