You just didn’t pick the filter
Have you ever bought a new car — or even just thought about buying one — and then suddenly seen that exact car everywhere? On your commute. In the parking lot at work. Three of them at Costco on a Sunday.
Those cars were always there. You just didn’t notice them.
This is called the yellow car theory (AKA. Baader-Meinhof phenomenon, or frequency illusion), and it’s one of the most useful things you can know about your own brain.
Here’s what’s actually happening
Researchers estimate your brain processes millions of pieces of information per second. Your conscious mind retains a tiny fraction of that. That means your brain is making constant decisions about what to pay attention to and what to ignore — and those decisions happen automatically.
The part of your brain running this filter is called the Reticular Activating System, or RAS. It’s a bundle of nerves at your brainstem, and its entire job is to sort signal from noise. When you decide something matters — a yellow car, a goal, a fear — your RAS flags it. Suddenly your brain starts surfacing evidence of that thing everywhere.
Why this matters for your life (not just your car)
Here’s where it gets interesting — and how it shows up in coaching.
When someone tells me, “I have no options,” they genuinely can’t see any. Their RAS has been filtering for evidence that they’re stuck, and their brain can only come up with dead ends. It’s just a filter problem.
The same thing happens when you’re convinced nothing ever goes your way. Your brain is wired to — scan for threats, problems, and proof that things won’t work out. For those of us who’ve spent years in high-stress clinical environments, this filter gets reinforced every shift. You’re trained to look for what’s wrong, what’s deteriorating, what’s about to go sideways. That skill helps keeps patients alive and safe. It also doesn’t turn off when you clock out.
So you go home and your brain keeps scanning. What’s wrong with this relationship. What’s wrong with this house. What’s failing, what’s falling apart, what needs fixing. And you find it. Every time. Because that’s what your Brian is seeking evidence for.
You can change the filter
This isn’t about positive thinking. I’m not going to tell you to tape affirmations to your bathroom mirror and manifest your way to a better life. What I’m telling you is that your brain is a search engine, and you get to choose what you search for.
In my coaching practice, I call this the Study of One. You form a hypothesis — “What if I do have options here?” — and you start looking. You don’t have to believe it yet. You just have to be willing to look. And when you do, your RAS gets a new assignment. It starts flagging possibilities instead of dead ends.
Here’s a small experiment you can run this week: Pick one area of your life where you feel stuck. Instead of trying to fix it, just ask yourself, “What if there was a way through this?” Don’t answer it. Just carry the question. Let your brain mull it over in the background.
You might be surprised what starts showing up.
The catch
The yellow car theory works in every direction. If you spend your time focused on how exhausted you are, how underappreciated you feel, how impossible your schedule is — your brain will find confirmation. And while those things might also be true, your brain will make sure they’re the only things you see.
The filter isn’t about denying reality. It’s about deciding which pieces of reality get your attention. And that decision shapes everything — how you feel, what you do next, and what you believe is possible.
The good news is: you get to decide what you’re seeking evidence for and either way you choose, you will find it.
If you’d like help developing this skill, that’s exactly what coaching is for. As a Logan Health employee, you have access to free life coaching sessions. Book a session here.
Or, if you are not a Logan Health Employee, you can book a complimentary consultation to talk about getting support here.
