The Power of Imagery - Using Visualisation.
Last week we took a deep dive into finding your purpose for you business and how to stay on purpose.
On Thursday I gave you a list of tips that would help you to stay focused on your purpose, and on Friday we started to go deeper into the things on the list which we haven't explored before.
We're going to continue through that list this week, and we're kicking off with
Visualisation (also known as meditation)
Many experts believe that visualisation is another of the most powerful tools you can use to help you stay focused, and to help you achieve your goals.
Many athletes use visualisation to help them improve performance.
There's also lots of research available to support visualisation, not just for improving mental performance, but also for improving physical attributes.
What do I mean by that?
So there's evidence out there that says that if you imagine particular exercises to strengthen specific muscles, you can actually achieve a similar increase in strength when compared to actually completing the exercises themselves.
Extraordinary huh!?
Visualisation activates neural pathways in the brain to trigger psychological, emotional, and physical responses.
If you've ever visualised eating a lemon you'll know that there a very real response in your salivary glands!
And it has the same effect on your mental ability and performance.
Again, when you use visualisation to its maximum effect your brain can't tell the difference between what's real or not, or in other words, whether it's actually happened or not.
And that's the secret.
If your brain think something has already happened it's much more prepared for when it happens again, and this is how to use visualisation to take things to the next level.
So how do you get the most out of visualisation?
First you must decide on which goal or goals you want to focus your visualisation on.
Get comfortable. When I do my visualisations it's normally just before I get out of bed, and at night when I get into bed.
Start visualising where you want to be/what you want to achieve.
When you visualise yourself don't 'view' yourself from the outside looking in, actually be in yourself. It's actually your life!
Smell the smells, hear the sounds, feel the emotions. It should be like you're actually experiencing the event or circumstances.
Practice, practice, practice! You can be an expert at anything unless you take the time to learn and practice. Its the same for visualisation. You've got to put in the time and effort to become BRILLIANT at it.
Here are a few tips to make your visualisation more effective and powerful:
Write it down - write down how your journey will unfold as you move towards your goal.
Focus on the positive - we all spend much of out time focusing on the negative things in our lives. Whenever you find yourself doing this, stop, and refocus on the positive things. Do this throughout your visualisation too.
Visualise EVERY step.
Be true to yourself - don;t imagine yourself behaving or speaking in such a way that is totally unnatural for you e.g. if you are softly spoken don't imagine yourself with a booming voice!
If you're serious about staying focused on your purpose, and achieving your goals start using visualisation to your advantage.
Get visualising straight away!