Why So Blue?

Oct. 26, 2022

Change your expectations; change your chances at success.

Blue cars are more common than you think. Sure, there are plenty of silver or black cars. Even the occasional red car. The blue car is very special, it is everywhere you were not looking until you started looking for it. And if you're reading this before you go home and say that blue cars are everywhere, chances are you will see one. This is called the R.A.S., which is the cool and easy way of saying the Reticular Activating System. This R.A.S. is a great tool in your head that brings things that you want to focus on. It’s kind of like when you google about a new flat top grill and Facebook shows you an advertisement on Blackstone's griddles. 

While we already know that Facebook is spying on you to sell more ad space, it is a perfect example of how the R.A.S. works in your life. I practiced this on a drive from Dallas to New Orleans, where I purposely told myself that blue cars are everywhere. Low and behold, there they were, driving down the interstate—blue cars everywhere. There were plenty of other colors on the road, but that blue sure popped out at me.  

When you take a look at your goals for the day, how you want to conquer your world and what you want out of the mission, it is important to bring these ideas mentally and verbally to the forefront. Just like you can’t search for things on the internet without actually typing (or saying something), you can’t bring things into your vision without sounding them out or writing them out. Lead your visions or leave things up to chance, the choice is yours.

What you think about is just as important as how you are thinking about it. In football the quarterback who looks for open receivers makes completions where the quarterback who looks to see if a receiver is covered gets sacked or throws an interception. A skier in the dusty slopes enters a wooded area and looks for snow, if the skier looks for trees, they meet the unforgiving bark of the spruce tree. If a golfer tries to avoid the sand trap, they better grab the wedge, but if they try to hit the ball on the green, they are more likely to walk away smiling. These are perfect examples of the R.A.S. at work because you focused on what you wanted versus what you don’t want. You see what you tell yourself to see.

Ok, practical terms for your career: I am a career trainer. My goal is to take someone who enters our industry (usually by desperation or chance) and train them on the delicacies of leadership, procedures, and relationship-building. These actions can be taken to any career so I am not looking to teach someone how to lead, but teach someone how to change. I enjoy it when someone gets it and thanks me, I enjoy it more when I get a random message from a past employee who thanks me for something I brought to their vision years ago and has now helped them in their new career.  

I want to change people. Get in, discover their needs and assist with their goals (even if they didn’t realize they were not hitting their goals). Tell yourself, “I am the change.” I mutter this to myself when I leave my house, when I walk into shops, and when I write content. Ensuring my mind is focused on change, I can see things that need changed. I can interject change and direct away from disaster because I am looking for ways to change.

I don’t say, “I hope no one screws up,” because I would be more focused on the screw up and bringing it to light than I would be focusing on opportunities to change, which most of the time prevents the screw up. I place all my vocal and physical input on the things I want and not on the things I don’t want. Think about how many times you have screamed the phrase, “You see? That is exactly what I thought would happen!” 

Is it a little weird to stand in front of the mirror and talk to yourself? Perhaps. Is it as bad as constantly allowing undesired media into your head that keeps you from focusing on things that you truly want in life? Nope! You are what you eat, garbage in garbage out. You can do anything you put your mind to. 

All of these work around your ability to change your ways by changing your mind. Don't believe me, jump in your car and tell yourself there are blue cars everywhere. When you see it, explore what else your mind will let you see when you want it to.