Visualizing for Results, Part 2
The science behind visualization. PLUS, 4 more easy tips on making your dreams come true.
In Visualizing for Results, Part 1, we discovered that if you visualize something, the power of universal vibrational energy will insure that it doesn’t happen, unless you take steps to do the right kind of visualization. The good news is that the power of visualization has been studied by science. And whether you believe in the spirituality or the psychology, the truth is that some visualizations work, while others don’t. In his book, 59 Seconds, Richard Wiseman helps us understand what science has shown about making our dreams come true. We’ve already covered the first 3 steps to making your dreams come true in part 1 of this episode on visualizing for results:
Step 1 – Visualize the process, not the outcome
Step 2 – Visualize in the third person
Step 3 – Combine optimistic motivation with realistic planning
Today, we’re going to cover the last 4 tips for making your dreams come true.
Tip #4 – Make a Step-by-Step Plan
Making a step-by-step plan is a great way to start reaching your goals. The best plans are concrete, measurable, and time-based. You should confidently be able to check each step off your list. “Investigate companies” is a decent step in your plan to get a job. “Each week, read 5 trade magazines and find the names of at least 10 exciting companies” is a much better step.
I used to believe a step-by-step plan was a good thing, because then you would follow the plan and reach your goal. As I’ve become older and wiser, I realize that even the best-laid plans of mice and men fall to pieces when confronted by the chaos of the real world. go Say you plan to borrow your parents’ vacation home and have friends over for a lobster boil. You get to step 10 on your plan, where you buy lobsters. Then you leave them on the counter while you answer the doorbell. Unattended, the lobsters start exploring. Your pal Bernice almost steps on one, shrieks in horror, trips backwards, and upsets your great great Aunt Sadie’s antique end table, made by hand in 1916. Step 11 on your new plan is spending the weekend searching for a missing lobster, consoling a traumatized Bernice, and frantically super-gluing the table together before your parents drop in to see how things are going.
My point is that a plan isn’t going to be your ultimate solution. However, a plan is a great tool for transforming a big, honkin’ goal into bite-sized chunks. A huge goal may be intimidating, but small chunks are much more doable. The process of planning forces you to think through your goal and learn more about the factors that will lead to success. If part of your planning is talking to people who have reached the goal you want, you’ll already have a network of people who can help by the time you get started.
Tip #5 – Publicly Declare Your Goal
When you decide you have a dream, start telling people. Tell everyone. Shout it from the rooftops. Write it down and give copies to your significant other, polyamorous family unit, wife, husband, and children. When you tell friends what you’re doing, they can keep their antennas seeking for helpful opportunities.
When you tell people a goal, you’re also more likely to work towards it. This is also the secret in my episode on super-productive action days. When you publicly say you’ll do something, you’re just more likely to do it.
You might be scared to tell people your dreams, because they might think you’re silly. I used to watch the early American Idol episodes and laugh at the talentless, clueless contestants who foolishly thought they could sing. Then one day it hit me, and it hit me hard: talent or not, they were out there giving it a shot in front of 350 million people, while I was just sitting on my couch making fun of them. Which one of us is living our lives big? Hint: not me.
If you’re afraid your friends will make fun of you, make new friends. Seriously. Life is too short to spend it being afraid of what they’ll think. Besides, they have antennas; who are they to judge?
Tip #6 – Track Your Progress. In Writing.
Make sure to track the progress you make towards your goal. Track both the accomplishments and the effort. That way, even if you think you’re going nowhere, you can remind yourself how far you’ve come.
For example, I decided to try doing musical theater about a year and a half ago. I found a voice teacher and started training. I met D.J., my voice teacher’s super-talented 17-year-old student. He sings, dances, and probably juggles lit torches with his feet while humming 4-part harmony—with himself. I feel like I’m 20 years behind him. That makes me -3. But my progress-tracking log shows otherwise: in 18 months, I’ve been in two shows and one opera. I’ve had a lead part, am learning to sight-sing, and just finished co-writing the next draft of a one-man musical based on my book.
I certainly have plenty far to go—I still haven’t sung a duet with Neil Patrick Harris, which was step 11 in the plan—but the progress log keeps my spirits up. It also reminds me of the lessons I’ve learned, so I can be smarter in the future.
Tip #7 – Reward Yourself
The final tip for making your dreams come true is to reward yourself when you take actions toward your goal. Experiences make you happier than things, so reward yourself with special experiences. You don’t need to be fancy. Schedule a night with friends to go bowling. Or get yourself a massage. Or a manicure. Or a football.
Scientists find that the right visualization techniques will get you started towards your dream. You can give yourself an added boost with a step-by-step plan, a public declaration, and a progress log. And don’t forget a creative reward. Like a weekend getaway with friends at a lakeside cabin. Just don’t bring lobster.
This is Stever Robbins. I give keynote speeches about how entrepreneurs create new markets. The speeches are interactive and customized to the goals of the audience. If you want more information, visit SteverRobbins speaking.
Work Less, Do More, and have a Great Life!
RESOURCES:
- /productivity/organization/end-procrastination-with-action-days – Episode on action days
- Visualizing for Results Part 1 – the first part of this episode on affirmations and visualizations
Woman Thinking image courtesy of Shutterstock
About the Author
Stever Robbins was the host of the podcast Get-it-Done Guy from 2007 to 2019. He is a graduate of W. Edward Deming’s Total Quality Management training program and a Certified Master Trainer Elite of NLP. He holds an MBA from the Harvard Business School and a BS in Computer Sciences from MIT.
