Something almost magical happens when you become aware of anything new. You try a new food, and a whole flavor profile opens up to you. You become aware of AI, and it seems like everything is running on, or going to be running on that.

In my first book, Choosing Your Power, I offer a thinking model noting that awareness leads to choice and choice leads to greater awareness. That is, the more you become aware of, the more choices you have and the more choices you have, the more open you are to exploring more for yourself.

That’s a great, upward expanding spiral! 

From a science-based perspective, your reticular activating system (RAS) is designed to keep you alert and aware of anything familiar and anything threatening. Anything it filters as “not that” doesn’t even enter into your awareness.

Let’s use the food example: You go to a restaurant, you scan the menu, you could report to your dining mate that you’ve read the entire thing, and yet, it’s likely you’ve selected something you’re at least somewhat familiar with. 

Why? In a word – safety.

We humans have some strong human drives. Two are in opposition. One is safety, the other is novelty. We like to experience new things. Typically, novelty is a grand, planned event. A vacation to a new location is filled with novelty. You set out to experience something new.

While on vacation, you might notice yourself looking for the familiar. I’ll admit to becoming slightly judgmental when tourists seek out familiar fast-food chains. Why travel thousands of miles to look for something you can get at home? Safety. 

Safety = stuckness. 

We’re into the second quarter of the New Year and you can assess how you’ve done with your resolutions. If you were really “resolute,” you’d have done quite a bit by now to become the person that has or does what you said you wanted.

Today, right now as you’re reading this, think about what you want. Envision it. Feel what it would be like to experience living in the way that a person who has or does what you said you wanted for yourself would live. What do they do that you’re not doing right now?

Can you see yourself doing it? Can you feel what it’d be like to have something that’s outside of what’s familiar? Hold that vision firmly in mind multiple times a day and soon you’ll find yourself moving towards it. When you become aware of what’s possible, opportunities for your goal or desire show themselves.

That’s the RAS in action. Your awareness expands. Then, when you say “yes” to those opportunities, you are on the path to creating the inevitable. 

You have a goal. You hold a deep vision of that goal. You become aware of new opportunities. You say yes to those opportunities. And soon, that goal becomes your reality. Only by stepping away from the safety of what you already know can you create the (inevitable) outcome you truly want. 

When you learn a new skill (a language, cooking technique, or musical instrument, for example), your practice moves from awkward to natural. You then have what’s known as agency. Real change begins when agency moves from an idea into your everyday choices.

You become more aware of what’s possible. You see opportunities and make choices that move you toward your goal.

This all sounds easy and logical. While it can be, there are a lot of distractions that keep you from fulfilling what it is you said you wanted. Your subconscious is drawn toward safety, so you have to commit to being slightly uncomfortable and doing something new. 

Creating the inevitable starts with holding your envisioned positive outcome firmly in mind. Create your personal that vibrant vision and feel what it would be to live as though you already had the outcome you want.

Read that last paragraph again and take your best next step toward your desire today.

See you here next week.

Keep making your magic.

= Wayne =