Selective Attention - How Do You See Yourself?

You don’t perceive a reality as it really is.

You perceive a reality as it is constructed by your own mind.

Henri-Louis Bergson stated, “The eye sees only what the mind is prepared to comprehend.” He was right.

Your brain thinks in pictures, not words.

Close your eyes for a moment and think of a tomato. Notice that you saw a picture of a tomato. It was probably red.

You didn’t see the letters ‘t-o-m-a-t-o’ floating in space. This picture was created in the occipital lobe of your brain. Metaphorically, we call this “the mind’s eye.”

These pictures in your mind’s eye are a big deal.

Scientists, for years, have speculated that the act of seeing things in your mind’s eye uses the same brain circuits that you use when seeing things with your physical eyes. Brains scans now show this to be true.

The mind’s eye really does exist, and it shapes your version of reality.

Your brain engages with your environment by connecting incoming stimuli with what is already stored in your brain. Most likely the dominant picture.

You check your Facebook pictures, the family album… when was the last time you mindfully checked the pictures in your brain?

It is difficult to overstate the importance of this.

Napoleon Hill once said, “You become what you think about.”

This is a powerful thought.

Your brain is a thought-producing machine. Thoughts are real forces. Thoughts produce pictures in your brain. These pictures are more powerful than you can imagine.

Any picture that is held in the mind’s eye is a force that will eventually produce an effect. And remember, thoughts that are emotionalised become magnetised. 

They attract similar thoughts.

In conclusion 

Albert Einstein once said, “Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one.” You will always remain where you are unless you change your picture. By changing the picture in your mind’s eye, you begin to change your reality.

Put the exact pictures you want in your brain. Once or twice won’t do it. Put them there over and over again.

Then watch things change.

Reposted with permission.
This article is also available in Chinese.