Visualization
The New Year traditionally has us all thinking about changes we need or want to make in our lives. We like to think those changes will make us successful. I have learned and formulated an opinion that success is dependent, or supported by, five pillars. When all five of the pillars have been erected success is inevitable.
The five pillars of success (in order) are:
1. Visualization
2. Planning
3. Emotionalization
4. Execution
5. Assessment
You must know what you want to be successful, and you won’t win if you can’t see the prize. You can’t win if you don’t have a plan. Sadly, people tend to be childish when they express their wants. They simply want. That type of thinking is doomed to failure.
We need to put more thought into a dream than just, “I want”. We need to see our goal and develop a plan to get it. Therefore, our visualization must be as complete and as specific as possible. Your subconscious mind cannot differentiate between reality and imagination, and it is a psychologic fact that what you focus on, your brain becomes attracted to. This means that if you focus on it enough, your brain will automatically find ways to attain your desired goal.
Visualization is not a process that can be a “once and done” activity. It is literally impossible to sit down and visualize exactly how you will become super successful at anything. Anticipation is an integral part of the visualization process, but anticipation is not a crystal ball. The events that take place around us are constantly in motion, so we need to “re-acquire” our target by visualizing our goal regularly.
The visualization process helps you “map” out your plan to achieve success. I am a huge fan of Tony Robbins. Tony is a motivational master and I absolutely love his material. One of Tony’s concepts is about having a MAP. He uses the acronym M A P for a massive action plan. Visualization helps us make a MAP for reaching our destination. A GPS system of reading your map is regularly visualizing your goals so you can anticipate problems as you progress to the destination.
Psychology tells us that the more detail we visualize in reaching our goals the more “real” the brain perceives the visualization. Visualize attaining your goal in as much detail as you possibly can. Think of things like, what will it look like when I reach my goal? How will I feel? Where will I be? Who will be with me? What do I think they will be feeling? The more detail the better and the clearer the map becomes.
Another enhancement to visualization is to write down as much detail as you can about your visualization. This helps you to have a starting point that picks up where you left off when you revisit the visualization. Repeat the written visualization to drive it deep into your subconscious and read those written visualizations (out loud) every day. The spoken word has greater meaning than just reading the words. When you do this, you add new detail to the visualization, and you can write it and insert it where it belongs.
Lastly, when initially visualizing your successful accomplishment of your goal, you must look backward from the finish to the start and visualize the steps that you took to reach that goal that you see in your mind. This sounds so simple but is a difficult skill to master. You need to ask yourself questions like; how did you get started? What courses did you need to take to become successful? What other things did you need to learn along the way? Who did you need to help you and when did you need them?
There is another aspect to the visualization process called goal setting, but I will save it for another time. We need to press on to the second pillar of success. We need to investigate planning. That will be the topic of our next blog.
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