Wednesday 13 August 2008

Visualise your Success, be clear about it!

All of the great teachers talk about visualising your success using a variety of different methods, tools and techniques.

Some talk about simply setting goals, on the basis that if you don’t know where you want to go, how can you possibly expect to get there?

We hear about SMART goals, that they are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and timebound. Others will invite you to feel how you would when the goal is achieved - sense the emotions; the buzz, excitement, confidence, laughter, celebration and so on. You might imagine the sounds around you, the people and the environment you are in.

We are told that what we resist persists, so focus on what you want, not what you don’t want, as what you focus on you create. It is said you can’t think about what you don’t want to think about, without thinking about it. So you shouldn’t think about not being in debt, you should think about being financially free. You should think about having a wonderful time seeing your relatives after you have landed, not the turbulent air and the storm outside the plane while you’re in the air.

Some teachers invite you to create vision boards or goals books, computer wallpaper backgrounds of your dream home or holiday destination, powerpoint slides and iPod photo albums. Others will have you visualising what you want, in meditation or just quiet reflection. Some will ask you to release on your attachment to a goal or a dream once you have decided it, others will have you list them and read them every day.

Many teachers will have you do a combination of all these things and a variety of others as well.

I’ve used all of these and many others at one time or another and what I am certain about is that you must be absolutely clear on what it is you do want. Where there is doubt or lack of clarity, there is lack of focus. Where there is lack of focus there is a lack of action. Where there is lack of action, there are “unexpected outcomes”.

We cannot predict exactly how our results pan out, but we can predict exactly what actions we will take in the anticipation of certain results. It is far easier to plan the action when we are clear about what we see as being the result. To have that clarity we must visualise our success and be clear about what it is that we want.

I was reminded of the need for clarity earlier this week when creating my goals for the following day. I visualised booking after booking coming through electronically for an event we are promoting just now (see below). We had just implemented the next stage of the marketing plan and I saw in my mind’s eye all these bookings popping up on the screen.

Imagine how great I felt first thing the next morning when I just watched the screen fill up with new booking after new booking. I knew that we had created a great plan, we had implemented it as we had expected and I had visualised the next day’s goals being achieved. What a feeling!

Unfortunately, I had missed a key ingredient in the process – visualising exactly what those bookings looked like. I hadn’t considered who the delegates might be, or where they had come from, how we could give them great value, what they needed from the seminar and so on.

So what was the actual result? ....my web design people TESTING a development we had asked for. Booking after booking saying test, test, test!!

My SUCCESS TIP this week therefore is just this:

VISUALISE YOUR SUCCESS, and BE CLEAR about what you want, otherwise don’t be surprised when you get an unexpected outcome!



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