Young and Profiting with Hala Taha - Rewire Your Brain for Success | YAPSnacks

Episode Date: August 19, 2022

The RAS is a bundle of nerves at our brainstem that filters out unnecessary information from our subconscious so that only the important stuff gets through to our conscious minds. It keeps our conscio...us minds from being overwhelmed with too much information by acting as a doorway between our conscious mind and our subconscious mind.  Our RAS determines what’s important to us by examining our past experiences. If your past is filled with pain, trauma, and limiting beliefs, then that’s what your RAS will seek out. This is why people get stuck in patterns of self-destruction; their brains are operating on autopilot, and their past programming holds them back from success.  On today’s YAP Snack, we talk about how to reprogram your RAS by sharing some of my best tips from the experts. Utilizing these tips will create long-lasting change in the way you perceive yourself and the world.  Topics include: -What is your RAS?  -How our RAS filters out information  -The Law of Attraction  -Controlling our subconscious mind  -Building a powerful morning routine  -Challenging your internal dialogue  -And other topics… Sponsored By: Black Pearl Mail - Turn your sign offs into sign ups with blackpearlmail.com  Podbean - Sabio - Go to sabio.la/yap and save $125 on your total bootcamp cost! Bambee - Visit bambee.com/profiting Faherty - Head to fahertybrand.com/yap and use code YAP at checkout to get 20% OFF! Social Media: Follow YAP on IG: www.instagram.com/youngandprofiting Reach out to Hala directly at Hala@YoungandProfiting.com Follow Hala on Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/htaha/ Follow Hala on Instagram: www.instagram.com/yapwithhala Follow Hala on Clubhouse: @halataha Check out our website to meet the team, view show notes and transcripts: www.youngandprofiting.com

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Starting point is 00:00:00 You're listening to Yap, Young and Profiting Podcast, a place where you can listen, learn, and profit. Welcome to the show. I'm your host, Halitaha, and on Young and Profiting Podcast, we investigate a new topic each week and interview some of the brightest minds in the world. My goal is to turn their wisdom into actionable advice that you can use in your everyday life, no matter your age, profession, or industry. There's no fluff on this podcast, and that's on purpose. I'm here to uncover value from my guests by doing the proper research and asking the right questions. If you're new to the show, we've chatted with the likes of ex-FBI agents, real estate moguls, self-made billionaires, CEOs, and best-selling authors. Our subject matter ranges from enhancing productivity, how to gain influence, the art of entrepreneurship, and more. If you're smart and like to continually improve yourself, hit this ability.
Starting point is 00:00:58 button because you'll love it here at Young and Profiting Podcast. Hey everyone, you're listening to YAPSnacks, a series of bite-sized content hosted by me, Hala Taha. Today we're talking about how to rewire your brain for success. We chat about this a lot on Young and Profiting. It is really your thinking that drives your actions, habits, and behaviors, which ultimately determines your success. In this episode, we've pulled clips from past interviews with Ed Milet, John Asherap, Benjamin
Starting point is 00:01:27 Hardy, and John Gordon. all experts on programming your brain to work for you instead of against you. In this episode, you're going to learn how your thinking shapes your reality, as well as a few simple practices you can use to instill the habits of mind you need to step into your dreams. Let's start off by talking about RAS, the reticular activating system. And we're going to be using this keyword RAS throughout the episode. So again, that is the reticular activating system. One of the most transformative things we can do in our lives is to mindfully program our RAS.
Starting point is 00:01:58 The rass is a bundle of nerves at our brainstem, the most primitive part of our brain, that filters out unnecessary information from our subconscious so that only the important stuff gets through to our conscious minds. Basically, the rass keeps our conscious minds from being overwhelmed with too much information. But how does your rass determine what information is important versus what should be filtered out? Well, here's the secret. You have the power to determine what is important.
Starting point is 00:02:24 And then your rass will look for the things that reaffirm those beliefs. The RAS is the reason you learn about a new artist and then suddenly start hearing them all the time on the radio. This means that the thoughts that you repeatedly focus on program your RAS and determine what you need to be aware of. The problem is that we often contaminate our RAS with self-limiting beliefs without even realizing it. So, for example, if you're constantly dwelling on negative limiting thoughts, then your RAS is going to be programmed to pick up on negativity and limitations at the expense of positivity and the things that empower you. But with just a little bit of diligence, you can rewire your brain for positivity and success. And in today's episode, we're going to learn just how to do that. During this, the app snacks, we're going to learn how the RAS shows up in our day-to-day lives
Starting point is 00:03:08 and the four steps we can take to mindfully program it. We're also going to go over the importance of building a morning routine that primes our brain for success and how to intentionally program our RAS by combating negative thoughts head on. Let's first get started with some wisdom from Ed Milette. Ed is a peak performance expert and author of the recent bestseller, The Power of One More. Here, how he notices his RAS at work in his own life and how he intentionally programs it to help him reach his goals. He credits this process as being instrumental in building his $400 million net worth. I think a great transition and foundation before we talk about the book is to talk about the reticular activating system, the RAS.
Starting point is 00:03:48 We've talked about neuroplasticity a lot on the show. We've had John Astoraph on and Dr. Caroline Lee. and we've talked a bit about this, but I'd love to hear it from your perspective. So what is the rectangular activating system? And how do things like stepping into your dream activate the system? You're one of my favorite interviews ever, seriously. So RAS is chapter two in my book. I cover it.
Starting point is 00:04:08 I call it the matrix in the book. But here's what it is. It's the filter that reveals to you everything that matters to you in your life that's important. And it proves to you that you're right. It's the prover. It keeps you sane, too. Otherwise, you'd be thinking about all the stimulus. The blood in your right ear going right now.
Starting point is 00:04:21 You're breathing, right? You have to stay sane. So it reveals to you what's most important to you. I'll give you an example. I just bought a Tesla about a week ago. I like what Alon Musk is doing. I call my team. I go, hey, get me one of these Teslas.
Starting point is 00:04:31 I want to start driving the guy's car. Next day, Tesla's in my driveway. And I'm driving it. All of a sudden, now I'm like seeing freaking Tesla's everywhere. Babe, red one. There's a white one. The other day, I'm like, there's three in a row. You got to be kidding.
Starting point is 00:04:42 I'm on the freeway. Three lanes over. The other direction going the other way. Babe, there's a black Tesla. I see him everywhere now. Weren't they always there? They were. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:04:52 But I didn't see them before because they weren't a part of my RAS. They weren't programmed in my filter. When you go into a crowded room, I go into a crowded room. There can be 500 people in room. Audibly. They don't have to say it loud. Someone says, Ed. If I hear that name, I can hear it audibly over why.
Starting point is 00:05:04 It's important to me. So the key thing in life is that programming your mind that the Tesla has become the relationships, the meetings, the thoughts, the breakthroughs you have to have in your life. They were always there. They are there right now. But you're not seeing them because they're not programmed into your RAS. They're not programmed like the Tesla is. How do you program?
Starting point is 00:05:24 I teach you in the book, but I'll give you one thing. Repeated hyper visualizations of your dreams and your imagination and what you want. I have a chapter in the book where I say become an impossibility thinker and a possibility achiever. And here's the deal. In your life, you operate out of either two frames of thinking. 99% of the people operate once they're an adult out of history and memory. They operate out of it.
Starting point is 00:05:46 They have patterns of thoughts, patterns of behaviors. They operate out of this. And they reinforce it with different people, different circumstances. It's same life. 1% of the people operate out of imagination and dream. That's what they did when they were a child. The reason you were happier when you were a little girl or a little boy, one, you were closer to God because you had just left there.
Starting point is 00:06:02 Two, you had no history and memory to operate out of, you operate out of imagination. Sort of flip that in your life. You start imagining and dreaming. When you have a thought, an actual thought, it creates a space in your world that did not exist prior to that thought being created. And now your mind goes to work on filling it up with references and proof. So if you worry about your anxieties, your fears, your worries, your past, you constantly find the Teslas that reinforce that. If you created a thought that's about the future and
Starting point is 00:06:32 an imagination and a dream and you go touch it once in a while and you repeatedly visualize it over and over again, very simple, I teach you how to do it in the book. You're doing it anyway. You're repeatedly visualizing and thinking about what you're worried about, what you fear all the time. I'm just flipping it into imagination. Then you'll begin to see those Teslas of your life, the meetings, the people, the places, the things. And by By the way, you're one podcast away, one decision away, one meeting, one relationship away from changing your life. That's the power of one more also.
Starting point is 00:06:59 Yeah. And so with the RAS, you could actually program it in a bad way. You could be thinking about bad things, saying bad things about yourself, and then you perceive the world with all these bad things that you don't want. So can you talk to us about how to make sure that we program it in the right way? Programming in the right way is repeated thoughts, visualizations. it's associating with people that also can reinforce those beliefs and thoughts. If you want to know how powerful our RAS is, let's go back to the drug addict or alcoholic
Starting point is 00:07:29 example. You will find a way to get what you're obsessed with in your life. So if you're obsessed with your worries and your fears, you'll find a way to get them. You'll get them. Every week you'll get them. No matter how good life is, you'll get that depression. You'll get that anxiety. You'll get that anger.
Starting point is 00:07:43 You'll get that worry because it's familiar. Caroline Leaf has a really interesting thing where she talks about, like, a lot times like our emotions aren't good or bad. They just are. And so whatever they are, you're going to get them. That drug addict, though, think about this for a minute. Isn't it incredible? Think of someone you know maybe that's had a drug problem. They could literally be living on the street. No resources, no job, no money, no nothing. Somehow every day they find a way to get those drugs, don't they? How do they, maybe they got to do something illegal? Whatever they got to do? They get those drugs. They get them with no resources, no preparation, no nothing. So what if those drugs became your dream?
Starting point is 00:08:18 The fact that you have no preparation, the fact that you have no resources is inconsequential. People prove it every day with the negative stuff in their life, don't they? But you can prove it with the positive stuff in your life. And the way you do it is repeatedly visualizing it. The other thing you do is you begin to do one more. In your life, stay with me. I have a chapter on goals, which is great. I show you how to set goals the best way I know how.
Starting point is 00:08:40 But at best, you're going to get 25% of your goals if they're ambitious. What will you get all the time in your life? Your standards. you will eventually always get your standards. So goals without standards are empty. That's why I teach the goal chapter and the standards chapter together. Standard. Stay with me.
Starting point is 00:08:56 You've had someone on your show who stole my content, I guarantee you, because I've been saying this for 30 years and says, if you want to build self-confidence, you've got to keep the promises you make to yourself. Yes. Everyone says that now. I'm pretty sure I said it first, but even if I didn't, who cares? And so if you don't have any self-confidence, it's because you have a reputation with yourself of keeping the,
Starting point is 00:09:13 you don't keep the promises you make. You want to build self-confidence? start keeping the promises you make, which is great, but anybody can do that. But what if you change the standard? What if it was one more? What if I don't just keep the promises I make to myself, but I do one more? So I'm not just going to keep the promise to work out and do 10 reps in the gym. I'm going to do it and do one more more.
Starting point is 00:09:32 I'm not just going to do cardio and do 30 minutes. I'm going to do it and one more minute. I'm not just going to make 10 contacts a day, keep that promise. I'm going to do the 10 contacts, keep the promise, and my standards, one more. I'm not just going to tell my daughter I love her every day and keep that promise to myself. I'm going to do it, and then I'm going to do it one more time every day. Now you're superhuman. Now you've transformed yourself into someone who had no self-confidence to confidence to superhuman.
Starting point is 00:09:57 And so that's the standard that changes our life, and that's how we begin to reprogram our RAS. Now that we have a basic understanding of RAS and how it shows up in our lives, let's get into how to reprogram it. Like Ed said, visualization is very beneficial to practice because it teaches our brain what is important to us. But what other steps can we take to rewire our brains? I talked to John Asseraph on episode number 63, train your brain. John is a human behavior expert who appeared in the smash hit 2006 film The Secret, which outlines the power of the law of attraction. The law of attraction is essentially the same phenomenon that Ed was referring to when talking about rewiring your rash.
Starting point is 00:10:38 Here, John walks us through the four parts of putting the law of attraction into practice, creating a clear vision for what we want, setting goals that will move us toward that vision, activating the emotions we need in order to achieve those goals, and building the habits we need to move our goals from possible to probable. How would we begin to start to put the law of attraction into practice? Like, if for somebody who's never done this before, what are some simple ways where we can start to change our daily lives so that we put this into practice? Love it.
Starting point is 00:11:10 Well, you first have to start off with clarity. of a vision. So if you were an archer, what's the thing that you have to learn if you're an archer? Well, first you have to learn on how to focus on the bullseye, right? Whatever it is that you're trying to hit, you have to learn how to block out everything else because all of your attention needs to go on the target. So first, you have to start off with what is the vision that you have? Like, what do you see? Is it clear or is it confusing? Is it organized or is it chaotic?
Starting point is 00:11:47 So first you start off with a vision for the target. And that's step one. Step number two is what are some goals that you can have on your way to achieving the vision? That's two. Number three is what do you need to believe about yourself? or about the vision that you want to achieve. Write that down. Number three, what emotions do you need to activate
Starting point is 00:12:21 in order to be in a positive, constructive emotion, energy in motion to help you achieve those goals and that vision? That's number three. Number four, what habits do you think would help you achieve the goals that you have? What habits? So what daily habits, weekly habits, maybe hourly habits would you need to have that would make those goals really be more probable instead of possible? Probable instead of possible, right? So that's part, you know, that's the first part of it. And then the question is this. And I want everybody to pay close attention to what I'm about to share with you.
Starting point is 00:13:08 If you're thinking of any goal that you have, whether it's spiritual health and well-being, whether it's emotional, mental, physical, whether it's a business goal or career goal, whether it's any goal that we have in health, wealth, relationships, career, business, fun, or experiences, the how-to already exists, right? The how-to, how to do X or Y, already exists. Unless you're trying to colonize Mars, most people who are in. listening right now don't really need to be innovative. Yeah. So all of the how to, the strategies, the tactics, all of that exists already. So your lack of knowledge or skill is the least of your
Starting point is 00:13:51 concerns right now because all of that already exists. You can read about it. You can buy a blueprint for it. You can get coached for it. You can watch a YouTube video. You can Google it. And you can get all the how to. So let's take care of what has to happen before the how to. So let's get our beliefs in line. Let's get our emotions in line. Let's get our habits in line. And that is really the precursor to all of it. We can get the alignment, the coherence between all of it. That's when we activate the law of attraction. We'll be right back after a quick break from our sponsors. At Yap, we have a super unique company culture. We're all about obsessive excellence. We even call ourselves scrappy hustlers. And I'm really picky when it
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Starting point is 00:17:06 annual plan. That's 30% off in 2026. Again, that's framer.com slash profiting for 30% off. Framer.com slash profiting. Rules and restrictions apply. Reprogramming your RAS starts with a vision. Then you step into that vision by mimicking the thoughts and emotion that goal will bring you. While all these efforts to achieve your manifestations are conscious, the real magic comes from tapping into your subconscious mind. Most of our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are actually unconscious. Our brains are like computers. By default, we operate on our original coding. However, we can rewrite our code by reprogramming our RAS, which will eventually change how we view the world on a fundamental level. Let's hear from John Astorap again and learn what he has to say about
Starting point is 00:17:55 taking hold of our subconscious mind. I think it's really important so people really understand this to get a sense of the difference between our conscious and subconscious brains and really what happens when they become unaligned. And to also understand that most of what happens in our brain happens at the subconscious level, like 95 to 95% of brain activity actually happens at the subconscious level. That is correct. So, you know, if we were to take a look at what does our brain do and how does it work? Well, our conscious brain, as you mentioned, is responsible for imagination. It's responsible for choosing this or that. It's responsible to give things, meanings. It's responsible for us being able to tell ourselves, we're tired, let's go to sleep,
Starting point is 00:18:44 etc. But our subconscious brain is keeping your DNA intact right now. It's digesting your food. It's allowing you to see and delete or distort anything you don't need, but only pay attention to what you do need. It is the power grid, the power center of you and me, and yet most people don't know how to operate it. And like I said, we have a brain, but we haven't been given the user's manual for it. And I've been studying this for over 40 years now. And what is the user's manual so I can use the conscious part of my brain properly and the subconscious part of my brain properly? And once you start to realize that you have a lot more control than you ever had, because you're not your brain.
Starting point is 00:19:35 This is the most incredible thing to think about is, I have a brain, but I'm not my brain. It's like you have a heart, but you're not your heart. You have hands, but you're not your hands. You can start to use the tools better. And so our subconscious brain doesn't know the difference between something real or imagine. Your conscious brain does, but your subconscious brain doesn't.
Starting point is 00:19:58 So if you can impress a new belief, into your subconscious mind. If you can impress a vision into your subconscious mind, whether it's a vision of you being, you know, healthier, are you being in a great relationship, you earning more money, you having the job of your dreams, if you can envision it and impress that into the subconscious mind, not one time, but hundreds of times,
Starting point is 00:20:23 then you can start to create that neural network and pattern, and then your subconscious mind then goes to work at making that a reality. And something that I like to use as a visual so people understand this even better is imagine if we're sitting in a movie theater and we're watching a movie. And there's some things happening on the screen
Starting point is 00:20:45 that we don't like. Does it make sense for us to get up, go to the screen, and spray paint the screen to eliminate what we don't like? Of course not. It would make sense if we don't like what's on the screen, to go back up to the projection room, to get the, whether the DVD or whatever the movie is playing through,
Starting point is 00:21:08 and change the script on the DVD so that the projection would be different. That's exactly how our brains work. We don't see the world as it is. We see the world as we are conditioned to see the world. We're projecting our beliefs and our experiences and our values onto the canvas and screen of the world. And it's a very odd shift that people have to make to understand reality that way.
Starting point is 00:21:41 And so we achieve the results that we are conditioned and wired to achieve, not what we're capable of achieving. So we don't earn what we are capable of achieving. We earn what we are conditioned to earn. The process of rewiring your brain may feel like a daunting task, and it definitely won't happen overnight. It takes time for your brain to fully absorb and embody new programming. One simple way to begin this process of reprogramming is through
Starting point is 00:22:10 a powerful morning routine. Let's listen to a clip from my interview with Benjamin Hardy. He's the author of the best-selling book, Willpower Doesn't Work. He joined me on Yap for episode number seven. This is when I first started the podcast over four years ago, and the conversation was so good, I still vividly remember it. Benjamin is an or... organizational psychologist. He's also a super famous blogger who has built the perfect morning routine to optimize his success. Check out how his popular morning routine will get us into a peak state and help us manifest the vision we've created for ourselves. Something really popular you have is a morning ritual and getting into peak state. Can you describe that to our listeners? Yeah, absolutely.
Starting point is 00:22:52 So basically the idea is really simple. You know, first thing in the morning, you don't want to be, distracted and reactive to the addictions in the environment, such as smartphones and things like that, you actually want to give yourself space to think about what you want to do that day, who you want to be, what you want to do big picture and long term. And so most people, their day is a repeat of the past. They wake up, they get caught into their subconscious loops, whether that be through smartphones or through just the foods they eat or through their schedule and their routine. And they just, they live a pretty predictable life. But if you want to create a lot of life from your future rather than from your past, you have to give yourself the space to actually
Starting point is 00:23:32 think about that. And so that's, I think, in my opinion, the core reason for having a morning routine. Obviously, in the morning routine, you can actually start behaving towards that future as well, and then you can start creating it. You can also do things like fitness and do those things which are more important than urgent. But the idea of getting yourself into a peak state is really connected to this idea and self-improvement called be, then do, then have. And basically what it means is that in order to have something, you have to first be that thing. You have to be and then you have to do and then you have to act. And so you want to give yourself space. And in the book, I talk a lot about journaling. You know, obviously there's a lot written to the idea of writing down your goals. But
Starting point is 00:24:12 writing down your goals and visualizing them has to also include really truly experiencing the emotion of what it would be like and feel like to have achieved those goals. Like, that's what true being feels like. You actually want to assume there's, There's a really good quote from, I forget his last name, Neville something. And that might even be his last name. But he said, assume the feeling of your wish fulfilled. Basically, you want to ponder, meditate, write about what you're trying to accomplish, and you want to feel, feel gratitude, feel powerful emotions about what it would actually
Starting point is 00:24:48 be like to have that and then believe it. And what's cool is that your brain doesn't actually know the difference between true experience versus visualized and emotional imagination. Albert Einstein said that imagination is more important than knowledge. It's far more powerful than knowledge, and it can stimulate your brain the same way. And so when you give yourself space in the morning to write about your goals, you know, and you can obviously work out,
Starting point is 00:25:11 and you put yourself into the emotional place of the future you want to create, then you act from that future. You be, and then you do. You start acting from the future you want to have versus acting the same way you did yesterday. that creates what I would call peak state because you're in this flow where you're living intentionally and you're living on purpose and it just feels a lot better than just doing what you're doing because that's how things have been done and obviously there's a lot of a lot that
Starting point is 00:25:41 comes with acting with intention like when you start acting in new ways it can create a lot of uncertainty because when you act in new ways it's slightly unpredictable you know there's a reason why people act the same way every day is because it's predictable and they like their lives to be predictable. Our brains seek prediction. But when you do something new, you've stepped out of those boundaries. You've stepped out of the realm of like, oh, I know exactly how this is going to turn out. And it feels different. But what that feeling is, even though it's uncertainties, is that it's actually being alive. Like it's actually doing something new like you did when you were a kid, where you didn't actually know exactly what would happen, but you were okay with that. And that is
Starting point is 00:26:19 really good for the brain and it's really good for the body. And it's, it's, it's, it's just a great way to live. And it's better to live that way with intention, even though you don't exactly know how it's going to turn out, than being reactive and just doing the same thing you did before. Young improfitors, think back to what John Asarav said about the law of attraction. Write down your goals and feel the emotions you want to feel when you reach those goals. Just now, Benjamin was teaching us how to use that tactic every single day
Starting point is 00:26:46 by incorporating it into our morning routines. When you spend that precious morning time focusing on your goals, you are priming your mind to subconsciously seek out actions that will help you achieve those goals throughout the day. It interrupts the old patterns of thoughts that keep you stuck and actively moves you towards the person you knew you could be. Finally, I want to talk about one of the most important practices you can engage in to reprogram your RAS. To me, the real meat of this process comes from learning to catch your self-limiting beliefs and reprogram them as they occur. John Gordon, the international best-selling author of 23 books, came on Yap for episode number 113,
Starting point is 00:27:24 Look on the Bright Side. I want to share his insight now on how to challenge our internal dialogue to enforce our new programming. Okay, so I want to talk about another book that you wrote called The Garden, and in it you had a story about James Gills, and he ran six double iron mans when he was 59 years old, and he did that by ignoring his negative self-chatter. Instead of listening, to himself, he talked to himself. Can you share that story with us? My favorite advice of all time. He is the only person on the planet to complete six double Ironman triathlons. And he was asked how he did it. He said this. I've learned to talk to myself instead of listening to myself. He said if I listen, I hear all the negative, the fear,
Starting point is 00:28:07 the doubt, all the reasons why I can't finish this race. But if I talk to myself, I could feed myself with the words and the encouragement that I need to keep on moving forward. Okay, let's talk about this for a second. So often we have negative thoughts that come in. And I ask people all the time, when I speak to professional athletes, hey, do your negative thoughts come from you? They're always like, yeah, of course, they're in my head. Here's my next question.
Starting point is 00:28:30 Really? Who would ever choose to have a negative thought? Would you choose a negative thought? No, I wouldn't. Would you ever choose a thought that sabotages you? We have the imposter syndrome, so many of us. Would you choose to have the imposter syndrome? No.
Starting point is 00:28:46 So where are those thoughts coming from? They come from consciousness. When you're sleeping, dreaming, having a nightmare, are you choosing those dreams? Are you choosing those thoughts when you're walking down the street? An idea comes to you. Did you choose it or you're in the shower? No.
Starting point is 00:29:00 When that naive thought pops in that says, you're not going to make it. He or she's not going to like you. You're not enough. Those thoughts are not coming from you. You would never choose them. They come in so fast from consciousness, from a spiritual place.
Starting point is 00:29:14 And they're in your head. So you think they're from you. You believe it. you reinforce it, you now speak it out loud, and then you feel guilt and shame or pessimism for having those thoughts in the first place. The key is, just because you have a negative thought doesn't mean you have to believe it.
Starting point is 00:29:29 Don't believe the lies that they tell. Instead, you want to speak truth to those lies as Dr. James Gill's did, right? The lie comes in, you're not enough, yes, I am. You don't have what it takes. I am here to do great things. I always ask people, do you want to be great? Everyone says yes.
Starting point is 00:29:45 I've never heard anyone say I want to be average. Why do we want to be great? Because deep down we know there's greatness within us. And so we have a desire to do great things. But we have these voices that say we're not great. And that is the battle of the mind. That is what the garden is all about. It's the battle of the mind every day.
Starting point is 00:30:01 Negative thoughts? Speaking truth to those lies. Right? So here's what you do. On a piece of paper, on the left side of a piece of paper, you write down all your negative thoughts, your negative patterns. We do this in our leadership training right here. So they're getting some leadership training right here.
Starting point is 00:30:14 On your left side, write down all your negative thoughts that come to you. You know which ones come to you. Right? Hala, you have yours. I'm not going to ask you to share. I have mine. They always come in. Write them down. On the right side, write down the words of encouragement that you would share and speak to yourself when those negative thoughts come in. Truth, right? Truth. I am enough. I am here to do something great. I do have my gifts and I have my talents. There is a plan for me. There is a future for me. Whatever it is for you, you write those down. And anytime those negative thoughts come in, you start speaking truth. It's going to feel weird at first, right? but you keep doing it over time.
Starting point is 00:30:48 Eventually you will walk in that truth, you will walk in that power and you reshape your perspective and the way you think. And this was my journey. I want people to know, I was so unworthy when I first started. I want to be honest,
Starting point is 00:30:59 I was so unworthy. Who am I to be sharing this? Who am I to be doing this work? When the energy bus came out and I started speaking in front of people, like I just didn't feel worthy. Like, why should they listen in me? And then I started to say to myself,
Starting point is 00:31:11 you are worthy. Like not on your own, but you're worthy because you're here to make a difference. It's not about you. It's about imping. impacting others and your purpose is greater than your challenges. So focus on your purpose, make a difference. So I would literally talk to myself each time. And over time, eventually,
Starting point is 00:31:25 I start to feel worthy. My purpose started to drive me. And I was like, okay, I am here to do this and there's a reason for it. And that drove me even more. Do I still get down? Do I still get nervous before talks? You bet. I've given over several thousand talks. I still get nervous. Sometimes I still look in the crowd and go, oh, that person's yawning over there. Maybe they're not interested. And I have to remind myself, keep sharing the message. Keep doing the work. And so it's this battle that we face every day. And you have to understand that you are in a battle because these negative thoughts are trying to sabotage you, but you can overcome with this plan. Dr. James Gills gave us a blueprint. And I'm just sharing it right here. And it's
Starting point is 00:32:01 really powerful when you do it. That is super powerful. And I want everybody to pay attention because basically what you're saying is don't just listen to your negative thoughts, combat them with positive thoughts that you think of yourself, not just like letting your mind just go like on pilot. mode, you know, you want to actually proactively think of positive things and tell yourself positive things. So James Gills, when he was running these races, his mind was saying, I'm old, I'm 59 years old, I shouldn't be doing this race. And then he would tell himself, no, I'm healthy, I'm doing great. I'm in the lead, whatever it was to just help him keep going. So I think in high-stakes situations, guys, remember that when you're in a job interview and you have negative
Starting point is 00:32:39 thoughts. Tell yourself positive things like in these high-stakes situations. That's when you need to remember it. And even do it before the high stake. I really started to practice this because you do build up resilience. You build up mental strength, mental muscle. The more you do this, it will become more automatic. You will have a go-to. So just like a baseball batter, knows who's routine, deep breath. Let's go. See ball, hip-ball. Hold tight, everyone. Let's take a quick break and hear from our sponsors. Hey, young improfitors. As an entrepreneur, I know firsthand that getting a huge expense off your books is the best possible feeling. It gives you peace of mind and it lets you focus on the big picture and invest in other things that move your business forward.
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Starting point is 00:37:07 Yap, fam, remember what I said at the beginning of this episode. Your RAS is programmed through repetition. And John's practice of repeatedly catching his negative self-talk and countering it, reshaped his mind into a facilitator of a success rather than a detractor holding him back. Starting right now, I want you to begin to pay close attention to your thoughts and talking back to the ones that don't serve you. Be proactive in coming up with responses to negative thoughts that regularly occur so that you're prepared when they do appear. After repeated practice countering these negative thoughts, you'll notice that the positive, uplifting voice starts to cut
Starting point is 00:37:43 through the noise more clearly, just like it did for John. And as you implement these tactics, you'll start to feel unstoppable. And there you have it, folks, our top takeaways from some of the most renowned professionals on how to reprogram your RAS. Chances are, if you're listening to this, you already know what you want to change about yourself. In fact, you probably know what you need to do to make those changes as well. But there's just something holding you back and blocking you from being the person you know you could be. And that's where today's episode comes in. It's your brain that needs to change. And while that might not be easy and seems really daunting, there are proven techniques
Starting point is 00:38:21 that work. The first thing you need to do is create a vision for your life. What do you truly desire? Where do you see yourself in five, ten years? Where do you want to be? Who do you want to be? And then what do you need to get there? What feelings do you need to activate in order to get there?
Starting point is 00:38:36 What habits do you need to form in order to reach those goals? And once you have those questions answered, start taking the steps to carry them out by establishing a solid morning routine that primes your mind for success so you can take on the day. And then throughout the day, check in on yourself and your thoughts. What thoughts are holding you back from the person you want to be? What negativity are you telling yourself? And what do you want to be thinking instead? And guys, talk to yourself. Don't just listen to those negative thoughts. Make sure you talk back to yourself and turn those thoughts around. Rewiring your brain for success takes time and repetition. But you are so worth it, young improfitors. The accomplishment of your dreams
Starting point is 00:39:17 is worth it. We only have one brain. It is a magical brain. We are so lucky to have this incredible brain of ours. We are privileged to be human beings. So let's do the work to train it so that it works for us and not against us. If you like this Yapsnack's episode, be sure to check out all the full interviews featured in today's show. That is number seven Willpower Sucks with Benjamin Hardy. Number 63, train your brain with John Asraf. Number 113, look on the bright side with John Gordon. And lastly, number 173, the power of one more with Ed Milette, which was one of my favorite recent conversations on the show. Thank you so much for listening to Yapsnacks. Thanks to my awesome production team for helping me put this on. Shout out to Amelia for pulling all the clips.
Starting point is 00:40:02 You did a great job. And shout out to Jason, Punez, Matt, and the entire team. Couldn't do this without you. That's my production team. Love those guys. We were voted, actually, number one podcast agency and fastest growing podcast agency of 2022 at the Quill Podcast Award. So congratulations to the Yap team for that. And if you guys enjoyed this episode, make sure you drop us a five-star review on your favorite podcast platform. Apple Podcasts mean the most personally to me because I'm trying to grow my presence on that platform. But if you're listening on Cast Box or Playfm or Spotify, drop us a comment or review on there as well. Whatever is easier.
Starting point is 00:40:39 You guys can also find me on Instagram at Yap with Hala. I'm also on LinkedIn. You can search for my name. It's Hala Taha. Well, without further ado, this is your host. Halataha signing off.

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