In the Aug. 3 of The Network, we covered the final steps in creating your personal marketing plan. If you’ve been following this series and completing all the sections each month, you now have a Success Plan for your career and a marketing plan to support it. Now it’s time to understand the importance of consistent visualization and why you don’t need to know HOW you’re going to reach your goals!
Your success depends largely on believing in yourself, clearly visualizing where you want to be at each stage of your Plan, and giving up “the how”—trusting that the specifics of how you will achieve your lofty and aggressive goals will come to you when the time is right. Sounds a little weird and intangible, but it works!
Your Visualization Process
In order to remain focused on your goals, you must consistently visualize achieving them. Each day, take time out to review the goals you are currently working toward. Keep them handy and easy to locate so you won’t put off this vitally important process.
Follow these steps for effective daily visualization:
· Find about 15 minutes in your day, preferably in the morning before the day gets away from you and you’re off to the races.
· Get into a comfortable spot where you won’t be interrupted.
· Pull up the list of goals you are currently working toward and read each one, out loud if possible.
· Close your eyes and visualize achieving each goal individually. Put yourself in the place you will be once you achieve the goal—what are your surroundings like? Who is with you?
· Think about how it will feel to achieve the goal and the emotions you will experience. Are you happy? Proud? Exhilarated?
· Spend about three or five minutes visualizing each goal, then move to the next one.
It’s a fairly simple process but it might feel awkward at first. Stick with it. The more frequently and consistently you practice your visualization technique, the more quickly you will move forward to achieve your goals.
Giving up “The How”
As you visualize the achievement of your goals, don’t be tempted to think about how you will achieve them. If you keep your mind focused on success and how it looks and feels, “the how” will naturally come to you.
You have probably experienced this in your life. It feels like an “aha moment” with inspiration or answers seemingly coming out of nowhere. Take a moment and think about a time when this happened for you. It was pretty powerful, wasn’t it? You may have instantly come up with a way to solve a problem you had been working on for a while. Maybe it was the answer to something you had given up on solving.
If you allow yourself to focus on the how too early, you will get off track and delay reaching your goals. All you have to do is focus on success, not how you will succeed. Trust that the how will show up.
Have fun with this! It can truly be liberating and energizing. Next month, we will cover how to actually attract success into your life. Stay focused on your plan – here’s to your success
Janice Lamy is a marketing professional with more than thirty years of experience leading marketing programs and mentoring young professionals. She is keenly interested in positively impacting a generation of women by providing career success guidance. Learn more about the Success Plan Program or reach out directly with your comments or questions via email.
