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New Year
NEW
JANUARY S ALE
Powerful tool
Visualisation is not new. It is a very well established method for
making changes for the better, and has for many people given great
results. However, more recently, it’s been discovered that to utilise
visualisation alone may actually reduce your chances of success
rather than boost them.
This is caused by the finding that when we experience the
success through our visualisation, it can diminish our drive and
determination to actually implement what we want in reality, outside
our own heads.
One example of this was observed in individuals needing a hip
replacement. The more positive a picture of the coming rehab they
had, the slower the recovery was found to have been one year
later. Another example was that the easier new graduates thought
it would be to get a job after graduation, the lower their income
was a year later.
The obstacle getting in the way of their progress was the fact
that their positive fantasies induced the feeling that they already
had achieved the goal. In other words, the reward is there already,
reducing the need to actually achieve it. To actually put the work
in. So, with very effective visualisations, we can get stuck in our
own fantasies!
Yet, visualisation is still so effective and in so many ways. It gives us
clarity on what we want, increasing our chances of getting it manyfold,
it reduces self-doubt as it feels possible to achieve something that
we’ve seen ourselves do. It can give us the motivation required to take
the steps necessary to achieve what we desire.
So how do we overcome the ‘risk’ attached to effective
visualisation that, equally, has been found and proven?
Overcoming obstacles
The answer is that we should also visualise the blockages and how
we will overcome them. The theory WOOP, developed by the social
psychologist Gabriele Oettingen, offers a simple four step process
on how to achieve this:
WISH: The thing you wish to achieve. Write it down and be specific
and realistic, using as few words as possible, with a deadline if
relevant and including its benefits.
OUTCOME: Visualise yourself experiencing the wish (i.e. traditional
visualisation).
OBSTACLE: Identify the biggest barrier within yourself that may get
in the way of you achieving the goal. Again using as few words as
possible. Visualise this and really see what happens when it
goes wrong.
PLAN: Increase your implementation intention by writing down what,
how and when you’ll do something. Use the barriers in your plan and
say, if this happens, I will....and visualise what you’ll do then.In a nutshell, ask yourself the simple but illuminating question: What
is it that is holding me back from achieving my wish? Then identify
how you’d deal with it if it happens and drastically increase your
chances of making your wish come true.Charlotta Hughes is an award-winning life coach, speaker
and author of the book, What’s Your Excuse for Not Being
More Confident. She specialises in career, confidence and
leadership coaching and can be contacted via her website:
bemelifecoaching.com