54 pages • 1 hour read
The Power of One More: The Ultimate Guide to Happiness and Success
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Chapters 2-3Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapters 2 Summary: "One More and Living in Your Matrix”
Chapter 2 describes how the science fiction film The Matrix (1999) relates to the concept of The One More Mindset. In The Matrix, Neo, a computer hacker, becomes embroiled in the conflict to free humanity from an artificial intelligence that traps human beings in a virtual reality and uses their bodies as fuel. Neo becomes the One, i.e., the savior for all of humanity. Mylett believes that The Matrix and the One are metaphors for the one more mindset: “The reason I love the story of Neo being The One is because I believe it's a metaphor for what exists in every family” (24). He compares the Matrix to the brain’s reticular activating system (RAS), a network of neurons in the brain stem that regulates behavior. The RAS is “the filter that reveals to you what’s most important in life” (25). Mylett insists that individuals can start achieving their goals by strategically slowing down physical and mental activity to let the body, senses, and brain reset. In this way, individuals can train their RAS to control their Matrix: “When you can train your Matrix to take your subconscious thoughts and marry them to your consciousness, you become intentional” (32).
Mylett provides a step-by-step plan for training the RAS. First, one must plant a thought in the mind. Next, the thought needs to be directed toward a specific outcome. Lastly, that specific thought and outcome should be visualized repeatedly and often. This technique unlocks the potential of the RAS to make that goal a reality.
Mylett also warns of mistakenly using the practice for confirmation bias. When negative thoughts are repeatedly visualized, negative actions and outcomes follow. To illustrate this point, Mylett compares a successful Wall Street banker and a houseless person struggling with addiction. The former “has configured their Matrix to find money in the vast array of financial markets,” while the latter has “trained their Matrix to find drugs” (35). Mylett extends this logic to quarterbacks, golfers, entrepreneurs, and his readers. According to him, the one more mindset requires individuals to train their behavior and actions to pursue positive outcomes with confidence.
Chapter 3 Summary: “One More Try”
Chapter 3 discusses compounding, or giving one more effort repeatedly until winning begins. Each win contributes to the individual’s overall life goals. This idea of additional effort, however, must be intentional. With a combination of confidence and perseverance, anyone can succeed in what they intend to accomplish.
The principles for “one more try” are as follows: “Extremity expands capacity,” “Winning is a numbers game,” and “Nothing creates everything” (48-50). The first principle encourages readers to max out their efforts and train their minds and bodies to endure levels of extreme productivity. The second principle advises readers to focus on both quality and quantity. The third relates the biblical story of Genesis from the Judeo-Christian faiths to everyday life. Mylett urges readers to push until they have nothing left so that they can witness how the expenditure of everything creates opportunity. With every additional effort, the individual becomes more conditioned to creating opportunities.
Chapters 2-3 Analysis
Achieving Goals With Neuroscience and Quantum Mechanics is the major theme of Chapters 2 and 3. Just as the thermostat was the overarching metaphor in the Introduction and Chapter 1, in these chapters, The Matrix exemplifies The One More Mindset in showing how people can adjust their reticular activating system and change how they perceive the world. The section’s goal is to show that motivation, consciousness, and behavior are all within an individual’s control. In the film, Neo can manipulate the Matrix and use this power to defeat the artificial intelligence that has enslaved and imprisoned humanity. The force imprisoning readers is their negative, low-achieving mindset. By understanding how to use your RAS, you can manipulate your own Matrix, like Neo, and achieve more success. To make the abstract concept of mindset understandable, Mylett connects the film’s plot to a neural mechanism in the human brain. By describing the brain’s functions in simplified language and positioning the reader as the chosen One, Mylett makes the case that the subconscious mind can be controlled by conscious intention and activity. To accomplish this, Mylett emphasizes the power of intention and willpower. According to him, the neuroscience behind the RAS enables individuals to change their own realities, like the protagonist in a sci-fi film. This conflation of a popular film and a nuanced anatomical structure attempts to make Mylett’s theory more relatable. Like the thermostat metaphor, its effectiveness relies on the reader buying into the concept and believing they can embody the empowered role it requires.
Chapter 2 provides another comparison that may simplify the phenomenon of socioeconomic success using the Matrix and RAS comparison. The story of the Wall Street banker who has trained their RAS to find economic success versus the individual who only looks for substances to abuse operates like a didactic fable, similar to Aesop’s children’s story “The Tortoise and the Hare.” Like other moralistic fables, “The Tortoise and the Hare” teaches children a life lesson; in this case, it’s that steady perseverance beats impulsiveness and overconfidence when pursuing a goal. While such a moral is appropriate for teaching children the value of hard work, Mylett’s tale might be viewed as problematic as a lesson for adults, as it creates a simplistic explanation for complex life events. Mylett is not a neuroscientist, a substance abuse counselor, an economist, or a film critic, though he positions himself as an authority on these subjects. Therefore, his suggestion that the banker achieved success because of conscious willpower while the person searching for drugs lacks the willpower to change may not be the most effective argument to illustrate his point. Social, psychological, environmental, genetic, and other factors may influence the futures of these hypothetical people. The problem with this reasoning is not how Mylett relates the function of the RAS to decision-making, but rather the assumption that either of these individuals has intentionally willed their way to success and failure, respectively, in the way he describes.
Mylett is not the only promoter of using the RAS to set clear intentions and achieve goals. The field of neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) is a self-help approach that encourages people to transform self-limiting beliefs into empowering, self-actualizing ones. In NLP, a life coach or therapist helps clients set positive intentions and repeat them as affirmations until they become beliefs that motivate positive action Though NLP was a popular approach from the mid-20th to early 21st centuries, it is not scientifically proven and is considered pseudoscience. Similarly, the newer idea that we can reprogram our RAS with positive thinking is a popular concept among entrepreneurs and others desiring wealth and achievement, but it lacks scientific backing. Mylett does not address this, and readers may want to consult other sources to provide context for his discussion.
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