Napoleon Hill said, “Cherish your visions and dreams as they are the children of your soul; the blueprints of your ultimate achievements.”
As human beings, you and I have a unique ability that separates us from every other creature in the animal kingdom. It’s the ability to see in our minds eye. Our ability to visualize is probably the greatest faculty we possess. Every improvement you’ll experience in your life starts with an improvement in your mental pictures.
You must “sees it before you seize it”. Forgive the Ebonics. In plain English it means that the picture you create in your mind’s eye turns into the reality you hold in your hand. As Brian Tracy so aptly stated, “Visualization activates the law of attraction and the law of correspondence.” This underscores the importance of not allowing your visualizations to be a random, haphazard activity but rather a deliberate proactive process. My goal in this lesson is to show you how this powerful process can help you become the person you wish to become and to have and achieve the things you want.
See yourself as successful
Human beings have between twenty thousand and sixty thousand thoughts daily, most of which are repeated day after day. It is these thoughts, all imprinted on the subconscious mind and creating the mental images that we are continually moving towards that determine whether we are successful or miring in a pool of mediocrity. Our subconscious mind is a servant. It simply follows the instructions, creating the pictures that we have given it through our thoughts. Because it does not know the difference between a real or imagined event, through repeated visualization we can trick the mind into believing that a desired outcome has already occurred. Once your mind believes this to be true it adjusts your thoughts and behaviors to be consistent with that of your visualizations.
See yourself as successful. The successful ones among us are those who, in ADVANCE, visualized the kind of success they wanted to enjoy. The champion athlete visualizes him or herself performing at their best. Oftentimes they recall an experience of when they were at their absolute best and project it into the future to their next competitive event. The successful salesperson does the same thing, visualizing herself closing the sale smoothly and effortlessly. The not so successful also use visualization but usually to their detriment. They reflect on instances when they failed and project worry, anxiety and failure to their experience. Of course they are disappointed when they fail not realizing that by simply changing their mental images they would have changed their results.
Develop the skill
Visualization is a skill that can be learnt and developed. When visualizing there are two different points of view or perspectives you can take. The first is the disassociated view. From this perspective you are watching yourself through the eyes of a spectator. Imagine that you are in the gymnasium sitting in the stands watching yourself in action on the court. That is the view you would get when visualizing your goal from that perspective.
The second perspective is the associated view. Here you are seeing the game from the perspective of someone who is fully participating in it and as a result you are enjoying more of the relevant sensation — the feeling of the ball in your hand, sweat dripping down your face, your body bouncing off other players and the squeaking of sneakers on the gym floor. This is by far more powerful because it involves more emotions and engages your subconscious mind more directly.
Keys to successful visualization
1. Relaxation
Make sure you are totally relaxed. Worry, tension and anxiety will hinder your ability to concentrate. Find a quiet place and do some deep breathing exercises for a few minutes and just let the tension drain from your body.
2. Frequency
They say repetition is the mother of success. There are two distinct advantages to practicing your visualization frequently. The first is that you simply get better at it. The second and most important advantage is that it influences the way you think and thus causes you to engage in activities that will lead to the accomplishment of your goals.
3. Clarity
The more clearly you are able to see your goals; the faster you will be able to achieve them. Always work hard at adding as much vivid details as possible to your visualization. It is the small details that make your mental pictures seem authentic.
4. Intensity
Whenever you visualize, work really hard at creating the exact feelings and emotions you would experience upon the accomplishment of your goals. The more intense these felling and emotions are the faster these mental instructions will be implanted in your subconscious mind.
5. Duration
From personal experience I know that the more you practice visualization the more you increase your ability to concentrate. With practice you will be able to hold the images in your mind for longer periods. The longer you hold a clear vivid picture in your mind the quicker your goals are likely to appear.
I know you have dreams and desires. I also know that you have the ability to make them come true. I encourage you to practice the techniques you have learned here. At first you might find it challenging or it may just feel funny. That’s OK. That’s normal. Just stick with it. Remember the power lies in you.
Keep on Pushing!
As an original member of the 1988 Jamaican bobsled team and captain of the 1992 and 1998 teams; 3-time Olympian, Devon Harris achieved his grand dream – his current dream is to inspire others to achieve theirs. Tapping the same energy, determination and skills that enabled him to bobsled with the best in the world, Devon, as a motivational speaker is now sparking audiences of all ages to dream big and take their “game” to the next level.
