Chapter 4: Perks of Visualization
If there are no benefits that people enjoy when they practice visualization, the practice cannot enjoy the kind of wide acceptance it has today. There are various ways you can improve your life and experience when you practice visualization. Here are some of the commonest ones.
The modern world is full of stressors, and it’s now a generally accepted claim that we cannot do without them. In fact, you cannot achieve anything substantial without a level of stress. You will be exposed to stressors when you are working hard to reach the peak of your career. In the same way, you will be stressed to a certain degree when you are trying to become a top athlete or a successful entrepreneur. However, you cannot let stress get the best of you because that won’t be good for your mental and physical health.
Therefore, it’s crucial that you find means of managing your stress level to keep your body and mind together. The good news is that you can leverage visualization as an effective stress management technique. How is that possible? Creating images of success and planning to achieve it reduces your anxiety because it makes you feel that you are in control. Nothing is scarier than feeling that you have lost control of your life.
Your dreams and goals show your personality. In other words, in an ideal situation, the kind of things you want to achieve shows your worldview and beliefs. For example, the reason you desire to be at the peak of your career might be because you want to earn a lot of money to be able to help others. So, when you visualize that dream, you will also have imagery of making the world better.
Such imaginations make you feel at home with yourself. It gives you a sense of purpose and self-worth because you feel that you are embarking on a journey that will establish your personality. Every step you take towards reaching your destination will make you happy and satisfied because you are doing something that means a lot to you. This harmony is the reason goal- setting experts advise people to set targets that fit into the big picture of their lives.
It can be challenging to keep your focus in the modern world because you have more than enough things to distract you. People are succeeding in various things that weren’t in existence some years ago. There are several career paths that can give you the same targets. If what you want is financial independence, there are more than a thousand ways you can achieve that goal in the modern world. So, it is crucial that you choose a path that will help you maximize your strength.
Visualization enables you to choose what you want to achieve and stick to it. Remember that every career path has its ditches and challenges. Imagery will help you to plan ahead and wade off distractions. You’ll see others treading a different path and achieving success, but you will need to keep your eyes on the ball. Believe in the process and reap the rewards later.
How can you learn and master new skills when you have never imagined learning and mastering them. As mentioned earlier, Olympic freestyle skier, Emily Cook, has been one of the beneficiaries of visualization in this regard. Imageries help you to project towards learning and mastering new skills because you will first imagine how it feels when you complete your training.
For example, if you are learning how to play the guitar, your imagination will inspire you as you think about how the crowd will cheer after a great performance. There will be days when you won’t be motivated to continue learning. However, because you keep recreating the satisfaction you’ll derive from achieving your target, you’ll encourage yourself. You’ll keep striving until you have the finesse and mastery you crave.
You cannot get to the finishing line in any journey when you aren’t passionate. It is zealousness that makes you put in your best to attain a target. The truth is that the uncertain nature of life makes it impossible to be sure about the outcome of anything. However, there are some things you can do that increase your chance of success. One of them is having the motivation and desire to do all that is necessary to accomplish a goal.
Remember that motivation comes from your state of mind. When you have imaginations of achieving your targets with a clear path to achieve them, it makes you zealous to go all out to accomplish them. When you know what you need to do, you’ll not have issues with believing the process and staying patient. You’ll be able to stay committed because you know you will reach your target someday.
You need to be creative to succeed in the modern world. The ultra- competitive nature of the 21ST century requires thinking out of the box to stand out. There are many people doing the things you do. So, you need to be able to offer qualities that are rare to become indispensable in your company or industry. You need creativity to solve problems and reinvent the wheel when necessary.
Visualization increases your creativity by helping you envisage the likely challenges that can frustrate your effort. While creating imageries in your mind, you’ll also identify the potential problems, enabling you to prepare for them. Visualization helps you to analyze the current approaches to a task and how you can make things better. People are always seeking upgrades on the current solutions, and you will be an instant hit when you can offer them better alternatives to solving their problems.
As mentioned earlier, athletes leverage imagery to improve their performance. Besides, whatever enhances your motivation, gives you clarity, and helps you to generate creative ideas will definitely improve your performance. Visualization boosts your confidence, which is a key ingredient that enables you to become a winner in every sphere of your life. When you have low self-esteem, you won’t be ambitious.
You’ll deliberately set low targets because you’re afraid of failing. You don’t want people to say that you started something you couldn’t finish. So, instead of going for the things you really desire, you’ll settle for the things that you will achieve without stress. If you keep running away from challenges, you will never be great. Embrace challenges, visualize them, and give it all you have got.