A key tool to help you achieve

When I was at school my teacher used to complain that my handwriting was terrible; if she only knew that if I’d made it any clearer she’d have realised I couldn’t spell.

Mind you, with my father being Polish and my mother Italian, spelling wasn’t their forte either. I remember a note my mother once wrote to my teacher. It read, “The doctor says my son should not do PE today, please EXECUTE him.”

On the downside, teachers used to shake their heads and chuckle whenever they saw me. On the upside I was EXCUSED PE for a whole week. Wooooo hooooo!

I remember one of my school friends who seemed to be forever in trouble for daydreaming when in class. He hated school and wanted to be elsewhere, hence the daydreaming.

I wonder how many of us daydream. Have you daydreamed recently? Then, stop it!

Daydreaming is not helpful as we’re usually having the daydream because we’re not happy with our current circumstances. We’re not happy with what we have or where we are at that moment. Our minds are operating from a place of dissatisfaction. When we operate from a place of dissatisfaction or fear (in fact any unhelpful negative state) we lose clarity and just dream of being anywhere but the place we’re at now. There’s usually no purpose or commitment to the daydream.

However, visualising is different, admittedly a subtle difference, but a difference that makes ALL the difference.

Visualising is about getting our mind-set ready to achieve a goal, setting an intention to grow as a person and fulfilling our purpose.

When we visualise we're activating the reticular activating system in our brains which will actively look for opportunities and ways of achieving the outcome/goal we choose to have.

Think of it this way. Have ever been shopping for shoes in a shopping mall you've been to on many occasions? When you do, all the shoe shops will come to your attention. When you weren't looking for shoes the shops were still there but you didn't really notice them.

That's what happens when we visualise, we set our minds on an unconscious hunt for what we choose to have or achieve.

Athletes visualise the outcomes they choose to happen. They may have dreams of winning an Olympic medal, but they visualise themselves running the race, they visualise the tactics and strategies they need to execute and they visualise running across the winning line, or throwing the javelin the furthest or kicking the ball into the goal.

They’re not coming from an unhelpful place, but from a place of love for their sport, a place of commitment to their goal, a place of clarity and power. They know there’ll be a genuine joy when they achieve it.

Successful people visualise the outcomes they choose (not ‘want’ but ‘choose’) to have.

Visualisation is a key to help them achieve.

If you haven’t visualised before here are 5 quick steps to get you started:

    1: Know exactly what you’re choosing to happen

You need to have a clear idea of what you want and why.

    2 : Describe to yourself your vision in every detail possible

Imagine, once you’ve achieved your outcome/goal, what it looks like, feels like. If there are sounds, smells and tastes to your vision, experience them. Write all these details down or create pictures of them and put them in a scrapbook. Better still, put them somewhere you can see them every day like on a wall in your bedroom or office or on the fridge door.

    3: Start visualising and feel the emotions

Visualise once or twice a day for five to 10 minutes. The best times to visualise are just when you are awakening from your slumber in the morning and as you drop off to sleep at night. It's more important to visualise as you drop off to sleep at night. Why? Because our brains go into what’s known as the Theta State, which is when we connect the most with our subconscious mind. When in this state our ability to learn increases and it’ll be easier to change any unhelpful habits into positive behaviours.

    4: Take actions daily

If you know the steps to take to achieve your goal, when you visualise then visualise each step and take action actually do the next step. If you don't know the actual steps you need to take then each day ask yourself, ‘what would be the one thing I can do today that would help me get closer to my outcome/goal?’ You may find the actions you need to do change or new additional steps present themselves as your goal becomes reality. That's brilliant because you're getting closer to your goal so just keep going.

    5: Be patient stay focussed and persevere

If nothing happens after a few days or even months, it doesn’t mean visualising doesn’t work. There will be challenges along the way and as you meet these challenges visualise yourself overcoming them.

By the way, thanks to visualisation my handwriting is much better today although the odd spulling misteak does still kreeep in :O