Welcome

Hi, I'm Dr. Barbara Eaton, business coach, speaker, and author of Two Streets Named Hard. I help faith-driven entrepreneurs break free from patterns that keep them circling the same mountain so they can build lives overflowing with purpose, peace, and sustainable growth.

In this post, I want to show you how one change in language rewired my brain, helped me spot opportunities I was missing, and shifted the course of my business – fast.

And no, this isn’t mindset fluff. It’s how your brain actually works.

When I Changed the Question, Everything Shifted

I was sitting at my kitchen table, surrounded by evidence of what wasn’t working. Bills waiting to be paid. Calendar entries with more white space than clients. Laptop open, numbers glowing back at me like a warning light on the dashboard.

This wasn’t my first rebuild season. But it felt heavier than the others. It felt like the stakes were higher.

And honestly? It felt personal.

I had just spoken to someone I wanted to hire—a strategist whose guidance would absolutely help me expand. But the cost of that decision felt sharp. I could hear my internal script starting to spool:

“Can I really afford this?” “What if I commit and it doesn’t work?” “Maybe I should wait.”

That question – “Can I afford this?” – seemed responsible.

But what it actually did was train my brain to find reasons I couldn’t.

What Is the Reticular Activating System?

The Reticular Activating System, or RAS, is a part of your brain that filters information between your conscious and unconscious mind. It decides what gets through.

You experience it all the time. Say you’re thinking of buying a white SUV – suddenly, you see white SUVs everywhere. They were always there. Your brain just didn’t think they mattered until now.

That’s the RAS at work. It doesn’t choose based on what’s true. It chooses based on what’s repeated.

So when you feed your brain questions soaked in doubt, it delivers reasons to doubt.

The Moment I Gave My Brain a Better Job

That day, I caught myself in the loop and changed the question. Instead of asking, “Can I afford this?” I asked, “How can I make this work?”

My circumstances didn’t change in that moment. But the direction of my thinking did. Ideas surfaced, and clients came to mind. I remembered a conversation I hadn’t followed up on.

Within minutes, I’d gone from frozen to focused. By the end of the week, I had closed the financial gap I’d been staring at on Monday. Same bills. Same calendar. But a brain trained to look for possibilities – not panic.

Why This Matters More Than Motivation

This isn’t about staying positive. There’s nothing wrong with that, but it can be hard to maintain when you’re in crisis mode. That’s why it’s better to feed your brain a better question to solve.

The RAS doesn’t care if your internal script is empowering or defeating. It only cares whether it’s familiar.

Which means you can train it.

And the fastest way to start is by changing the way you talk to yourself in high-stakes moments.

Instead of “Why is this happening to me?” try “What can I learn from this?” Instead of “What if I fail?” ask “What would success require from me today?” Instead of “Can I afford it?” explore “How can I fund it?”

The question shapes the filter. The filter shapes what you notice. And what you notice determines the action you take next.

How to Apply This Starting Now

If you’re facing a challenge—financial, relational, spiritual, or otherwise—try this:

• Pause and write down the question that’s been looping in your head.

• Ask if that question opens you up or shuts you down.

• Reframe it. Not in a fluffy way, but in a direction-setting way.

Your RAS is incredibly responsive. If you tell it what to find, it will go to work looking for it.

Let that work in your favor.

Want to Go Deeper?

I break this concept down further in Two Streets Named Hard, especially in Chapter 2. If this message resonated, if you’re ready to retrain your brain for clarity, courage, and momentum—I’d love for you to read it.

Get your copy of Two Streets Named Hard today (and leave a review, please), or join my newsletter here to walk this journey with me.

Already reading the book?

Post a quick review on Amazon. One or two sentences is perfect. After you do, just reply here or email me and I’ll send you access to a free private book club I host where we explore how to apply this work in real time.

Your brain is already doing the work. Let’s make sure it’s working for you.

Dr Barbara