Can You Visualize Your Success?

Can You Visualize Your Success?

Brad Curry
Contributing Writer
Benjamin Franklin Plumbing

In the movie Field of Dreams, Kevin Costner was driven to build a baseball field in a cornfield by the recurring thought “if you build it, they will come”. A spin on this could be “if you can see it, it will happen”. Visualization is a very powerful tool for success. If you can see “it”, the odds of “it” happening skyrocket (good or bad).

Peyton Manning describes knowing the outcome of a play before it happened, because he had already executed the play so many times mentally the outcome was pre-determined. Dale Earnhardt Jr. would drive the upcoming weeks race track dozens of times using video games; obviously not the same as the real thing, but this enabled him to visualize every aspect of the track from the comfort of his recliner.  Since I’m sure we can all agree that practice makes perfect, why don’t we spend at least minimal time on “mental practice”, or visualization?

Why is visualization so powerful? Think about the mind as having 2 “compartments”; the conscious and the subconscious. Your conscious mind makes deliberate decisions, and is a servant to your thought process. The conscious mind is aware of the here and now, makes demands and your body carry’s them out. For example, if you walk to the edge of a swimming pool and jump in, you made a conscious mind decision.

Using another swimming pool analogy, the subconscious remembers a near drowning experience when you were a toddler, or a scary movie scene about drowning; the subconscious mind would prevent you from getting even close to the pools edge without you realizing it. Does that mean you’re doomed to never swim? No. The subconscious mind can be cultivated, changed and developed. Imagine (or visualize) the subconscious mind as a fertile farmland, where seeds (in our case thoughts and processes) develop to maturity. If corn is planted in a field, corn is what grows. If negative thoughts are planted in the subconscious mind, guess what grows?

So how can we develop a powerful, positive subconscious mind? It’s actually fairly easy. Fertilize your subconscious with positive images, thoughts and actions. Have you ever heard “fake it ‘til you make it”? If you tell yourself you’re going to have a great day from the time your eyes open in the morning, as you drink your coffee, as you get dressed for work, as you drive in to work, as you walk into the building (you get the point) your conscious mind will take over and BAM- a great day happens. Given enough practice, your subconscious mind takes over and autonomously sends “great day” signals. Your conscious mind will follow suit.  Incidentally, the same subconscious mind will react to “today’s gonna suck” signals.

What does this have to do with us? Now we have a basic understanding of the conscious vs. subconscious mind. To be successful, we have to align the conscious and their subconscious minds. The little voice inside has to be on the same page as the big voice that is making the decision. If your subconscious mind doesn’t think you can sell a new unit, make the difficult repair, overcome the price objection then your conscious mind will prove it to be right. The subconscious mind is more powerful than the conscious mind. Visualization is the most effective way to grow groom our mind for success. Can you see the client replacing the water heater instead of fixing the old one? Can you see the client upgrading to new toilets throughout the house instead of fixing just the one they called about?

Use this newfound visualization skill to tap into your emotional state as well as the clients. Turn fear and anxiety into confidence. Turn doubt about the purchase into pride of ownership. The ability to turn emotions on and off is indicative of a very high degree of emotional control, and can be accomplished simply by visualizing.

You can train your subconscious mind. Visualize success; alter and implant new emotions. Surround yourself with positive people and positive reinforcements. Allow yourself to be successful.