The Power Of Visualisation For Success
About 6 years ago, a wise colleague, mentor and friend said something that stuck with me:
"Thoughts become things"
It’s a profound concept and something that high performing and successful people have been able to master pretty well, regularly smashing goals and achieving their desired outcomes. The good news? You can master it too. One way is through visualisation.
After all, before we can believe in a goal, we first need to have an idea of what it looks like.
Visualisation is a well-developed method of performance improvement, supported by scientific evidence. When I first mention using visualisation as a tool in my coaching sessions, it is often met with some trepidation. Although it’s become somewhat of a ‘buzzword’ in recent years, visualisation is not a fad or gimmick; it’s a powerful and effective success strategy.
One of the many benefits of visualisation is that it enables us to program our mind and seek out stimuli in the environment that resonates with our goals. This selective attention filter makes us aware of daily things that can help us, drawing and attracting into our life the people, resources and opportunities we need to achieve our desired outcomes.
As Tony Robbins once said, ‘‘where focus goes, energy flows’’.
But another amazing thing that happens when we visualise our desired outcome is that we begin to see and believe the possibility of achieving it.
This is because our brains often can’t differentiate between reality or dreams. What is already true and what is fiction.
So, when you visualise your future goal having already happened, then the mind automatically fills in the blanks for getting there as quickly and easily as possible.
And if you’ve tricked your mind into thinking it has already achieved an outcome you desire, you have less fear getting in the way of taking action, not to mention increased confidence and motivation to actually get you there.
Fear is the number one reason we don't take action towards our goals.
In fact, fear is what creates the most resistance and holds us back; we have a tendency to imagine the worst-case or negative outcomes, rather than the positive. We then end up self-sabotaging by talking ourselves out of taking action. And it’s all down to our thoughts.
But the more you visualise the goal or outcome you want; the less afraid you are of going for it. After all, you’ve done it successfully a hundred times before, if only in your mind.
The best thing about visualisation? You can literally do it anywhere, in two simple steps!
Close your eyes (if it makes you more comfortable), and put together a detailed mental image of a desired outcome, goal or dream. Paint an actual picture in your mind. Paint your picture so clearly that you can taste it. Play it out like a movie in your mind, if you can.
Then, visualise the process of you actually getting there. The action steps as you take them.
Don’t worry if you struggle to form an actual image in your mind’s eye, we’re all wired differently. The important thing is to use ALL your senses, in whatever form they come to you. What does it look like, feel like, sound like, smell like, taste like?
I practice daily visualisation as part of my morning routine, and it’s impacted my life in a hugely positive way. It’s helped me to win jobs and promotions, to speak publicly and give presentations, to pass my driving test, to lose weight, to stop smoking. It’s also helped me to start my own business and to move to the other side of the world. I’ve even visualised jumping out of planes or off bridges and canyons; and it gave me the balls to do it for real.
Visualisation is a powerful way to achieve positive, behavioural change and it can help to increase your confidence.
If you want to get more creative with it, creating a vision board or an ongoing vision journal is also a great way to manifest things into your life.
I have 3 ongoing vision journals: one for Mind goals (career, finances, education, self), Body goals (physical health, lifestyle, exercise, nutrition) and Spirit goals (family, social, adventure, passions).
As Oprah said, ‘‘Anything you can imagine, you can create’’.
Just make sure you don’t confuse peak performance with fantasy when it comes to your desired outcomes.
You can visualise winning an Oscar or becoming the next Kate Moss, but make sure your goals are also realistic and you have the self-awareness to know the difference. I’m under no illusion that I will EVER be the next Kate Moss - or Bella Hadid, for my younger (or more trendy) readers, but I’m ok with that.
Remember, visualisation is not just for things you want to have, it’s about visualising who you want to become.
The more passion, excitement, and energy we muster during visualisation, the more powerful the results will be.
So, who do you want to become?