Creative Visualization - Not JUST For Creative People!
Michael Jordan does it.
Wayne Gretzky does it.
Einstein, Napoleon and Andrew Carnegie all did it.
What is it?
It is Creative Visualization, and no, it’s not just for creative people!
Creative Visualization, if done properly, can be an extremely potent tool for rapidly achieving a goal you set for yourself.
But it’s very misunderstood, and it’s almost unbelievable how much crazy hype there is floating around about it, so in the next few paragraphs I’m going to teach you what it is and exactly how it can help you.
Let’s begin with what Creative Visualization is:
Creative visualization is an idea that emerged from sports psychology. For many years, professionals who work with athletes have used this method as part of the athlete’s training to give him or her that extra edge that makes them the best.
Athletes actually call the visualization process “mental rehearsal,” and they’ve been using it for a looooong time. Ever since the U.S. learned about it from the Russians in the 1960s. That was also about the time when bongs for smoking marijuana were invented, but that’s a topic for another article…
Like I mentioned before, great athletes like Michael Jordan, Jack Nicklaus, Wayne Gretzky, and your grandma’s boyfriend (just making sure you’re still paying attention) use visualization to achieve success in sports.
It’s not just for jocks though. Brain surgeons, successful business people, and other super cool people have used visualization to reach their goals.
Creative visualization works much better than most people realize. It’s power has been documented for thousands of years, and been proven in a variety of industries.
Rumors have been spread that creative visualization is the number one component to success.
I don’t necessarily believe that is true (there is no ONE single factor that determines success, it is a combination of a few critically important factors), but it certainly is a powerful tool that will accelerate your success if done correctly.
The truth is, you already use creative visualization in your everyday life without even realizing it. However, you’re most likely using it against yourself, bringing you more of what you don’t want.
Here’s a basic situation for which visualization might be used. A boxer goes through a horrible defeat. His confidence is shot. He doesn’t believe in himself and doesn’t believe he can actually ever win a match again.
His coach calls in a sports psychologist who uses creative visualization to help him overcome his confidence problem so he can return to the ring.
How Does Visualization Work? Splain’ the details to me..
Creative visualization works by imagining the scenario exactly how you want it to be. It’s not the same as daydreaming because you must focus your mind completely on the scenario, every detail, and experience it with all of your senses. The scenario must be as real as possible to you if you are going to succeed.
In the situation introduced above, the sports psychologist would ask the boxer to picture himself in the ring. The ring would be at the arena where his next match will take place. He should also imagine his opponent.
Once he has the image in his mind, he should imagine the fight exactly as he would want it to occur. He would be at the top of his game. If he is knocked down, he gets back up. At the end, he is victorious.
As he is imagining this scenario mentally, he needs to experience all of the same emotions and feelings he would have if it was really happening.
Does This Work?
The method works because it “tricks” your brain. You see, the reason you become afraid is because you are afraid of either repeating a negative experience or because you scared of something new.
Through creative visualization, however, you can fool your mind into believing that you have now actually had this positive new experience.
Because your mind believes the most recent experience was positive, your confidence will increase. Your mind thinks you have already done this before, and you are less afraid of doing something for the first time.
Fact is, the mind does not know the difference between a real event, and an imaginary one.
According to Dr. Denis Waitley, who did research on Olympic athletes and the astronauts in the Apollo program and was in the movie “The Secret”:
“When you visualize then you materialize. The mind can’t distinguish whether you’re really doing it or whether it’s just a (mental) practice. If you’ve been there in the mind you’ll go there in the body.”
What Can Creative Visualization Do For Me?
Even if you are not a professional athlete, you can use this same method to help you deal with issues in your own life.
Getting more sales in more business, creating an amazing presentation, learning a new skill…these can all be achieved through proper creative visualization.
When using it for financial success, it’s a little different to execute and see results from because it’s not quite the same as imagining yourself in the ring, knocking someone out.
There’s a specific way to go about it to get the best results.
If success is what you’re seeking, I highly recommend you check this out:
You’ll learn everything you need to know to reach your biggest goals quickly and with less effort, with the help of visualization.
One Last Word of Caution: Creative Visualization May Not Work For You!
Visualization is not for everyone. Just people with common sense, who are open minded and have a burning passion to be successful.
If that’s you, you’re well on your way to success already, and this could be that one technique that pushes you past the line. Check this out and I bet you’ll be successful in no time flat.
Creative Visualization CAN’T help you IF:
- You think visualizing Britney Spears as your girlfriend will make her suddenly call you up and ask you out
- You believe that visualizing yourself owning a Ferrari, during Jerry Springer commercial breaks, will magically make it appear in your driveway without you doing any work
- You like polka music
- You believed what I said about polka music in the previous bullet point
For everyone else, make sure to use this tool to speed up your success with visualization, and I’ll talk to you again soon.
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