Change Your Brain, Change Your Life

There’s been a significant amount of press about the Laws of Attraction, The Secret and other programs designed to help you attain your personal vision of success.

Each approach has its devotees, of course, as well as its detractors; what’s been missing is hard, empirical proof that human beings can think their way to a better lifestyle.

Now there’s scientific evidence to prove that we can.

Studies show that there are several types of chemical changes which occur in the brain when we mentally work on achieving personal or financial growth. For example, research at the University of Wisconsin found that meditation had a profound effect on the level of gamma rays in their subjects.

These changes can happen in both the conscious and sub-conscious parts of our minds and, in fact, it’s when we affect the sub-conscious that we really master The Laws of Attraction. You can truly learn to “Change Your Brain, Change Your Life”.

John Assaraf, author of The Neuroscience of Financial Success (as well as the New York Times best seller, The Street Kids Guide to Having It All) has studied the effects of positive thinking on the brain for 20 years, and says there is an “inside mental game” that can help you tell your brain’s version of Google exactly what you want it to search for in the outside environment. And, yes, it involves quantum physics.

Luckily the physics will take care of itself while we learn how to improve our brains and take a positive attitude to everything around us. We begin to understand that our objective world depends on what our internal mental allows us to see. In other words, an event in our life matters less than our perception of that event. We can’t change the facts but we can alter their meaning and importance level.

Once we do that, we change what Assaraf calls our “reticular activation system.” This modifies the list of things our brains focus on as being important and we suddenly begin to see opportunities differently. We can set goals that are realistic but not limited by negative thinking; for example, when you think about making more money, think of a million a year rather than $100,000.

To succeed we need to have clarity and focus and to absolutely believe we have the ability to manifest such opportunities and do what we need to do to meet our goals. This will take some work since 75% of our beliefs tend to be negative and that negativity is both genetically and behaviorally based. Even those of us who think positively on a conscious level can believe differently in the subconscious.

We can alter this dynamic through neural reconditioning – that is, by creating the positive neuro-patterns (i.e., beliefs) that we want in our brains to support the new vision we’ve set for ourselves.

This is actually easier than it sounds; everyone can do it! Start identifying negative thoughts as soon as they appear in your conscious mind and immediately think of the reverse. Here’s an example: if you’ve been on an interview and find yourself thinking of all the reasons you won’t get the job, immediately change the message you’re giving yourself. Tell yourself that you were articulate and knowledgeable and that you will get the position.

Then visualize yourself at that job – sitting in the executive chair, conducting successful meetings, etc. Do this every time and you will definitely begin to believe in your own capabilities and a positive outcome to every opportunity. Over time, these new beliefs will become habits and you’ll find yourself creating the life you desire.

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