How to increase your chances of getting what you dream of this year.

As we enter 2021, surely we must do anything we can to maximise our chances of having a better year? Here’s an approach which has worked for me in the past and that I’m confident will keep doing so as we face the year ahead. So, if you are setting your own goals right now - or currently just ‘hoping’ for something better - consider adding this into your personal toolset and maximise your chances...

What I’m proposing is not some cranky mumbo-jumbo: it really works! It’s a way of increasing the chances of seeing what you want, actually materialise.

Now at this point I’ll assume some of you may be a tad sceptical. All I ask is, why wouldn’t you consider anything that might increase your chances of achieving what you wish for in 2021?

“Having a strategy for your year isn’t enough, but neither is wishful thinking. There is somewhere in between that needs your attention. You need to write it, picture it, repeat it and believe in it, every day!”

Anyone who’s been involved in setting a business strategy, with a plan to achieve that, knows there’s more to that process than writing down aspirations, building a budget around it and waiting for the numbers to come in. There’s a host of people to brief and motivate; commitments and deals to be done; hearts and minds to be won over. And even then there’s the ‘uncontrollable factors’ that may be out of your control, dependent upon markets and economics, or even in….the lap of the gods?

But what about your own personal goals and aspirations? How do you go about making them happen?...or at least, how do you give yourself every chance of achieving them?

By the way, don’t be afraid to share your vision with others- even if it’s just your dog! You do need to believe this process will work. After all, you take exercise, confident that you will benefit from being fitter and healthier; so embrace this process believing it will assist the chances of your overall strategy succeeding.

Even if all you do is repeat these goals to yourself in the mirror every morning, that will indeed etch this into your will, and send a message to those powers who might be able to help you.

“Hold on….are you suggesting there is a ‘Higher Power’ involved here?”

The principles involved here will often involve terms like 'Visualisation', 'Manifestation' and 'Mindfulness'. What does that mean? Who else are we asking for help from? Who’s listening to us?

The Universe. The Cosmos. The part that none of us really understands. Prayer? Mantra? What do you want to call it?

I’m a graduate in Maths and Statistics, with Science ‘A’ Levels. So I like logic. My logic here is that I have been hitting budgets, writing marketing strategies, pitching for business for most of my career. What I found was, the more I visualised the outcome I wanted, and the more I put it out there, the more I got back.

So let’s cut to the chase and consider doing two things from here:

Firstly: write down what you want to achieve. Describe what you want to happen. Even list how you will feel, and how others will react. That’s your ‘strategic plan’, with key milestones, key measures along the way, etc. Where would you have been without this in business? So why don't you do it in the rest of your life?

Secondly: pull together any images which illustrate what this all looks like. Keep updating this ‘picture board’ as it changes - because of course it will change - as time unfolds it. I produce a version of mine in PowerPoint but you might be more comfortable cutting and pasting from magazines, old photos, and such. The first time I planned our escape around the world in 1990, I spent the preceding couple of years chopping up pieces of National Geographic and sticking them on the loo wall. I’d stare at them every day. We somehow got to visit all those places. 

Now, on a regular basis, ‘revisit’ these statements, and their associated images. Keep repeating them to yourself; visualising what success looks like; feeling the thrill of achieving them.

Why do this? Where’s the evidence that any of this will help you to achieve your goals?

Ask the Richard Bransons, Elon Musks, Angela Merkels, Lady Gagas, Tiger Woods, Alan Shearers, about having a firm belief, and a clear vision, and then repeating it to anyone who will listen. They probably admit to practising something like this, maybe without even thinking about it. It’s just how they live their goals. I’m sure they would all concur on how important it is to have a clear visualisation of what they wished to achieve. And they certainly did take every opportunity to tell people about it!

If you hone your belief in something and help others to see where you are headed, there’s just more chance of it working. Those of us who are used to writing down marketing and business plans may be less-used to compiling actual images of what success might look like. So try taking that extra leap – it’s a short one after all! 

Live and Breathe your vision..

This is where Mindfulness and Meditation could come in for you. As I’ve said already, your own version of ‘meditation’ might simply be a walk, a run, a swim or hitting golf balls into the horizon. Or maybe you do practice something closer to taking yourself, via a shift in breathing and focus, towards a place which allows these images to embed themselves further into your subconscious. This might be the piece in the jigsaw of life skills which might make the difference to you this year?

And finally – don’t forget to express Gratitude! Whoever is Up There assisting your progress, even if you’re not sure who your celestial assistants are, they surely deserve a regular ‘Thank You!’ when things go right for you after all? Just tip them a wink, raise a glass, shout at the sky, and keep believing!

Now it's traditional to insert some Call to Action at this point: "Contact me here for more assistance"? Feel free to do so but it's not necessary. If you're read this far and decided to try it, somebody else will deliver my reward.             

Enjoy!

Alan

If you do need help in getting there, here’s a few links which might be of interest:

References: