Our minds are a powerful tool. We drive it with our thoughts. We set goals with the intent to achieve them however the fear of failure can creep in. Even small amounts of these emotions can breed a variety of negative emotions that hinder our success. Nervousness, intimidation, worrying, and jealousy can cripple us. Our mismanagement of these emotions causes us to falter and can decrease performance.
So how do we counteract such thoughts? The key is visualisation. The principles behind visualisation, is to imagine ourselves successfully performing the important task.
Our brains have a difficult time distinguishing between what we see with our eyes verses what we see with our mind. In fact, MRI scans of people’s brain taken whilst they are watching the sunset are virtually indistinguishable from scans taken when the same people visualise a sunset in their mind. The same brain regions are active in both scenarios. Therefore visualising ourselves managing our emotions and behaviour effectively when completing important tasks is a great way to practice our skills and make them into habits. Visualisation is the perfect solution, but it involves more than just imagining ourselves succeed. We must engage our senses while envisioning performing the task successfully. We must imagine what we will see, hear, what we will smell, what we will be wearing and any more detail that will help us to really be there.
Our past programming makes it very easy to visualise ourselves failing. We need to get clear on what success looks like to us. In order to do this we must draw upon other successes.
It’s important to be as relaxed as possible when you visualise. You can visualise lying down in bed or in a comfy chair.
A great time to visualise is before you go to bed at night. Just close your eyes and visualise yourself in situations where you have the most difficulty managing yourself. Focus on the details of each situation that make it so hard for you to remain in control. Concentrate on the sights and sounds you would experience until you literally feel the same emotions.
Next picture yourself acting the way you would like to, that is, calming your nerves and proceeding confidently during the presentation. Dealing with someone who pushes your buttons without losing your cool etc. Imagine yourself doing and saying the right things and allow yourself to feel the satisfaction and positive emotions that come with this. See yourself as a confident, successful person – in as much detail as possible.
Keys to Visualisation:
- Write your visualisation down
- Relax – put on some soothing music
- Make your visualisation VIVID!
- Act ideally, in the way that you would like to see the situation play out
- Engage your feelings and emotions
- Get a role model – if you find it hard to think about what this picture looks like, think of someone you admire… how would they act?
- Draw upon previous successes
- Practice, Practice, Practice
Author, Alisa Petitt, Life Coach.
