2d • 🗪 Discussion
The Power Within to Shape 2026
As 2026 approaches, there’s something worth understanding about how we create our experience.
Not everything is within our control. But more than we might realize actually is.
And it starts with something simple: where we place our attention.
The Brain’s Hidden Filter
Right now, your brain is filtering reality for you.
There’s too much information coming in every moment for you to process it all. Millions of sensory inputs. Countless details. So your brain has a filter called the reticular activating system that decides what you notice and what you ignore.
Here’s what makes this powerful: the filter shows you more of whatever you’re already focusing on.
Focus on possibilities? Your brain starts highlighting opportunities. People who could help. Ideas that might work. Small steps that feel doable.
Focus on fear? Your brain shows you obstacles. Reasons things won’t work. Stories of failure. Everything that could go wrong.
Same world around you. Different filter inside you. Completely different experience.
This is why two people can face the same situation and have totally opposite reactions. They’re literally seeing different things because their brains are filtering for different information.
When Fear Takes Over
Here’s what happens in your brain when fear or worry takes hold.
The amygdala activates. That’s your threat-detection center. And it can’t tell the difference between real danger happening right now and imagined danger you’re thinking about for next month.
Both trigger the same stress response.
When that happens, your prefrontal cortex starts going offline. That’s the part responsible for creativity, problem-solving, and good decision-making. The exact things you need to move forward.
So fear doesn’t just feel bad. It actually shuts down the part of your brain that could help you navigate through challenges.
But there’s a way to shift this.
How Breath Creates Space
Take a slow, deep breath right now.
Four counts in. Hold for four. Six counts out.
Feel that?
When you breathe this way, with the exhale longer than the inhale, you activate your vagus nerve. Your heart rate slows. Your nervous system shifts from stressed mode into calm mode.
And here’s what matters: the prefrontal cortex comes back online. Clear thinking returns. Perspective widens.
This isn’t just relaxation. It’s a biological shift that changes how your brain processes everything.
In that calmer state, you can hear your intuition more clearly. That quiet inner knowing that actually guides well. It doesn’t create drama or spin worst-case scenarios. It just knows. “Try this.” “Go that direction.” “Wait a moment.”
That voice comes from the wise part of your brain. And breathing helps you access it.
Building New Routes
Every time you think a thought, you’re creating neural pathways in your brain.
Think of it like walking through a forest. The first time, you’re pushing through brush, making a faint trail. But walk that same path repeatedly, and eventually it becomes a clear, easy route.
Your brain works the same way.
Someone who keeps thinking “I can’t do this” has carved a deep highway for that belief. The brain defaults to it automatically.
But here’s the good news: you can build new pathways. When you consciously choose a different thought like “I’m learning as I go,” you start creating a new trail.
At first, it’s weak. The old highway still pulls stronger.
But with repetition, the new pathway grows. And eventually, it becomes your brain’s natural route instead.
This is neuroplasticity. The brain literally reshaping itself based on the thoughts you choose to practice.
The Simple Practice
So when your mind gets busy with worry or fear, here’s what helps.
Pause. Take that slow breath. Four in. Hold. Six out.
In that space, ask yourself: “What’s actually true right now?”
Not what might happen tomorrow. Not what could go wrong next week. What’s real in this exact moment?
Usually, right now, you’re safe. You have solid ground beneath you. You have what you need in this moment.
Then gently redirect your attention. Ask: “What feels good to focus on right now?”
Maybe it’s something you’re grateful for. Maybe it’s something you’re looking forward to. Maybe it’s just the simple fact that you’re breathing, you’re here, you’re okay.
Whatever brings even a slight sense of lightness.
Because where your attention goes, your energy follows. And where your energy goes, your experience grows.
Small Choices, Big Impact
You don’t need to make huge changes.
Research shows that practicing gratitude for just three things per day, for 21 days, can actually rewire your brain’s baseline for happiness.
Three things. 21 days. That’s it.
Each time you notice your mind drifting to worry and you gently guide it back to something better, you’re strengthening neural circuits for emotional regulation.
Each time you take one small action toward something that lights you up, you’re building momentum.
These tiny choices compound over time. They reshape your brain’s structure. They train your reticular activating system to filter for different information.
Not through force. Through gentle, consistent practice.
What This Means for 2026
As the new year approaches, you have a choice.
You can let your attention drift wherever it wants, feeding fear and worry, training your brain’s filter to show you more problems.
Or you can practice directing it consciously. Coming back to this moment. Breathing through the stress. Choosing thoughts that build better pathways.
Training your brain to filter for possibility instead of obstacles. For gratitude instead of lack. For what you can do instead of what you can’t.
This doesn’t mean ignoring real challenges or pretending everything is perfect.
It means choosing which part of your brain leads. The amygdala with its fear responses? Or the prefrontal cortex with its wisdom and clarity?
The stressed nervous system that shuts you down? Or the calm one that opens you up?
The old neural pathways of limitation? Or the new ones you’re building toward possibility?
The Power Already Within
The ability to shape your experience of 2026 doesn’t come from controlling everything external.
It comes from choosing, moment by moment, where you place your focus and energy.
That power? It’s already within you. It always has been.
One breath to shift your nervous system.
One redirected thought to build a new pathway.
One small step toward what feels aligned.
Then choosing again. And again.
The brain reshapes itself with each choice. The filter adjusts with each focus. The experience shifts with each practice.
This is how we create what we want to experience. Not by controlling everything out there. But by consciously directing what’s in here.
I’m here supporting the journey to feeling good.
1
0 comments
The Power Within to Shape 2026
skool.com/lotusflowerjourneys
A peaceful space for women to release perfectionism through small Kaizen steps so you can be the true you again, together.
Leaderboard (30-day)
1
+2
2
+1
Powered by