Chapter 7: How to Use the Power of Visualization to Achieve your Dreams
This chapter is a continuation of the previous ones. It contains more tips that will enable you to leverage the power of visualization to achieve your dreams. However, unlike the last one, it is more systematic.
Setting goals is the foundation of visualization. If you don’t have things you want to accomplish, then there’s no reason to create imageries for anything. So, you need to start by deciding what you want to achieve. SMART stands for specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. When your goals don’t have these characteristics, you are just emotional.
Specific means that the goal is clearly spelled out and not vague, while measurable means that there are benchmarks and milestones that indicate the achievement of the target. Achievable means that the goal is realistic, while relevant means that the target is connected to meaningfulness. Finally, time-bound means that you intend to achieve the goal within a specific period.
After choosing your target, the next step involves creating imaginations around the goal. Imagine yourself performing and achieving the goal. If your dream is to become a medical doctor, imagine yourself treating people and helping them to recover from pains and diseases. In the same way, if your target is to learn how to play the piano, imagine yourself dazzling a crowd with your skills.
However, don’t just be fixated at the end. Begin by thinking about the process of achieving your target. For example, think about the training process and how you’ll choose to endure all the difficulties that might come during the period. Determine not to quit regardless of the challenges that come your way while envisioning the process.
All your senses have to be involved during visualization. You will engage your sense of smell, sight, sound, taste, and feel. What will you be wearing on your graduation day? How will it feel on your body? What kind of food will be available on that day? Your mind has to capture all these details and engage your senses to make them as real as possible.
When your thoughts have been able to capture the details and translate them to your senses, you will keep working hard to ensure that it comes to pass.
You’ll want to get to the finishing because you want to have an actual experience of your imagination. Therefore, you will buckle down and get to work because you have dreams to achieve.
You can aid your imagery by writing a story of your success. Emily Cook employs this approach. Investigators have discovered that people who write out their goals have a higher chance to achieve them than individuals who don’t. You don’t have to write it down in a book. Instead, you can record it as audio. Then play it to yourself at different times. Playing it to yourself multiple times will help you to encode the words in your brain, helping you to form images of it easily.
Scientists have found that various parts of your brain are activated when you synthesize an experience by using multiple senses. The resultant effect of this activation is a powerful visualization and more productivity. So, you will be boosting your chances of creating images that will spur you to success when you write and record your expectations and read or listen to them repeatedly.
It’s always good to have multiple roadmaps in life to avoid being stranded. You cannot afford to be rigid because things don’t always happen exactly as you want them. So, while thinking about a particular target and how you can achieve it, you should also think of similar alternatives in case things didn’t turn out the way you planned them.
For example, if you’re trying to learn the piano, you can see learning the guitar as another alternative in case you find the going too tough. Indeed, this isn’t an option you should plan to exercise. However, it will come in handy in case you had to seek a different option. There’s no point sticking with something if the best you can be at it is an average performer.
After writing down your goal and creating imaginations of it, it’s crucial that you identify the likely challenges that can frustrate your effort. You need to start from the internal factors such as your confidence, self-esteem, and motivation. Whether you realize it or not, you have control over these things. No one can shatter your confidence or reduce your self-esteem if you don’t allow them. In the same way, no one can make you lose the motivation and desire to achieve your dreams if you don’t empower them to that extent in your life.
There will always be people who will discourage you regardless of what you want to achieve. You should think about the likely criticisms that can be levied against your targets beforehand. Provide reasonable and logical responses to those allegations before anyone comes up with them. You should be your own greatest critic to ensure that you will be able to stand against the scorching words of destructive critics.
You don’t have only internal issues to contend with whenever you are trying to accomplish a target. There are also external factors that can derail your ambition. Funding can be a critical factor that can make it impossible for you to achieve some things. You should plan for it as you think about how you will reach your destination.
You can always ask people you know who can give you tips regarding how you can get money to finance your dreams. You might be surprised to find out that there are opportunities such as grants that can make things easier. Don’t be a lone-ranger because it makes you susceptible to being stranded.
Whenever you’re trying to achieve a goal, there will always be doubts rising in your heart. It only shows that you are a human being. However, you shouldn’t let anything stop you. The last phase of visualization is the implementation of your intentions. Start with the simple things first.
You might need to talk to an experienced person first before you get started. You need to be careful when trying to talk to people because some conversations with some people can drain out all your energy and motivation. It’s always better to speak to people who are either doing what you want to do or have succeeded in it.
