E42 - How you can use your brain to boost your creativity and achieve goals
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[00:00:00] Years and years and years ago when Tom and I were building our house, I had to drive by on my way to a studio I was renting in a nearby town. I had to drive by this tree nursery. And on the side lot of this nursery that was really easy to see from the road as I drove by each day, I noticed a grove of birch trees with beautiful white bark on their trunks.
And I thought they were so unusual. And at the time I thought, you know what? I never see these trees anywhere. I guess not many folks have chosen to plant them in their yards for their landscaping, but I want one for our front yard when the house is finished. So when the house was finished, we planted this beautiful birch tree with gorgeous white bark in our front yard.
It's a beauty and I have enjoyed it every single year we have [00:01:00] lived here in the house. Now after we moved into the new home and our birch tree was planted, and I was enjoying it in the front yard, I started to notice. Birch trees. As I walked through our neighborhood and as I drove by other homes I started to see a lot of birch trees. So, were people suddenly planting birch trees? No. I was just suddenly there. noticing them. Has this kind of sudden realization of something that you didn't think was very common suddenly You see it everywhere.
Has this happened to you before? Have you ever bought a new model of car that you weren't really familiar with? Or maybe painted a front door, or bought a pair of unusual colored shoes. And then all of a sudden you start [00:02:00] noticing this unique car everywhere. Or you see this unusual front door color on a lot of houses and suddenly you think, wow, my new shoes.
They must be really trending because I'm seeing them everywhere. Is it magic? Are you super trendy? Or is it serendipity? Nope, it's none of those things, my friend. It's a brain thing. Your attention flows where your focus goes. And my friend, your focus, it defines your future. So what are you focusing on?
We're going to think about that today. is it positive? Or is it negative? And can you use it for good?
When you become aware of how your brain uses information that you focus on, this knowledge can become a skill that you [00:03:00] can put to use towards making your creativity and your life happier and healthier in heart, mind, body, and soul.
Well, hello, my creative friend. Welcome back to another episode of Create Today with Beth Buffington. Thank you so much for joining me here today. And Hey, if you're listening to this episode as an audio on a podcast platform, welcome, welcome, but here's some trivia that you might not know about.Did you know that you can also watch this and all previous episodes of Create Today with Beth Buffington on YouTube? You can. And when you watch Create Today on YouTube, you'll see that I always toss in some fun visuals to illustrate the topics that we discuss, and you will get to enjoy the episode just like you and I are just Sitting in my studio chatting about [00:04:00] all things creative over a warm cup of something delicious.
But no matter how you choose to enjoy Create Today, I am just super happy that you are here. Now in today's episode, we're going to geek out over our amazing brains as we explore a fascinating aspect of the brain that plays a very interesting role in your creativity. We'll be taking a peek into a very unique part of your brain that has a massive impact on your creativity and your ability to meet artistic goals.
It's called the Reticular Activating System, or RAS. Now we're going to explore what it is, how it works and how you can actively use this amazing bit of brainto help you bring more meaningful creativity into your life.
And by [00:05:00] the end of today's episode, you'll not only understand the reticular activating system better, But you'll also learn some practical ways to, for lack of a better phrase, train it so you can filter in more positive inspiration and filter out negative distractions. And then,we'll explore how you can use your reticular activating system as a creative tool, as we discuss how my Doodle Meditation Workshop is going to help you use the benefits your RAS can provide to maximize your creativity and help you reach goals that you thought you could only dream about.
Thanks. Sound intriguing? Yes, it does. So what are we waiting for? Let's get started. First, what in the heck is the reticular activating system?The RAS [00:06:00] is a network of neurons located in the brainstem and it functions as a filter for the thousands of sensory inputs that you experience every second of every day. Imagine the world is a fire hose of events and experiences and stimuli that is endlessly shooting countless tons of information at you every single minute you are awake.
So like the proverbial fire hose of information, your reticular activating system is protecting you from completely drowning in all the data that is deluge at you daily. The RAS works to filter out. access information that is pummeled at you daily, and then it calmly collects the stuff that is going to be helpful to help you focus on what is important to you [00:07:00] today.
So it's constantly working behind the scenes to prioritize what matters most to your current focus. And what's fascinating is that your RAS also Automatically prioritizes information that aligns with your goals and your thoughts and your focus. As interesting as this might seem, um, how does this brain extravaganza apply to how you think and produce work creatively?
Well, my friend, that's a great question. Glad you asked. Think for a moment about a creative goal you might have, whether it's art or writing or music or any other creative passion, because as we know, there are many. Your RAS can help you spot ideas, collect resources, and realize opportunities that support your [00:08:00] unique creative goal.
That's intriguing, right? Yes, it is. So by consciously tuning into and focusing on your artistic goals, your brain, without you even feeling like you've made the effort, can become more alert to the subtle cues of information or experiences that are surrounding you.
And these experiences, when collected, can help boost your creativity. For instance, let's say you're working on a new project. The RAS will scan and filter in anything that you encounter that seems relevant to this particular project.
It is like having a personal assistant in your brain that is highlighting the information that is going to be most useful for your creative growth so you can reach a determined creative goal. goal.
It helps you prioritize the stimuli that [00:09:00] enters your awareness from the vast amount of sensory information that your brain receives every second of every day. You get a lot of junk in, Your RAS is actually just going through figuring out where those little bits of gold are, and that's what it's collecting.
So back when Tom and I were building our house, I was focused on birch trees.
And my RAS was filtering out other types of landscaping that didn't match my focus of trees that had beautiful white bark. So in order to have your RAS work in favor So in order to have your RAS work in favor to help you become happier and more creative, you must consciously do two things. Number one, you must focus on the positive needs and steps needed to achieve your goal.
That's just going to make you feel better about working towards your goal. desired goal. And number two, you must actively not [00:10:00] focus on the negative things that will keep you from reaching your goal. Often negative thoughts will throw you off your path towards success. And as we know, when we focus on negative things, we have negative emotions.
Where your focus goes, that's where result flows.There is a very long list of how the Reticular Activating System can help you become happier and healthier, especially with your creativity. But today, we're going to focus on three super interesting RAS benefits.
Number one, your RAS thrives. when you have a goal oriented focus. So when you set clear goals, your reticular activating system kicks in and kicks butt by helping you notice opportunities, [00:11:00] ideas, resources that can help you rocket towards your goals.
when you're working on a creative project, your RAS will make you more aware of conversations and articles or experiences that you encounter during your day that uniquely align with the reaching the goal that you are focused on. And this highlighted information that your RAS finds, collects, and puts forward to you will in turn help you use this inspiration in your work.
And it will make it easier to reach the destination for your success. Number two, a focused brain improves memory and learning. So the RAS plays a key role in memory by helping the brain decide which experiences are worth holding on to. So when you're emotionally invested in something or find it particularly relevant [00:12:00] to your goals, the RAS ensures that you focus on that experience, which increases the likelihood of success.
Of remembering this important information later. number three, your RAS helps you with manifestation of goals. Now the concept of manifestation is, where people focus on a goal or desire and then notice signs or opportunities that seem to appear as answers to what you were manifesting. And this. My friend might feel and seem like a lot of woo, but actually, there's some science here.
And there are definite correlations with manifestation and the reticular activating system in your brain. Now, you can't just Think, I want a new Mercedes and then expect one to show up on your doorstep tomorrow. That's just crazy.[00:13:00] That kind of magic is not what I want you to focus on. But you could start thinking about making money with your art. Focus on that. And then think about. I want to make money with my art by selling a product. to a certain target audience. Setting a goal like this gives your reticular activating system something to sniff out.
It's kind of like a police dog sniffing a glove of a suspected criminal. Once the focus, the scent is given, the RAS, or the police dog, is able to seek and find the information that it comes in contact with. So, Not magic, not even serendipity. what once seemed like pure woo is actually backed by facts.
And here's the thing. When you are focused on an outcome, this helps your RAS [00:14:00] to sift through the information that you encounter to help you find the answers to help you reach your goal. You're still doing the work, but by having this positive focus, you actually speed up the process and it makes.
Finding the answers a little easier and sometimes these results, well, they might just feel like straight up magic. Now, if you're lukewarm about a goal, yeah, I think maybe I might like to do this. And consequently, it's difficult for you to stay focused and thinking about this particular goal. Your brain is going to have a hard time dialing in like our radar in focus to detect these answers and find solutions as you walk through your day.
So you can see the RAS is not the easy button. it's not magic. It's a continual focus. And that's the key. [00:15:00] Not magic, it's actually all you, but it's a part of you that runs quietly in the background like a fine tuned machine.
So can you use your R A S purposely as a tool with your creativity to reach a creative goal? Well, my friend, the R A S can actually become your secret weapon for creative growth. So when you set clear creative goals for yourself and follow up your goal setting with focus that is laser sharp.
You can prioritize the information that matters most to the goals that you have chosen.and then you can actually use your RAS, kind of like one of your favorite creative tools.
And this is where we are going to talk about my Doodle Meditation Workshop. [00:16:00] This workshop can play an important role in activating your RAS to help you choose, focus, and then manifest your creative goals.
You see my friend, Doodling allows your brain to enter into a simple, relaxed state of focus. And as you doodle, you let go of stress and you allow your mind to wander. But here's the key. You nudge your mind towards thinking about your goals and your dreams, because while you're doodling, you are doodling your creative goal.
So think for a moment, what might that goal be? And then as you doodle this goal, you open the door for your RAS to realize, hey, hey, hey, here is an important piece of information that needs to be thought about throughout the day. And then your RAS. Transcripts is on [00:17:00] it doodles represent the focus that signal the RAS to seek that necessary creative idea and the solutions in order to determine how to reach that desired goal. And that goal, it is what you are doodling. Does that make sense?
So the more you practice doodling about your creative goals, the better your RAS becomes at noticing the opportunities and insights throughout your entire day. And that is what is going to help you achieve these goals as reality.
And that's when you suddenly see what seems like woo start to happen, but really it's just your brain finding the pathways that become the answers to reaching your goals. No woo, my friend, no woo, just good old fashioned work.So this workshop, let me stress how easy it [00:18:00] is and how fun it is, but how beneficial it can be for your creativity. In the workshop, you're also going to learn techniques like setting creative intentions, which gives your brain the clear instructions, as you doodle, about what it should focus on. And this is where you can truly harness your creativity.
the power of your RAS to support your creative focus and reach your desired goals. Mindful practices like doodling can truly help with your creativity and reaching success with where you want to take your creativity. So what's your takeaway for this brainy episode? Again, glad you asked. It is simple.
The reticular activating system can be your secret weapon for creative growth. By setting clear creative goals. [00:19:00] Practicing mindfulness, doodling, to help you focus on the positive, not the negative, and then engaging in activities like doodling, you can prioritize the things that matter most to your artistic journey.
So when you sign up for my doodle meditation workshop, you'll discover the tools. needed to supercharge this process of manifesting your creative goal. Remember my friend, it is not magic. It's you focusing and realizing solutions to your success. We just make it super fun and super easy. Through the humble doodle.
So if you're ready to let your RAS work for you, get your seat saved for the workshop today at www. bdi create. today and my friend, don't wait, we've already closed one of the workshops because there are no seats available. [00:20:00] So go to www bdi create. today and go to events and you'll find all the workshops that Create Today is hosting this fall.
And you'll see at the very top, there's the Doodle Meditation Workshop. And you can also go to the show notes to find a link that will take you right to where you need to choose your date and grab your seat. This is an online workshop.
And my friend, the workshop is only 29. And you'll get to do this with my guidance and some really helpful information. So my friend, imagine you. more focused with a creative mindset and brain that is ready to help you achieve your goals.
Sounds pretty sweet, doesn't it? And it is really easy. So until next time, keep focusing on the positive. Let your creative thoughts loose. and explore your creative [00:21:00] intentions daily with a doodle. Come and learn how to do this with me this month and then let your brain's reticular activating system do the heavy lifting.
And no matter what you choose to focus on and no matter what goals you choose to work towards today, come and do some doodles with me and together we'll stay creative my friend.
00:00 The Birch Tree Revelation
01:35 The Power of Focus
03:12 Welcome to Create Today
04:29 Understanding the Reticular Activating System (RAS)
07:35 How RAS Enhances Creativity
10:36 Practical Applications of RAS
15:55 Doodle Meditation Workshop
18:43 Conclusion and Workshop Invitation
Show Notes:
Grab Your Seat At the Doodle Meditation Workshop!
https://www.bdi-create.today/workshop-events-calendar
Other Resources at Create-Today:
https://www.bdi-create.today/almost-free-resources
The Create-Today Home Page:
https://www.bdi-create.today
