Do you know that your central nervous system cannot tell the difference between what is actually happening in reality and what you are just imagining in your mind? Its a fact. You can use the wonderful tool of visualization to achieve success. You can visualize yourself winning, getting that big sale, reaching that goal, and accomplishing something that you have been working hard for. Many say that visualization is the secret to success. You can use this tool to not only visualize and play out a future event in your mind ahead of time, but you can also use visualization to see yourself as the person that you want to become. Let me walk you through this.
I have competed in several Ironman triathlons over the last decade. Once I discovered how visualization worked, I used it to give myself a significant competitive advantage. Several nights before the race, before falling asleep, I would relax my mind and relax all of my muscles in my body. I would get into a sleepy state free of thoughts and completely relaxed. I would then begin to visualize the morning of the upcoming race. I would see myself at the swim start, smiling, standing tall, wearing my wetsuit, and talking with fellow athletes. I would see the color of my swim cap, feel the goggles on my forehead, and see myself looking at the water, smiling, and thinking that this is going to be a great race. I would say to myself, “You are in complete control. You have all the confidence in the world. keep smiling, this race is yours for the taking and you are going to have a fun, fast, and amazing race today.”
As I visualized, I would make the scene as vivid and as detailed as possible. The feel of the sand below my feet, running towards the water when the gun went off, but in a totally excited and happy manner. I would feel my body hitting the water and being so calm and confident. I would see myself swimming and being completely relaxed with a beautiful swim stroke as I made progress swimming away from the shore. I felt the sun shining in my eyes. I would feel the other athletes occasionally grabbing my feet. I would see myself rounding the corner around the buoy marker as I continued with just a wonderful, fast, swim.
I would continue visualizing (imagining) with great detail, every aspect of the race. When I exited the swim, when I changed into my bike gear, the cycle portion of the race, and then the marathon. Every step was visualized. As I visualized, I thought and felt happy, fast, confident, and completely relaxed. I essentially played out how the entire race was going to be. I would then think about crossing the finish line and I would see myself looking at the big red race clock and seeing the finish time that I desired.
I visualized the results I wanted. I visualized the person that I wanted to be on race day. I visualized the entire course of events, playing them out exactly how I wanted them to play out. I then visualized complete success and achieving the results that I wanted. When I was through visualizing (after maybe 10 to 15 minutes), I would smile and then fall asleep. I would repeat visualizing the race every night starting several nights before the event.
Here’s the really cool part- come the morning of the race, I always felt as if I had already done the race. Every step of the way felt like I was already there or had already done it. I was (just like I told myself), completely relaxed, confident, smiling, having fun, and racing fast! This technique not only helped me prepare for a great race, but it helped me with my results and achieving the finish times that I was striving for. By seeing the things that you want in your mind first, they become that much easier to have in reality (to have in your hand).
Because the body does not know the difference between what is happening in your mind and what is actually happening in real life, you can use visualization as an incredibly powerful tool. So start visualizing and see yourself winning, see yourself conquering that goal of yours. You can visualize anything you want, there are no limits! Follow the above instructions and it will work. I practice visualizing every single night and the things that I want to achieve are becoming closer and closer to having them in reality!
-Enjoy!