"If you can visualize ahead of time the positive emotion associated with your achievement, this will help bring about the actual achievement faster."
Barbara Edie
A few years ago, I was at a business networking event and heard an excellent speaker, Barbara Edie, deliver a presentation that really resonated with me... but not in a comfortable way. Barbara is the author of the book, Creating the Impossible; What It Take to Bring Your Vision to Life.
Barbara's presentation was about the importance of achieving our dreams. She started off by discussing why many people DON'T pursue their dreams, including the simple fact that comfort plays a big role. "Safe and secure," Barbara said, "is often the reason people stay where they are and don't make a change."
This, I thought to myself (rather snottily), is not my problem. I've achieved plenty of my dreams... stepping outside my comfort zone has become second nature to me.
Barbara then went on to talk about the importance of having focus. Again... nothing new here for me, I thought. I have laser-beam focus when it comes to tackling the tasks I need to, to achieve my dreams.
Well... most of my dreams.
Okay... some of my dreams.
"When you know what your vision is, and you have the focus to take the necessary steps to achieve it," Barbara was saying (when I started paying attention again), "and yet, you still aren't actually achieving it, then a useful exercise is to take the time to tap into the positive emotion that you will feel when you do achieve it."
Barbara suggested that if you can visualize ahead of time the positive emotion associated with your achievement, this will help bring about the actual achievement faster.
I scribbled furiously in my notebook. Positive emotion? I immediately thought of a screenplay I had been writing for more than a decade and despite my best intentions (and supposed laser-beam focus), I still hadn't got the script to where it needed to be... where I KNEW it could be.
Why?
Because whenever I thought about the finished product - the film playing in theatres - I felt very little in the way of positive emotions.
When I actually thought about what it would feel like to have this controversial film showing in theatres, my stomach tightened into knots, my heart hammered in my chest and I found it difficult to breathe. All sorts of negative emotions bubbled to the surface, right there at the table: fear, anxiety, discomfort, shame. What if the film sucks? What if it is a failure? What if everybody hates it? What if people are angry at me? What if I get called a hypocrite? What if I get sued? What if that is the end of my career?
Or what if the opposite happens and the film IS a hit and (since we're visualizing) wins all sorts of awards and no one hates me and calls me nasty names? How will I handle all the extra work and responsibilities and change that come with significant success? I can scarcely handle my life and work responsibilities now.
Which is when it hit me: no wonder I hadn't achieved that dream yet! With such negativity attached to the realization of the achievement, I was inadvertently making it pretty much impossible to achieve the dream.
I put my pen down and leaned back in my chair, exhausted. Clearly, I had some work to do... not just in terms of getting the screenplay finished but, more importantly, to first change my attitude towards the finished project.
If you are frustrated by not achieving a dream that you know could be achieved by now, I suggest you try sitting still a moment and visualizing how you feel when you "see" your achievement manifested in the real world. If you feel positive emotions, good. Keep visualizing. If you feel negative emotions, pay close attention... and then make the changes you need to make.
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