Your Brain Has a Built-In GPS and Here’s How to Program It for Everything You Want
Written by Barbara Appel, Intuitive Somatic Life Coach
Barbara Appel is an ICM Master Coach, Human Design Certified Specialist and Intuitive Somatic Life Coach specializing in nervous system regulation, the transformative power of gratitude, manifestation and embodied transformation. She is the founder of Thankful Pathways and believes it is never too late to change and stand in your power.
Your brain is running a program right now. It's scanning. Filtering. Searching. The only question is, did 'you' tell it what to look for? Discover a personal approach to manifestation that combines clear intentions, written goals, and gratitude to help you focus on what matters and notice opportunities along the way.
Most people think manifestation is spiritual. It is. “Ask, and it shall be given you” (Matthew 7:7, King James Version) is a well-known verse in the spiritual community, but neuroscience also backs it up.
Once you understand what’s happening in your brain when you write a manifestation list, you’ll never look at a goal list the same way again.
My relationship with manifestation started young. Raised in a small apartment in Los Angeles, I somehow found my way to a performing arts school, the University of Southern California art galleries, and street parades. But it wasn't until adulthood that I truly understood how it worked.
I'm not teaching theory. I manifested my way through a 2,000-mile move, a miracle newborn, and a complete life transition. Using exactly the method I'm about to share with you.
What is the reticular activating system?
Now let’s get into the science of your amazing reticular activating system (RAS). Your brain receives 11 million bits of information per second. Your brain can only consciously process 40-50 bits per second.
The RAS is the filter that decides what gets through to your conscious mind. That means whatever you focus on consistently, your brain will start finding evidence of it everywhere.
Have you ever bought a new car you had never seen on the road before and then started noticing your exact car everywhere? That’s your RAS!!! It does way more than ruin the exclusivity of the car you just purchased.
You see, that car was always on the road in those numbers; your brain wasn't filtering for it until you told it to. This isn’t magic. This is how your brain works every single day.
Why writing it down is the hack
Every time you take a thought out of your head and put it on paper, you give your RAS a clear, specific target. Your brain now knows exactly what to scan your surroundings for. This means it will start filtering and targeting opportunities that will get you closer to your goals.
Some use vision boards for this; however, I personally believe vision boards with too many images can confuse the RAS by giving it too many vague targets and too many stimuli. These vague targets tend not to portray exactly what we want, only the closest picture we could find to what we want. When we write it, we can get more specific, and that’s important for your RAS targeting.
One clear manifestation list gives your RAS a precise global positioning system (GPS) coordinate for your life’s next trajectory. That’s why specificity is everything. The more specific the written goal, the more specific the RAS search can be.
I teach my clients that it’s much like a grocery list. It keeps our focus on what truly matters; if it’s on the list, we are getting it.
During the holidays, this one extra step makes the whole shopping experience much simpler, especially when the store is super busy or we are busy. Giving our RAS something to lock onto can save us so much mental energy.
This is the science behind the ritual of manifestation that I have proven time and time again; my husband and friends are doing this now and seeing amazing results. However, there is another important point I must make.
The gratitude snowball
If I could scream this through a megaphone all over the world, I would. Wait, I am doing that now in the form of writing, so listen up.
This may be the most important point I've written so far; many try to skip it because they believe it’s something they are already doing or it’s not that important for manifestation. However, I am here to tell you that, from my personal experience, a gratitude process, which we are about to discuss, starts a snowball effect that will attract your targets to you faster than ever before.
You see, gratitude is not just a feel-good practice. Gratitude is a process that reprograms your brain's filtering and strengthens neural pathways.
Let’s get into the science behind gratitude. Every time you write down something you are grateful for and let yourself feel grateful in that moment, you rewire your neural pathways to gratitude. The more you practice, the stronger the neural pathway becomes, and your RAS starts naturally scanning for things to be grateful for. Gratitude attracts more gratitude; that is the snowball effect.
The key is to feel it; writing a list without feeling it doesn’t rewire the pathway. This is why the Gratitude Adjustment Workshop focuses on feeling it, not just writing it.
When we allow ourselves to feel, we are allowing ourselves to receive. It’s a receiving practice that prepares us for what we want. Then, when we start noticing targets coming in, we don’t hesitate and are ready to receive whatever it is with heartfelt gratitude.
I offer my community a 6-month hardcover gratitude journal. Our neural pathways strengthen with repetition; daily practice compounds over time and is essential for speedy manifestation.
Why you close it and trust it
Trust is something many of us struggle with in a world that is so upside down at times. However, trust is exactly what this process requires.
Once your manifestation list is written, your RAS is already working. Obsessing over the list activates your stress response, then cortisol blocks the prefrontal cortex and starts interfering with the RAS doing its job.
Simply put, the more we obsess over the things written on our list, the more we push them away. We already made a target that the RAS is actively searching for, so there is no need to add additional pressure.
Trying to rush the process only confuses your RAS. Closing it once written removes the anxiety and lets the RAS work quietly in the background while you keep living your life and practicing gratitude.
“Ask and release” isn’t just spiritual wisdom. It is neuroscience. Start to notice when things come up in normal life. That’s your RAS delivering.
The only exception is if you need something as soon as possible; I would recommend visualizing it a few times when you naturally think about it. Visualize it as if it is already there.
I'll tell you a quick story. A few years ago, one of the things on my list was a new truck for my husband. I do not normally manifest things for others because it is not my place, but this was a special circumstance.
I had a baby on the way, and the air conditioning (AC) in my husband’s current Explorer was out. I went into full mama bear mode and wrote down a truck I thought my husband would want based on what he had told me he liked before. Then, a few times when I was getting into my husband’s hot Explorer, I visualized myself getting into the new truck with AC. When I finished the quick visualization exercise and came back to the present, I would express gratitude for our current transportation no matter how incredibly hot it was that day.
We ended up selling that Explorer to a neighbor before we moved. We had only one car with a newborn in a new city, and my husband had to go back to work. Not long after that, my car broke down, and we no longer had a working vehicle.
Many would say this was the worst thing that could happen; however, I call this life contrast: out with the old, in with the new, and it normally comes right before a big manifestation. I sat calmly, knowing my manifestation was right around the corner; I could feel it.
That very day, when my car broke down and we were stranded, my husband had a rideshare drop us off at home and left to get a second vehicle because my car could not be fixed for several days.
I am sure you can guess what happened. He came home with the exact truck I had written down and been visualizing. I was shocked by how it felt pulling myself into his new truck; it was exactly as I imagined, and boy, was that AC amazing. He didn’t know what I wrote on my list, and I didn’t know what he wrote on his, but our RAS was in sync, and we both got what we wanted. That is the power of the RAS.
I believe this process is even more powerful when someone you love writes down the same thing on their RAS target list.
How to use it correctly: The method
The Reclaim & Rise manifestation method in 5 steps:
Step 1: Write it – Specific. Detailed. Exactly what you want. Give your RAS a precise target.
Step 2: Close it – Trust your RAS has the target. Don’t stare at it. Don’t obsess. Let it work.
Step 3: Notice it – When things come up in normal life, that’s your RAS working. Acknowledge it with gratitude.
Step 4: Read it at 6 months – Conscious check-in. See what your RAS has already delivered without you realizing.
Step 5: Annual reset – Clear the old targets. Give your RAS new ones. Do this every year.
Call to action
Ready to give your brain a clear target?
As a Brainz Magazine reader, grab your Annual Manifestation Ritual for just $5 (normally $17), the same list I use every year to program my brain's GPS.
If you want to go deeper, join me monthly inside the Reclaim & Rise community for our live Manifestation Workshop, where we do this work together.
Read more from Barbara Appel
Barbara Appel, Intuitive Somatic Life Coach
Barbara Appel is an ICM Master Coach, Human Design Certified Specialist and Intuitive Somatic Life Coach dedicated to helping people shed what was never theirs to carry and stand in their power. A high school teacher once wrote her father a letter describing how Barbara inspired a shy student to give his very best when no one else could reach him. That student became a successful, confident professional. Barbara has dedicated her life to inspiring and lifting up everyone who crosses her path. Her work blends somatic healing, the transformative power of gratitude, nervous system regulation, Human Design and manifestation. She is the founder of Thankful Pathways. Her mission: Stop playing a role. Start living it.
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