My first experience of using visualisation successfully was when
I was employed. It was not something I had read much about, nor
consciously practised. It happened quite by chance, and it was
only many years later that I realised what had happened.
I was on a week long management training course, surrounded by
some very bright, mostly younger, sparks. On about the third day,
we were given an exercise to do. It was an individual exercise;
each one of us had to think about, and then write down, what
would be our perfect day in 5 years’ time.
What all this had to do with management training I was not sure.
In fact, I’m still not sure to this day. But, it was something I
was quite happy to do. I have a strong imagination, and this was
an “easy” exercise to do. We had an hour, so no rush; I just let
my mind flow. It was quiet, as everyone else was doing the same.
I sketched out honestly my perfect day. I was living near the
sea, and had control over my own life. I was not employed, I was
self employed. Goodbye career; that was not given one second of
the perfect day. It was quite a relaxing sort of day, but I was
working at home. I stopped when I wanted and strolled around
for some exercise and air. My beloved sea was always in sight.
What shocked me about that exercise was when I read back what I
had written, it bore no resemblance to my life at the time I did
the exercise. My life 5 years ahead, on my perfect day, was
transformed.
It was only some time after what I wrote down became a reality,
some 5 years later, that I realized the possible significance of
that exercise. In that short time of concentration, had I given
enough instruction to my subconscious to ensure that I would go
on and achieve that perfect day? I cannot know for sure, but I
have no need to. It is enough that it happened.
By all means, try that exercise for yourself. Give your mind
the freedom, and do not allow anyone else to read what you have
written.
If you believe that what happened to me then was not pure chance,
and you have a home business you want to succeed in, why not
apply similar visualization techniques to your business? There
is no need to follow a specific formula, you can adapt to your
own needs. Try the following:
1. Find a quiet place and time to think in broad terms about how
you would want your business to turn out. Once you have a
clear vision, write it down. Visualise it as you write it
down. See yourself as you would hope to be when the business
is a big success.
2. Think of the major barriers to your success, and write them
down. Then, for each of those barriers, visualize how you
would ideally break down those barriers.
3. Think of the new skills you need to acquire to aid your
success. Write them down, and visualise yourself as being
in command of those skills.
Once you have completed your list, hopefully you will have
6 – 8 items. Now read through again, and rewrite them until they
are worded as positive statements. Uncertainties, like “I may”,
should be avoided. For example, instead of “I may be good at
using a word processor” write “I am good at using a word
processor.” There is a certainty about that, which you want
your mind to get used to.
When you are happy with your list, get into a routine of going
through it very day. Early morning, lunch time, and evening
before bed, are good times. Read the list to yourself, visualise
for each item one at a time, and repeat up to ten times, more
if you have the time. Concentrate as hard as you can with the
visualization, it is like you are drilling deeper into your
subconscious.
Since I moved to Palawan in the Philippines, I have come to
think of visualisation like going for a walk in the jungle. If
it is unfamiliar territory to you, somebody will usually walk
ahead, hacking down any obstructive plants and tree branches.
They are clearing the way to make it easy for you. If you do
that every day, the path becomes well trodden, and you can just
stroll through with ease without anyone clearing the path ahead
for you.
Visualisation can be used to clear the path to the future you
desire, and any detailed aspects of that future. Each time you
practice the visualisation as I have described above, you are
making it that much easier for yourself to walk that path in
the future.
© Roy Thomsitt 2005
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