Creative Visualization. Use mental imagery to see yourself successfully engaged in sales situations or personal situations, embracing new behaviors. When you see yourself actually acting or thinking in a new way, you begin to let go of old programming. A new reality starts to take shape. For your reality to change, you must picture and accept yourself taking on the new behavior. Some mental preparation is required prior to thinking positively. The goal of visualization is to make the mental practice similar to the physical practice. We must think positively before we can act positively.
Visualization means "seeing success before it happens." See yourself on the podium prior to the event. By visualizing success, top achievers actually increase the chances of it happening. We move toward what we picture in our minds. A flushing of negative, self-defeating thoughts must occur before the mind can receive and act on new images of success. Athletes have been using the advantages of visualization for decades. They visualize the end result prior to the event itself. They develop a mental blueprint to get a clear image of what needs to be done. In his book, Advanced Selling Strategies, Brian Tracy talks about the value of a "mental rehearsal" prior to the sales call. He suggests that "Top sales athletes can use these same techniques as well to dramatically improve their performance in selling situations." [9]
One of my earlier experiences with creative visualization was when I was teaching my daughter, Lynn, how to water ski on one ski. Her earlier slalom attempts had met with frustration and disappointment. She had fallen several times. (Not to mention that the gas gauge in the boat was falling as well.) We took a break and sat down on the dock and I asked her to close her eyes. I then walked her through a mental picture of success where she could see herself up on one ski. I had her confirm aloud what she saw and how she felt about it. Well, you guessed it. On her very next attempt, she got up on one ski. It worked! We were both elated. In fact, she almost fell again as she was filled with excitement and momentarily forgot what she was doing. As Lynn and countless others have discovered, creative visualization elevates your readiness to perform. Give yourself a competitive advantage.
