On a daily basis, Americans consumed five times the amount of information in 2011 as they did in 1986. As previously mentioned, the IDC estimates that the average person will clock in 5,000 digital interactions daily by 2025. This would be an increase from approximately 800 interactions for the average person in 2018. The amount of information is growing tremendously, and our brains are increasingly unable to adequately process the information we are exposed to.
According to research by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, the conscious mind can process approximately 120 bits per second. This processing capacity is the equivalent of understanding two people talking at the same time. Modern life and an increasing reliance on technology, such as mobile devices and social media, are straining and taxing the mind’s ability to process both important and non-important information. Every social media post, notification, text message, and email are all competing for the recipient’s valuable cognitive resources, which leads to cognitive fatigue. In addition, the constant technological notifications and interruptions are causing frequent cognitive shifts, thus affecting concentration and focus.
For example, every mobile phone message or notification is vying for more attention than other pertinent information, like an elderly parent’s medical needs or how to take care of personal finances. In addition, the increasing digitalization of modern life has adversely affected the average person’s attention span. According to one study, the average global attention span has dropped from 12 to 8 seconds because of the tremendous amount of information that the brain gets bombarded with.
The brain’s neurons are constantly monitoring our surrounding stimuli and determining which ones pass to our conscious awareness. The brain’s neurons are essentially acting as a filter to safeguard the brain from becoming distracted by things that the unconscious perceives to be irrelevant.
Because of technology and social media, it can be argued that the mind is increasingly exposed to non-important information and that most of the information truly is trivial. What happens when the information is not trivial or it can be very useful for solving someone’s investment problems, and yet, they are not paying attention to it?
This leads to missed investment opportunities or poor decision-making, like investing in popular yet overvalued technology stocks rather than invest in more stable income-producing commercial real estate opportunities. For example, a life-long investor in traditional investments may have “heard” about the benefits of investing in alternative real estate investments but probably never pursued it because it was being cognitively filtered out.
To prevent itself from experiencing information overload, the brain has a system to efficiently process all the information. At the top of the brain stem is a bundle of nerve fibers known as the ascending reticular formation, and the activation of this system is required to elicit a conscious response. But what kind of information can activate the reticular activating system (RAS)?
The system is constantly looking to bring a person’s attention to various conditions that can feel anywhere from familiar and friendly to highly unusual, problematic, or threatening. The RAS also uses what an individual finds significant and it filters for these ideas, concepts, and beliefs. For example, the RAS will grab our conscious attention when we see a person we know or hear a recognizable voice, as well as alert us to potential danger. So how can an investor make use of the RAS?
Well, the RAS is constantly filtering all the available information and looking for what the person/mind is focused on in terms of thoughts, desires, beliefs, and actions. The RAS is looking to validate and reinforce what the person is doing and thinking. Therefore, it is important that the person has positive thoughts and feelings and trusts themself because the RAS will seek to reinforce these parameters with continued positivity and confidence. If an investor focuses on their investment goals, then the RAS will do its part to bring attention to the people, information, ideas, and opportunities that will help achieve those goals. Along these lines, investors would see benefits in refraining from negative ideas, thoughts, and beliefs, both around themselves and their previous investment experiences. This management of the mind is no easy feat, but it can be done with intentional practice.
When an investor focuses on achieving amazing results and positive outcomes, the RAS will kick into gear to highlight the things that are consistent with these results. Like the Law of Attraction, the RAS can positively influence the world around us. By being very deliberate and intentional with their thoughts, an investor will see a great benefit from continually refocusing their mind on their investment goals. The RAS will do its part to attract the relevant things and opportunities to the investor.
If the RAS is utilized correctly, its tremendous power will work to provide the investor to leverage its power to overcome the aforementioned cognitive biases. By understanding the physiology of the brain and the psychology of the mind, investors can discover the roles they play in decision-making, as well as how to tinker with their mechanics and become more open to holistic, lucrative investment opportunities. This self-awareness leads to investor empowerment, which leads to a healthier portfolio and a happier life. The wise Buddha even said, “The mind is everything. What you think you become.” That begs the question: what do you think?
If you are interested in learning more about how you can master your mind and become a successful investor, you will want to dive into our Empowered Investor Methodology, a revolutionary five-step process that helps people obtain financial security and transform their lives through alternative real estate investments.
The first step? Change your ethos to fast-track your way to success.
Find the Empowered Investor Methodology by clicking here.
For more information on investing in commercial real estate, please check out our free eBook — More Doors, More Profits — by clicking here.
Mo Bina
Managing Principal
High-Rise Capital
Website: https://www.high-risecapital.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mohrc/
