Visualize It

Visualization is a simple, yet powerful technique to achieve what you want.

Many experts agree that the skill of visualization is more important than natural talent for successful athletes. Need I say more? You might fall into the trap of assuming it's too hard or too "foofy" to actually take a few minutes to visualize what you want to happen. And yes, it's human nature to avoid things that require even a little bit of effort.

What if you knew visualization was fool-proof and/or could get you something you wanted? Hmmm...what if you were on a gameshow and in order to win the $100,000 prize you had to prove you could visualize winning the prize on the show. They could stick sensors to your head to measure brain activity and give you 30 seconds to complete the task. Could you do it? Would you hesitate?

It's easy.
The average person easily visualizes what they do NOT want to happen, many times a day. You are familiar with this; it may be a coworker with an offhand comment about "worst-case scenario." This is a great skill, because it is a proven way to influence the future (more on this in another post) -- BUT when considering worst-case scenarios verus best-case scenarios, which do you think yields more desirable results?

What's stopping you?
"Seems too hard." "Not sure how." "I don't know what to picture." Let's cover how-to here. Think about your car and the way the seat feels under you, the feel of the steering wheel, and the sensation of accelerating to pass. Ok, now do NOT picture your house right now. Whatever you do, don't think of the way the door looks, the style of the handle, or your favorite place to sit and watch TV. Congratulations! You just visualized. That's it. Easy.

It's always on, so use it to your advantage.
Now you know that it works either way: when you want to think of something, or when you are just going along with what someone else brought up. Wouldn't you rather think about YOU? OK, start now. Consider what you are working toward. How does it feel in the moment you just realized you achieved the big goal? Where are you, what sensations are you experiencing? Describe it as though you are sharing the story with another person and you want them to get the full effect. Although the first time you do this, it could take a bit of time to determine the details, every time you picture it afterward, it comes faster and more clearly. There you go, you are visualzing your success! In just a few minutes.

ACTIONS:
1. Write down what you want to achieve.
2. Picture yourself achieving it, from your own perspective (as it feels in your own body to experience it).
3. Now, add some color and detail to the story, and write down this updated description.
4. Picture it once a day for the rest of this week, and twice daily every day next week.

Now you see it; now you see it.
Yeah, exactly.



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Are You Setting Goals, Uh-Hem, Properly?

Are you setting your goals with the idea that you will achieve them?

It may sound like a rhetorical question, yet it is not. Now I understand quite well that there a lot of people out there who prefer not to set goals or think about them. This post is for the rest of you.

It's absolutely flabbergasting how many people I run into daily that aren't setting the right goals, aren't setting goals with the idea they will actually achieve them, and aren't setting goals with the ability to measure their success (or failure)! This might be a lot to digest, so let's break it down:

Are you setting the right goals for YOU? Are you bending under the weight of others' expectations, or worrying about what everyone else thinks of your goals and achievements? Are you fully tuned into your own desires, needs, wants, preferences? In one of my MasterMind groups, we discussed one person's new goal- it was a specific salary goal, but the more he talked about it, the more everyone realized what he really wanted was a specific car, more time with his wife, some more travel, and professional recognition. Think about this as you are getting into the groove of your 2010 goal-achieving. There is more to come on this! Don't want to wait for "How Do You Know You've Set the Right Goals?"? Join the RESULTS forum now.)

Are you setting goals with an expectation that you will achieve them? Are you REALLY expecting to do it, or are you wishing things were different? There is a chasm between the two approaches. When you believe that you WILL perform, that you have the ability to stick with it and find the resources inside and out, even if things get difficult -- then you WILL do it. When you go into something doubting your ability to complete it, why do it at all? There are myriad reasons why people continually set goals and don't give it their all during the "do it" phase. Obviously, it's not about purposely causing a cycle of hope and failure.

Hopes up, hopes dashed, hopes up, hopes dashed again. Do you ever feel like this? How do you break the cycle? Set a goal that REALLY matters to you (see above). Your desire must be strong enough to carry you through the tough days, it must be personally relevant, and you must be emotionally attached to the outcome. This is precisely why burning one's own ships in battle to cut off option of retreat is so effective. This is precisely why when the chips are down, people pull through.

Don't take the easy way...set a stretch goal and GROW for it. Expect to both dislike and enjoy the ride, but fall in love with the expected outcome.

How will you know when you succeed or fail? If you tell me "I want more money," and I reach into my pocket, flick you a nickel, and say "OK, you have more money. Happy?," how will you feel? How much money do you want, by when, and what exactly are you going to do with it? Making a wish doesn't mean it will come true. But there is magic in spelling out all the details. Achieving goals requires specificity. In other words, if I don't set a specific goal, then I don't know when I hit the mark. I don't get to celebrate. This is bad; everyone needs to celebrate their successes!

Use the SMART framework every time you are acknowledging a goal: specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound. As an example, "I want to earn 20% more income by June 15, 2010 so that I can purchase a new blue truck with light grey leather seats, spend a week in Aruba, and invest another 5% of salary into my retirement funds during this calendar year."

TAKE ACTION:
1. Consider your current goals. Do they matter to you? Do they fire you up? What great things will occur once you've achieved them?
2. Re-evaluate and analyze your goals now. Do they take you out of your comfort zone, and are they attainable at the same time? Find ways to make sure you have some "skin in the game" and watch your performance rise.
3. Do your goals meet the SMART criteria? If not, rewrite them now. This will be difficult at first, but is very liberating because is clears up anxiety and uncertainty very quickly. You should also feel like some clear action items are ready to leap into your planner from this exercise!

Happy New Year! Make this one more personally meaningful than any year prior!

Learn more about Envision Success RESULTS programs.