Ras Reticular Activation System. Like I said, we've talked about it before. It's such a huge topic. So important to understand it. So to add some context of it, I just want to share a little bit of a. I'll share an analogy, right? So think of your mind like an airport control tower. Thousands of planes overhead, buzzing around, wanting to come in for a landing. But radar, if you're the guy looking at the screen, only has a few blips on his screen because if the radar doesn't have it tagged, and these are important words, as a threat or as value, it might as well not exist. It doesn't matter. And that's how our brains think, our RAS looks and thinks about what is a threat or what is of value. So the MIC drop here, from my perspective, is that opportunities don't disappear. They actually filter themselves out. They don't even appear because we have a belief system and the overall view of the world that we have prevents us from seeing those opportunities. Opportunities. As a matter of fact, I often coach, especially on the real estate over the years. I've often said, if you don't think it's possible an opportunity could literally land on your lap and you wouldn't recognize it as an opportunity, that's your RAs, that's your reticular activating system, shutting that opportunity down. It doesn't show up that way. Your brain filters it doesn't see, it doesn't think about it. Not even like, you know, you missed something. So our job today, if we choose to accept it, Stephanie, is we want to help individuals to consider how to reprogram or change out that filter so that you look at the future differently and get rid of the excuses and then start asking yourself a different set of questions. So, you know, based on some of the programs we've done and based on our research and our experience here, I came up with, or we came up with, I've shared with you five mine shui principles to reset your RAs.
B (5:21)
This is so exciting because as we go into 20, 26, and we want to set goals and intentions, et cetera, but if we don't reflect on our current operating system, we call it, in Mindshui, we call it our osi, our operating identity, our system of operating system of identity, what happens is that our reticular activating system, which is that filter, takes orders from our identity, from our ego. What keeps us safe, what keeps us not changing. Right? So if your OSI is unclear, it's outdated, it's fear based. Maybe your perception is distorted before you even get started. So I don't know, maybe we have to ask who must I be operating as for this goal, this outcome, this intention to make sense today, not what to do, but who do I have to be? Who do I have to become? Can I actually change my operating system of identity plus my perception and let it upgrade automatically? Kind of like in your phone, right? And it'll happen, though slowly, over time, but we have to give it the opportunity and we have to know ourselves, know thyself well enough to know that our operating system of identity is going to be triggered and ran by our ego or our identity.
A (6:45)
So your operating system is so important, right? And you know, to your point is that, you know, we need to update, we need to update our operating system. So when I, when we talk about our operating system of identity within the context of my shway, I like to say it's kind of like updating the software in your computer or your operating system. Like you said of your phone, when you update it, it generally runs better. At least you're aware of it. And in an operating system on your phone, for example, you make a decision, you look at and say, okay, what do I need to upgrade here? Is this going to make a difference in my phone world? And you say yes or no. You don't do all updates or maybe you shouldn't, but that's a different conversation anyway. So that's how we want to look at our own operating system. Okay, so number two is that we need to bring the hidden beliefs that we talk a lot about to the surface and consider what's running the filter. So every RAS bias is anchored to a hidden belief. And those hidden beliefs are usually unexamined, they're actually usually inherited. So it's something we grow up with. We don't even realize that we're operating on it. It's part of our operating system. You know, we'll have stories like, I can't because, okay, I can't because what the hidden belief that will be in that excuse could be because I'm not enough. There's no opportunity because, well, there's no opportunity because perhaps the hidden belief I'm not worthy, people don't like me, or people like me don't, or I can't participate in their world. So there's a story in a belief system that I'm not enough, I'm not worthy, I'm not smart enough. Whatever the conversation might be is I Just can't participate in that world. I'm too much of a loner or.
A (8:40)
Just the way I am. So a reset might be to ask yourself a great question. A lot of what I'm going to share, we're going to share here now is built into. In around questions or built around questions. So if we answer to. Back to the reset part. If I'm stuck, answer this question if I'm stuck or finish this statement. If I'm stuck, it must be because I believe what If I'm stuck, it must be because I believe what. So let's just unpack that a little bit more, go a little deeper on. Must be because if I'm stuck, it must be because I believe I'll use this one. The economy sucks. Okay, great. That's what you believe. But what do you believe about yourself within the economy? Which is? I'm not smart enough to see my way through it. I don't have the skills I need to see my way through. Okay, great. So then what do I need for support to get through it? What specifically do I need to learn to get through it? Who do I specifically need to contact? Because otherwise you stay stuck because you believe it's the economy. No, it's how you operate within the economy. Okay, so it stays hidden, keeps running the systems.
A (10:03)
Okay. What stays hidden keeps running the system. Our job is to bring our awareness and our attention to. To it. Asking ourselves the question. Okay? And questions. So, okay, we're going to carry on. And this is the, the number three here is a big one because we, within our mind Shui Self Mastery program that we did, we talked about values and meta values. So our statement here. Go ahead, Stephanie, this is yours.
B (10:35)
Well, I think as we go through this conversation and we start to identify what is running our operating system and our identity and how we're staying true to it, we have to be able to re anchor to what's called our meta values, not our emotions. Our emotions lie to us. You know, there's only two feelings or emotions. Sorry. There's love and there's fear and the rest are just feelings underneath that. And our R doesn't respond to motivation. It responds either to values. Does it align with my values or threats? Am I gonna die? Right. That's what it responds to. That's it. So when it's anchored into our identity that way and emotions lead, our perception actually decreases. It shrinks. So what we presented and we had such an amazing experience in the Mind Shui program. We did the Mind Shui reset and what we learned to do was to re anchor our decisions not to choices, this or that, but to what we called meta values to our meta values. We've been working so much on values, core values, driving values, you know, seven areas of life values. But what happens when we let circumstances or circumstances conflict with our core values? What happens if they clash?
B (12:34)
When we have to make a choice, we get paralyzed and we end up sometimes splitting the difference. So what happens is that when we're talking about meta values, what we want to do is invite people to have the conversation around ownership. What's the agency that we are committed to? What's our responsibility when it comes to that? Like if you're thinking about a value and you have a values conflict, what the meta value is, is going to be okay, where am I going to be? What's my highest truth? What is, you know, how am I going to sleep at night? What is truly the agency of my decision? Because you know what? We truly believe that we're the cause, I am the cause of my life. I'm not at the effect of politics and weather and our societal norms and all the things that we talk about, we give our power away to. I have agenc in my life. I have sovereignty, I have choice. I believe still on some level of free will, right? So when we talk about agency, we talk about self leadership. You know, we talk about personal accountability, not just responsibility. What are we accountable for? What's our internal locus of control? Right?
A (13:48)
So this goes back to extreme ownership. So ownership of agency responsibility, I would then for me, I would link that by the way to extreme ownership. That is the self leadership part and the personal accountability, decision ownership. So in other words, when we start to make our, when we start to think about self leadership and personal accountability and then we can start to have our decisions where we own them and that's really what drives responsibility. And then we no longer become victims and we quit making, we quit blaming and making excuses.
B (14:28)
Well, I think with the decision ownership too, when we talk about extreme ownership, the book by Jacquel Willis. And what we talk about, not just about, is responsibility. It seems like such a heavy word, but it's just our response, our ability to respond. And even if we're wrong and we take responsibility for a decision, we're no longer victims, we can no longer blame somebody else. We can't blame the external world, the weather, the politics, the economy, and we stop making excuses. And that's where I think going into 2026, that's really what I want to invite people into the conversation is that how do we take full responsibility and accountability and agency over our decisions? So we're no longer victims to the external.
A (15:14)
Yeah, well, okay, so let's do another example. So if integrity is a core value, one of those ones that's really common, people put integrity on their list of core values all the time. But what does it really mean? So if we do a meta value, when your integrity is being challenged, okay, so for example, truth before comfort, think about that. What does that mean? Well, somebody asks you a question, somebody invites you to do something and the comfortable thing to do would be to make excuse to agree to do something that you don't really want to do because the truth is uncomfortable.
A (16:00)
Yes, exactly. So truth before comfort, those are kind of meta values that check integrity. When you've got the challenge of integrity so you have the reality over the narrative, it's radical honesty that can be really confrontational for some people. It's the testing of reality, intellectual humility, it drives those things drive integrity, it kills the rationalization or our self deception where we justify, quantify or qualify the reason we want to stay comfortable because.
B (16:59)
So that widens things and it shifts. But what happens when we let our emotions drive us? It narrows our perspective. Like we actually are then operating based on, you know, historical traumas, little T, big T, et cetera. But I think when we break down meta values and we see just how clearly they show up, it's almost like, you know, that eye test, is it A or is it B? Is it B or is it C?
A (17:26)
Okay, number four is run a reality check with, I don't know, we use the term clean counsel, but it's with somebody that can be neutral, neutral, disconnected, you know, not have an opinion.
B (17:55)
So what we did in the mind training reset is that we asked, you know, before any major decision, ask yourself, who can challenge my thinking without attacking my identity? Or how do I challenge my own thinking? And what are the quality of the questions that I'm asking myself? Because that in a sense is the Mind Shui council. If we don't have an outside trusted advisor, somebody that will call us on our bullshit or just holds a space neutrally that will just hand us back what we're giving out, then it's very difficult. That's where that loop gets in and we get stuck in our head. Right. So what we need is what we call our mind Shui Council. It's like the council of advisors that live outside of us. Or if it's inside of us, do we have the quality questions that we can ask ourselves in our journal or something? It's like who can challenge my thinking about without attacking my identity? Because that's the first part and. Or how do I challenge my own thinking on my own?
A (18:59)
I think the biggest breakthrough that I had years ago and I still struggle with it sometimes, but I got to it pretty, pretty clearly, which is feedback isn't criticism. And what I, I guess you have to get a little older and like me and you have to get a little thicker skinned. But ultimately, even when people are being critical, unless they're literally throwing shade on meter, like intentionally, you know, like if it's, if it, if they're doing it to hurt. Right. Doesn't matter the criticism, it really doesn't. It's a way that we can take that criticism, listen to it and then recalibrate if that's what we think we need to do.
B (19:42)
Well, I think what we have to realize too is recently I think people have become less coachable and less inclined to take feedback that is just neutral and clean. And every time, you know, now you look on social media or wherever and people are just talking and they're taking so much defense, defense positions. Feedback from a coaching standpoint is about taking a look at things differently, shifting your perception. And if you're not coachable, you're not going to hear that, you're going to hear it as criticism.
A (20:16)
Well, and again, that's all part of your RAs. So we have to Think in those terms. It's so interesting over the years because as coaches and we've certainly listened to a lot of people and a lot of stuff going on, but we're so. We're not connected to it like we're. We have judgment around it. Our job is to sort through it, help you, to ask you the right questions, and because you always have the answers, that's. Anyways, I digress, but it is an interesting reflection is we just don't have any judgment around that stuff.
B (20:55)
You know, it's funny, just. I don't want to take it off the rails, but I pulled a card today, a stefism. Remember the Stephisms, 52 cards. I pulled one today, and it just said, the truth is, you already know it's true.
A (21:26)
It is. This one. I struggled with this one for so long, and at times I still do, I think. But at least I have a place to go, which is move first, clarity follows action. Clarity is not a prerequisite. It's a byproduct of taking action. Incremental, intentional steps. And as you do that, your RAS updates really quickly after you take the action, not after contemplation.
B (22:00)
Oh, man. Like, don't step over that, cowboy. Because when you think about our RAs, it's actually one of the only parts of our brain that's constantly updating. And it can. It updates really quickly after we take action. But if we're sitting there, you know, mulling things over and contemplating waiting things for be, you know, to be perfect, it actually starts to shrink and it locks in our identity more than anything.
A (22:25)
So think about what we did when we launched Mind shui, our self mastery program. We ran a beta pilot and we had whatever, a dozen or 14. I don't recall what the count was. It doesn't matter. But we had a small group of people that all knew they were in for the beta pilot. We kind of laid out ground rules and said, you know, we don't know how this is going to go now. We could have sat for however many more weeks longer because we had new content or content that we'd never produced in a group setting before. We didn't know how it was going to land and timing and all the rest of it. We learned so much by taking action, and it was far from what we would want it to be. Or I don't want to say far, but well, actually probably a long ways from what we want it to be and we. What it'll eventually be. We learned so much. That was a huge lesson doing that beta pilot and a group of people that were all kind of. They put their hand up first. They were early adopters. It was really fun.
B (23:25)
But the great thing too is they also knew that part of this was they were going to be giving us feedback and they were going to be challenging. What, you know, we thought we knew or giving us feedback or input, you know, And I think had we waited any longer and just didn't di. We just dove in and went, okay, okay, Cheryl, how are we going to do this and what's going to be this? What's the schedule? And, you know, we were just basically winging it. I mean, with the foundation of what we wanted it to be. But ultimately, had we waited, we wouldn't have had the clarity. And, you know, it's really funny because our theme last year and now going forward, I think is clarity equals velocity. But velocity doesn't have to mean speed. It doesn't have to mean, you know, intensity. Clarity is not a prerequisite for changing. It's a commitment to taking the smallest steps in the direction that you want to go. And when we do that, that's where the velocity kicks in.
A (25:24)
So resetting. Resetting your reticular activation system. So reflect on your operating of identity, your osi, your operating system. And that's the first thing that you're going to want to do and pay attention to Second is bring the hidden belief. Look at your hidden beliefs, bring them to the surface to understand what's running the filter you're looking through. Because every RAS bias is anchored to a hidden belief, usually, almost always an examine. So in other words, you got to go looking for it, but you got to ask yourself, what is the hidden belief I'm operating on top of? Okay, number three is re anchor to your meta values. So in other words, we know what our core values are. But when your core value gets tested, is it this or is it that? Okay, we use the one integrity. I thought that was a really good one. You know, is it going to be comfort or is it going to be truth? And that in there, in lies the challenges that we face that we have to kind of look at. Number four was run a reality check with what we referred to as a clean console. A group or somebody that, you know, that can be neutral, can listen and can play back to you what you've said and see what shows up when they ask you a different set of questions or challenge your thinking in some way that makes you ask yourself a different set of questions. And finally, number five was move first. Because clarity follows action. It is not a prerequisite to taking action. Clarity is not a prequel, a prerequisite to taking action. And this one, I'm going to go one level deeper because I think it's so, so important. The mistake I've made countless times, I've watched many make countless times. We have this great plan. We work on it. We build a baby grand piano before we even launch it. And then we find out we only needed a player piano. We didn't even need a piano. We should have used drums. So it's like, start with one step. What do you learn? Oh, look at this. That's interesting. Then make another decision. Take another step, make another decision. As you learn, as you go along, if you're working backwards from that outcome, don't wait to build a baby grand piano when all you need is a set of drums. I don't know. Anyways, Stephanie, that was awesome. Thank you.
B (28:06)
Thank you. I just have one last thing to say is that what I'm really seeing going into this next year and, you know, people that are moving forward and wanting to shift their focus and maybe live their best lives or at least move towards that, is that you're not broken, you know, and you don't need to be fixed. None of us are broken. But if we don't know our identity or at least have an idea and getting feedback in how we're operating. It's very difficult to set goals and to move your life forward. And I think any personal development, professional development, self mastery type of program or environment has to begin with being grounded in helping people uncover their identity, their operating system, you know, shine a light on some hidden beliefs and then move forward. Because if we don't connect and find that safety in being okay with who we are and how we've operated up to this point, then people will, you know, leave whatever program or they'll quit because they feel broken and that they, they're going to be, you know, in a loop of failure. So I just want to invite you to consider that any program that you take, whether it's mind shui or you move forward and take a coaching course or whatever, is to make sure it starts with helping you figure out your operating system of identity and how that shows up in your life. Because to me, that has been the most life changing work we've ever done.
A (29:45)
Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for listening. If you found value in the podcast, please take the time to rate and review and share with others. Share with your friends as it is more my goal to always improve and to provide the highest value for you, the listener. If you have any comments, suggestions or questions you'd like answered, please email me@ceoraincanada.com that's ceor e I n canada.com I look forward to hearing from you. And until next time, Patrick O.
