Visualization
Visualization need not be complicated, artsy and all creative. Many people including myself find it too tedious to do the traditional imaginative exercises in our heads.
We lose concentration, we fall asleep, or for some other reason it just doesn’t appeal to us.
So, here are some great ideas for the logical person who still wants the benefits of visual exercises, without having to imagine pictures in one’s head.
PRACTICAL VISUALIZATION TECHNIQUES
1. Print off a nicely organized list of your goals, or action steps for a particular goal, and then put your goals in a nice picture frame!
Place this frame somewhere that you will see it every single day. How’s that for a nice visual?
Rather than having your goals written on some piece of paper or notebook shoved in a drawer, now you have them up on display! You can get as obsessed as you want with this technique.
You might have several different frames up, each entailing a list of action steps for your various goal projects. Or, you might have several frames up, each with the big picture objectives of your various goal categories.
2. Buy a really attractive or appealing greeting card from your local store. Inside that card, write out all your goals, or again, the actions steps for a particular goal.
Keep this pretty card sitting on your night table, on your desk, or even posted on your fridge, wall or bulletin board. Whenever you have a spare minute, read through your goals and action steps.
By writing your goals and action steps in a beautiful card, it ensures that you don’t shove the card in a drawer where it will get lost.
So since you write your goals down on something that you paid several dollars for, you are more likely to keep that card in an easily accessible, visible location.
3. Put your goals and actions onto your computer’s screen saver or regular desktop background. How’s that for a constant visualization reminder?
4. Program one of your big goals onto the face-top of your cell phone!
5. Forget showing off your driver’s licencse picture in your wallet. Instead, use that visual space to insert a printed version or a picture of what is most important for you to focus on completing right now! Maybe, you might even put a motivational quote or reminder in there.
6. Use Post-It sticky notes to write down all the action steps needed for one of your current life projects. Post it right beside your desk where you work most often. This way, whenever you encounter a lull in motivation or a barrier, you will constantly be reminded of the steps that you need to execute to continue on with your goal.
Often, when people run into barriers with their goals, they become foggy-minded, fooled, and disillusioned about their reality of what is happening. Soon, their fear and negative emotions paralyze them. Then, they forget what they need to do or try next to get started again. Don’t let the bumps in the road cause you to forget what to try next. Have this post-it of action steps on your wall so you are always have a visualization to remind you of what you need to do.
7. Use the power of email! Email yourself and in the subject title, simply write an action step or goal. Don’t ever delete this email until you have completed the action or achieved the goal. Every time you log in to your email, you will be reminded of your goals or action steps!
8. Create a vision board! Buy a bulletin board from Walmart, and hang it somewhere visible. Then, cut out pictures that symbolize what you want to do, be and have in your life.
You can even post real pictures of you that show you achieving your goals. Keep on the look out of inspirational pictures in magazines, the newspapers, etc. Clip them out and post them on your board.
9. Use a whiteboard! using the dry erase markers that easily are wiped off, you can write your to-do list on here for the day, week, or month. Organize it however you want, but keep it somewhere you can see every single day.
10. Use a scrapbook! If you want a more private medium, then you can store all your visuals in a book. However, keep this book right by your bedside table. In the morning and/or evening, pull out your scrapbook, and flip through all the pictures as reminders.
11. Buy a hardcover, spiral bound journal of medium size – one that is really beautiful with nice designs on the pages. Buy a nice bookstand or picture stand, and place your journal on it.
As your goals or to-do lists change, simply turn the page, update your list, and put back on your display stand! I love this one, and I keep mine sitting right on my desk by my monitor.
So, now you have a good handful of visualization techniques that do not involve lying down and listening to relaxational music. These are practical, and tangible strategies that are guaranteed to boost your productivity, keep you focused, and give you all the benefits of traditional visualization!
Here are some questions to leave you with:
1. What other visual symbols or tangible items could I put in my environment to remind me of my goals and required action steps?
2. What visual strategies have motivated me, or kept me focused on my goals in the past?
3. What do I have the most difficulty imagining or ‘seeing’ in terms of my success? How can I find a real visible snapshot of this?
Tips on Setting Goals
Who am I to be giving you tips on setting goals? After all, there is advice all over the internet on how to set goals…
How are my tips on setting goals any different or unique? Keep reading…
You might have learned in the past that you should write your goals down in the present tense. Now, I’m not against this at all, however I believe there is a certain way to do this.
Let’s say your goal is to build your business revenue from $60,000 per year to $100,000 per year.
If you follow the traditional advice of writing your goal this way, it would read as: I am currently earning $100,000 per year. What is the problem with writing your goal this way?
If you haven’t guessed, let me give you another example that might really help you understand the problem. Let’s say your goal weight is 130 pounds, but you currently weigh 160 pounds. So you write down, I am happily enjoying my weight at 130 pounds.
Along the same lines, let’s say you look into the mirror and say out aloud, “I am feel so attractive now that I am 130 pounds”. We’ve all tried the mirror strategy before haven’t we? Anyhow, back to my point here…
When you state your goal in the present tense, and you haven’t actually come close to achieving it yet, it can create a negative feeling. This is because you are aware of the gap between where you are now, and where you want to be.
So, what is the solution to feeling negative you say? Here is one of many tips on setting goals that you need to be aware of…
First, continue stating and writing your goal in present tense. This makes your goal more real and easier to visualize in the mind. The unique piece of advice however, is in how you state your goal.
It’s best to state in your own words that you are in the process of achieving your goal. I learned this technique from Micheal Losier’s seminar and book called The Law of Attraction (this is an amazing book with great tips on setting goals!). Here are some of my own examples:
- I am in the process of of earning $100,000 a year
- I am working toward my goal weight of 130 pounds
- I am taking actions each day and subsequently building my income to $100,000 per year
- I am currently utilizing all my knowledge, resources and efforts to weigh 130 pounds
Do you see the difference in how you feel when you read these aloud? If these were my goals, I would feel more motivated, optimistic and positive, because it is more real. You are stating your goal in present tense, and saying that you are already doing what you can to make it happen.
You see, if you feel negative when you read a goal that is stated as if it’s already achieved, than you are unlikely to take action. If this traditional approach feels too hokey, then toss it out. State your goal in more real terms.
If you begin to do this, then regardless of how big your goal or objective is, – you will feel a sense of empowerment that anything is possible! Also, for those people who don’t have a clue how they are going to achieve their big dreams, stating goals this way is much more “believable” to them.
So, that is just one of many tips on setting goals that I am going to share with you.
My website is in it’s infancy, so stay tuned, and look out for my ezine and blog which are coming shortly. I promise to always keep you up to date on the latest, cutting-edge, and unique ideas around goal setting and motivation. So, for now, bookmark me and come back soon again!
Want to Set Smart Goals and Achieve Unstoppable Success?
If you’ve done a search on smart goals, than I think I already know a few key things about you. Are you the type of person who wants to know how to set goals, and how to utilize specific steps for goal setting?
Well, guess what – you are further ahead than 95% of the population! Most people in life aren’t interested in the details of how to set goals. No, they are too busy watching reality television and simply dreaming about other people’s successes. This is definetely not you!
The fact that you are researching smart goals on the internet tells me how badly you want to achieve your goals, and more importantly, that you are the type of person who is truly committed! Well, you have come to the right place, because I am going to share a few secrets on this topic that can literally change your life.
Let me ask you, – how many times have you ever set smart goals, but then not followed through to take the necessary actions? Did you get frustrated? Of course you did! Who wouldn’t?! And, let me tell you, – you are not alone.
Perhaps one of the most common goals I hear people talk about, is their desire to lose weight, eat healthy, or simply stay in shape. Losing weight and staying healthy is one of those goals that most, if not all people struggle with. It is a classic example of how people lose their motivation, their persistence, and their ability to follow through with what is truly important to them.
Smart goals MUST address how you will stay motivated. How can you promise yourself, and guarantee that you will follow through with the necessary steps for goal setting?
How do you know for sure that you can achieve your goals? This is the type of question that keeps me up at night! This is what makes me tick – because if everyone was super motivated and always persistent, everyone’s lives would be so much more fulfilling.
Are you ready to learn and apply my fresh perspective on setting ‘smart’ goals? I guarantee this formula is a great place for us to start! Remember, if you want to be successful, you must model others who are successful.
Have you already read about smart goals before? Do you think you already know it all? Well think again! You cannot afford to NOT read about my fresh perspective on smart goal setting and the importance of motivation. What have you got to lose?
Without further ado, let’s look at how to set smarter than average goals!
Goal Setting Steps In a Nutshell!
Goal Setting Steps #1
Brainstorm out all your goals. Write down an exhaustive list of them, and think big! You might decide to use some categories to help organize your thoughts.
If categories hinder your creativity, then don’t use them! Otherwise, you might choose the following categories:
- Career Goals
- Financial Goals
- Health and Fitness Goals
- Relationship Goals
- Leisure and Recreation Goals
Goal Setting Steps #2
Prioritize which goals are the most important to get started with right now! Here are a few ways to do this. Choose one.
1. Rank all your goals starting with what is the most important. Write a “1″ beside it, and so on.
2. Rate each goal on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being the most important, and 10 being the least important.
3. Try giving each goal a date by which you’d seriously like to have it accomplished by.
These techniques, along with simply taking a few moments to seriously reflect on what is most urgent or important to get started with, should give you a good idea of which goals to pursue.
HOW MANY GOALS SHOULD I PURSUE AT ONCE?
There really is no one answer to this question, as it is completely personal. It also depends on the time commitment and level of energy that each goal
requires. If your goals are quite simple, then you can pursue many at once. As they increase in complexity, it is natural that the number of goals that you can focus on at once would decrease. So just keep that in mind.
Goal Setting Steps #3
Break each of your goals down into a series of action steps. You might do this on a large sticky note, and post it up on your wall or bulletin board.
Keep the action steps in a visible place, where you are constantly reminded of what steps you need to take! Break the goal down into many mini steps so that it is easy for you to take action on a consistent basis!
Goal Setting Steps #4
Give your goal a deadline. Take the time to seriously decide when you’d like to have accomplished your goal. This is not a race, nor is the deadline meant to rush you into action. It is simply to get you to think about when you want to have achieved your goal by.
In addition, with your action lists, you should schedule those tasks into your calendar. Decide when you will do them, and stay committed. Again, use even more sticky notes or “to-do” lists to make sure that you complete the necessary actions to achieve your goal.
Goal Setting Steps #5
Remind yourself of your goals every day, or at least several times each week. So often we forget what our goals are, so we need to be like advertisers and influence ourselves to take action toward our goals.