I do a lot of counseling and over the years have done many workshops, retreats, and classes on self-improvement and success. I utilize a lot of guided visualizations, and positive affirmations to deeply impress the subconscious mind and bring about inner transformations which result in outer successes. Sometimes the results seem to be almost miraculous.
Let me give you an example I had been working with a real estate agent who was in her first year of business, and this young lady had a lot of potential, but she also had some problems having just moved to a new area with a depressed market and it was also the month of December which is traditionally a slow time for real estate transactions. Since she was just starting out she didn’t know a whole lot about the business and the very first contract that she had put together fell through. It was a fairly significant sale, too as it was a home that was worth quite a bit of money. The papers had all been signed, and it came right down to the closing, when the sale fell through. Needless to say she was more than a little bit discouraged about it. As if this were not enough, a few weeks went by and her next two sales also fell through.
Now she came to me because she knew there was great potential that could be realized through visualization exercises. She had heard some of the programs that I have done and she wanted to know if they could be applied to her sales field. I said, “well, of course they can.” I worked with her that one day and within a week something remarkable happened.
The Secret Behind Coincidences
She had gone out on a home she listed and was in the front yard putting the sale sign on the lawn when a car pulled up to the curb. The driver rolled down his window and said, “We are from out of town and we’re looking for a home. Are you a real estate agent?” To say the least she was flabbergasted. Within a few weeks she sold them one of her listings. Now I know that might sound to you like a coincidence, and it might indeed seem like a coincidence if it were an isolated case, but I’ve seen it repeated over and over and over again.
As a matter of fact, very shortly after this incident I conducted a workshop at a real estate office and one of the people there had been having a bad month. It was also the month of December and sales were almost non-existent in that office. I went through some visualization exercises with this group and one of the women had floor time the next day. Even though there had been very little activity, the day she was on floor time for only three hours she had a walk-in buyer, two phone-in listings, and two phone-in buyers. It was an extraordinary day and it was the best floor time she said she ever had. Even more remarkably, it was also the best floor time that anybody in her office had the entire year with over 20 agents. So I know this process works and it can work for you as well.
Visualization – The Simple Road to Success
The day I held the workshop in that real estate office everyone was pretty negative because things were not going very well. However, within a few days, everything in that office completely turned around. Things began booming and they actually had so much business they could barely keep up with it. Once again, you might say, “Well, it was just a coincidence.” How many coincidences do you need to witness before you see a trend? No, it was not coincidence! They were applying living, universal laws and principles that absolutely work when you apply them, and they work for everyone. You too, can have the same kind of successes in your life. All you need to do is do a few rather simple things.
1. You must cease limited thinking.
2. You must learn to relax.
3. You must practice positive visualizations and affirmations.
Yes, That’s All. Now Here’s How
All people have images of themselves in their mind’s eye. This is called the self-image. It is a subjective opinion to be sure, yet your entire personality, attitudes, dealings, actions, behaviors, and abilities are all based on your self-image. Furthermore, this self-image acts as an internal, automatic guidance system for your life, and it will lead you to exactly what you expect at your deepest level. You get from life exactly what you expect from life in your subconscious mind; no more and no less!
You don’t necessarily get what you wish for or hope for, but what you accept at a conscious and subconscious level. Whether your self-image is objectively true or false does not really matter. The point is that if you believe it, if you accept it, then you will act as if it were true.
Haven’t you observed some people who have limited themselves because of having a negative self-image? They may be good-looking, they may seem to have a lot of talent, and yet they never seem to really make any breakthroughs, because they limit themselves by the image they have of themselves. If you have grave doubts or fears, or you think you are unworthy or not deserving, or you see yourself as inferior or a failure, you are likely to be living a self-fulfilling prophecy. Of course, you may have a few scattered successes here and there, but there will likely be no consistency because your own self-image in your subconscious mind ends up sabotaging you.
Improving Self-Image Through Guided Visualization
The most meaningful changes will come through your visualizations and utilizing your imagination to form a positive expectancy. Here’ how it works.
In this world there is no such thing as a pink elephant. I don’t want you to think about it at all. There is no such thing as a pink elephant with purple polka dots on it. This elephant certainly would not ever be wearing a cowboy hat. Now you know that the elephant I just described does not exist does it? But you undoubtedly saw one in your mind’s eye, didn’t you? Once your imagination is triggered, it can fabricate all kinds of preposterous things.
Most people have images in their mind that project fears, guilt, worries, and doubts about the future. An interesting fact is that the mind cannot tell the difference between a real event and an imagined one. Haven’t you ever said to yourself, “I’m not sure if that really happened or I dreamed it.” What then happens is we tend to react as if what we have imagined in our mind is real.
Real or Imagined Fears? The Results are the Same!
In a workshop I conducted once there was a woman who had a fear of birds. In a guided visualization I suggested people imagine they are in a beautiful setting with birds singing. As soon as I said that she had anxiety. After the visualization I asked her why she had a fear of birds. I asked her if she had ever been attacked by birds. And she said no, but when she was a little girl her grandmother told her that she needed to put a scarf on her head so that birds would not become entangled in her hair. This, of course, is a totally irrational belief, and yet, today she is a full grown woman and still has a fear of birds.
So you see, she reacted as if it were real, but in fact there is no valid basis for that fear. This is an example of how we trip ourselves up, but it is also a clue to how we can utilize the mind imagining something real and apply it to a positive outcome by using a positive visualization meditation.
This form of mental rehearsal is used by a lot of successful people. Musicians will often play a piece of music in their mind before a concert. Athletes will often play an entire match or game in their mind before the event, and this same process can be applied to business, social situations, or spiritual goals.
For more information on your subconscious and the visualization process be sure to read the article at this link: http://www.jonathanparker.org/free-articles/your-subconscious-how-get-it-working-you.
Get Ready to Experience Your Own Successful Mental Rehearsal
Next, I will give you some guidance on how to do a visualization meditation. The principles can be applied to any area of life, and you may wish to adapt the approach I’m giving you here to your own specific situation. For the purposes of this guided visualization you should be where you will not be disturbed or distracted. It is best to do visualization in a comfortably seated position.
1. Begin with a deep breath in through your nose. Hold it for an instant and then exhale gently out through your mouth.
2. Feel yourself relaxing and releasing any tension.
3. In your minds eye imagine you are in a comfortable natural setting. You can think of this as your own personal cabin or cottage in a natural private idyllic setting.
4. Give yourself permission to relax more deeply. Separate your teeth slightly and notice your face relaxes a little more.
5. Now reflect on something that you have experienced in your life that was successful. Notice how you felt when this happened. Recall those feelings and feel them now. Take a minute or two to do this.
6. Next, imagine yourself in a future activity in which you would like to attain success. Bring the same feelings of success and fulfillment to this activity. Notice other people involved supporting you. Sense their gratitude for you. Visualize others complementing you. Add other specific details to this experience. Take a minute or two to do this.
Now repeat the following positive affirmations to yourself.
- I am committed to succeed.
- I have a winning attitude.
- I am a confident winner!
- My life is full of unlimited possibilities for excellence.
- I stay on track to achieve my goals.
- I recognize improvement daily.
- I expect to succeed from the moment I begin a task.
- I am determined to succeed.
- I have the ability to accomplish any goal I set.
- My mind is clear and sharp.
- I can excel at whatever I set my mind to.
- I love improving and perfecting myself.
Recognize that you are identifying with a new successful image of yourself. This enables you to enjoy your own life and be helpful and supportive of others.
Now you may bring this session to a conclusion by taking a deep breath and saying to yourself, “I am fully alert and aware.”
This article is based on the dual premise that we are what we think and any learned beliefs and behaviors which have turned out to be self-defeating can be eliminated and replaced with life-enhancing thoughts and actions. Changes are readily accomplished through the elimination and replacement of self-defeating negative images, thoughts, and beliefs with positive, life supporting mental programming. Guided visualizations are perhaps the most effective method for doing this.
You may also be interested in my article on the Power of Beliefs.
This and more in-depth discussions and guided visualizations on this and related topics are in the program, The Power of Inner Vision
