Programming Your RAS (The Matrix)
Your brain's filter reveals what you program into it — so program your dreams, not your fears.
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Time to result
- ~weeks to results
- Steps
- 4
- Confidence
- 90%
The RAS is the brain's filter that reveals what's important to you and works to prove you right — like suddenly seeing Teslas everywhere after buying one. The catch: it programs on fears just as readily as dreams. Most adults run on history and memory, reinforcing the same life, while the top 1% run on imagination like children do. Every genuine new thought creates a space the mind fills with proof. So by repeatedly visualizing your dreams — and occasionally touching them — you retrain the filter to surface the meetings, people, and breakthroughs that were there all along.
Origin
Mylett devotes chapter two of his book, which he calls 'the Matrix,' to the reticular activating system, illustrating it with buying a Tesla and then suddenly seeing Teslas everywhere.
Core principles
- 01The reticular activating system is a filter that surfaces what matters most to you and proves you right.
- 02What you repeatedly think about becomes what you notice everywhere.
- 03Most adults operate from history and memory; the goal is to operate from imagination and dream.
- 04A new thought creates a space your mind then fills with references and proof.
How to run it
- 1
Understand the filter
Recognize the RAS reveals what you deem important and proves you right, keeping you sane by filtering stimulus.
- 2
Choose imagination over memory
Shift from operating out of history and memory to operating out of imagination and dream, as you did as a child.
- 3
Repeatedly visualize your dreams
Create the new thought and reinforce it with hyper-vivid, repeated visualizations so the mind fills the space with proof.
Watch out You're already doing this with your worries — reprogramming just flips the target to your dreams.
- 4
Reinforce with people and touch
Associate with people who reinforce the belief and occasionally physically experience the dream to lock in the programming.
In the wild
After buying a Tesla, Mylett suddenly noticed Teslas on every side of the freeway that he'd never seen before.
→ The cars were always there — but only became visible once programmed into his RAS, illustrating how attention follows programming.
In a room of 500 people, Mylett can hear someone say 'Ed' even quietly, because his name is important to his filter.
→ Demonstrates the RAS surfacing what matters most amid overwhelming stimulus.
Common mistakes
Programming the negative
Repeatedly rehearsing worries and fears trains the filter to find evidence of exactly what you don't want.
Living in history and memory
Operating from past patterns keeps reinforcing the same life; the shift is to imagination and dream.
Is it for you?
Best for
Anyone who wants to notice opportunities and relationships aligned with their goals instead of their anxieties.
Not ideal for
Those seeking a purely mechanical tactic — this requires sustained repetition and belief.
From the transcript
“it's the filter that reveals to everything that matters to you in your life that's important and it proves to you that you're right”
“weren't they always there they were yeah but i didn't see them before because they weren't a part of my ras”
From the episode
YAPClassic: Ed Mylett on The Power of One More, How to Reprogram Your Mind to Get What You Want
YAPClassic