Get Inside Your Goals

I am reading a book called The Winner’s Bible: Rewire Your Brain for Permanent Change, written by Dr Kerry Spackman who consults with Formula 1 Racers and Olympic Athletes. A lot of the book is about goal setting and visualizations. An interesting point Spackman makes is to really get inside your goals as they give you ‘energy and purpose in life.’

He says that listing your goals is not enough, what you need to do is to really see them. How do you do this?

Lists don’t get deep inside to arouse your emotions – you need to feel your goals.
You need to find images of your goals that you can bring to life in your mind.
He recommends using fixated visualization – you stare at the image of your goal for about 2 minutes (you can blink!).
When you do this, the picture will become an experience as you imagine yourself as part of the picture and the story it tells. You will hear the conversation, you will smell the smells, you will be part of the goal.
The goal will become alive and real – your senses have become involved in the visualization.
The more you practice visualization, the easier it will become.
One way to help your subconscious along is to make up small stories to go with the images – these stories will naturally enter your subconscious.
You need to feel your goals – they need to be more than words on a page or a bland picture

So what makes a good picture to use?

It needs to tell a story you can be involved in.
It needs to be excellent quality – the better the picture, the more it will stimulate your senses.
Either cut them out of magazines or use google images to search for images.
Spackman says to print them out and put them in a folder, but I’ve made a slideshow of mine, as I am on my computer all the time.

What are your goals?

Your goals may change over time, so for now write down a list of goals – use this list to find the images you are after.
Choose images that are realistic for your life right now – for example, you’d like a long-term partner, don’t choose Brad Pitt as he is a fantasy not a goal!
If you do have an uber-goal, put the picture right at the end of your folder, so you don’t lose sight of your very big goal, but day-to-day you visualize from your realistic goals. Chasing something that is impossible can be destructive.

I’ll take a look at the different types of goals tomorrow – material and non material.

The book is an interesting read – not perfect by any means, but it is giving me a much-needed kick up the butt!