Using the same visualization techniques athletes do
Everyone’s heard of athletes who visualize themselves to the top of their game. A weight lifter for example will visualize every aspect of lifting his or her desired weight. Stepping into the gym. The smell in the room. Stacking the weights onto the bar. The cool metal under their palms as they prepare for the lift. The heaviness radiating down through all their muscles as they lift of the weight over their heads successfully.
By visualizing every aspect of the experience they’re doing a mental rehearsal of what they want to achieve.
You’re visualizing whether you realize it or not
All of us are always visualizing the future, whether we realize it or not. Sometimes we’re visualizing barriers or obstacles. Sometimes we’re visualizing problems and delays. Sometimes we’re visualizing the results we want to achieve. We may think we’re just thinking things out practically, imagining all possibilities, however a successful mindset doesn’t focus on the problems along the way, the successful mindset focuses on working through them to the end result. It’s important when visualizing your future to see yourself dealing with problems, not dwelling on them, then continuing on your goal.
Instead of letting your mind wander through random daydreams, be conscious about your thoughts. Dedicate time each day to specifically visualizing the future you want to create, both short term and long term.
The difference between visualizing and fantasizing
It’s important to recognize the difference between visualizing success and fantasizing about it. Professional athletes have a lifetime of practice behind them. They know exactly how their bodies react and what they need to do to achieve the success they’re after. The visualizing is a mental rehearsal of what they know they can do, what they have to do to get the desired results. Without the background work that actually makes you a contender for success, visualization is nothing more than wishful thinking. For example if you’re not already a weight lifter, no matter what you see in your head there’s no way you’re going to lift 300 pounds without having lifted 280 pounds in the past.
Napoleon Hill, Author of the amazing Think and Grow Rich, the book that inspired Dale Carnegie, Steven R. Covey and countless others, says, “First comes thought; then organization of that thought into ideas and plans; then transformation of those plans into reality. The beginning as you will observe is in your imagination.
Putting your visualizations into action
You’ve used visualization to see yourself having achieved your goals. You know what that success feels like mentally, physically, emotionally and you’ve incorporated that feeling into your daily life. That’s your end result. To get there you also need to visualize the in-between steps, but don’t just visualize, follow through with them.
See yourself not backing down in the face obstacles or adversity. Being strong, decisive. Create the person you want to be in your mind and use that as a blueprint for your actions and reactions.
Picturing the success you want will help you go forward instead of getting stuck in the treadmill of never quite there. Visualization works with the actual work you do, not instead of it. It keeps you on task. It keeps you motivated. It helps you foresee and address issues that may come up along the way.
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