It is a network of neural circuits connecting the brain stem to the cortex. RAS serves as a kind of filter for a huge amount of information that is in the subconscious.
When information passes through the RAS, it gets into the big brain and there turns into a thought or feeling. Moreover, the filter passes only the information that is important to us at the moment.
This means that the more you think about your goals, the more your subconscious mind will work to achieve them. That is why it is so important to write down your goals, visualize the desired result and regularly engage in auto-suggestion! This will help focus your subconscious mind on what is important to you.
When we succeed in something, the brain releases a chemical reward - the neurotransmitter dopamine. The pleasant feeling is short-lived, but we remember and strive to repeat it.
And then dopamine loops come into play: with each new success, the pleasure from it becomes less and less. And this makes us look for more. That's why video games are so addictive, that's why we want to check social networks every minute, and that's why we are striving for more and more ambitious goals.
Even our memories influence success. If, for example, something went wrong once during a trip or event, we will have unpleasant impressions and we will not want to experience them again. If our business has failed, we will not want to take risks again.
However, scientists have found that we can edit bad memories to get rid of negative associations. This technique is applied J. De̢biec. Memory reconsolidation processes and posttraumatic stress disorder: Promises and challenges of translational research / Biological Psychiatry for the treatment of post-traumatic syndrome.
Imagine that an unpleasant memory is shrinking and fading, like an image on the screen of an old black-and-white TV. Then add new details. For example, if you remembered your failure at a speech, imagine that the audience was ridiculously dressed. Repeat this five or ten times, and the memory will start to make you smile.
About the same way you can edit the memory of the good. To enhance a positive memory, imagine it bright and loud, as if watching a movie at the cinema, add positive emotions and repeat the exercise several times. When you need motivation, turn to this memory and the feeling of joy and success with which it is associated.
According to neuroscientist Michael Merzenich, in order to become more successful, improve memory and thinking, speech skills and reading comprehension, it is enough Michael Merzenich on brain reprogramming / TED 30 hours of special training. You only need to spend an hour a day for a month on fairly simple things.