Practice the Technique Top Performers Use to Achieve Any Goal

Athletes use this technique to overcome nerves and perform at their peak. Actors use it as the heart of their craft. And, corporate leaders use it to envision bold new products and services for their companies. But, did you know you can use it to overcome anxiety and addictions, create new habits, test decisions, and welcome the experiences your soul desires?

You can apply this technique to any goal you have, such as creating a successful business, finding your life partner, growing a deeper relationship with your current life partner, cultivating health, engaging in self-care practices such as eating well, meditating, or exercising, or any creative project you wish to accomplish.

The technique is "Mental Rehearsal." In this post, you'll learn the steps of this powerful tool for personal change.

The Science Behind the Technique

The premise is simple: imagining a desired experience creates the same neural networks in your body and brain that having an experience in "real life" does. By mentally rehearsing an experience you groove the neural pathways to more easily welcome an experience into your life. What you can imagine in full sensory detail you more easily become.

You use your imagination all the time to imagine experiences you want and dread experiences you don't want. The purpose of Mental Rehearsal is to consciously pave the way for experiences you desire by imagining yourself immersed in the felt experience "As If" you are living it right now.

In a nutshell, Mental Rehearsal familiarizes you with the felt experiences you want to have, so you can recognize them, choose them, and grow them in your life. It also helps you make decisions by imagining what different options feel like and weighing your felt responses. For example, does this option feel light and energized or does it feel heavy and burdensome?

Now, you may not feel worthy of the experiences you desire or may not feel they are possible for you. By mentally rehearsing these experiences, you learn to become comfortable imagining yourself having them. In the process, what you thought was out of reach seems more possible.

To make this practice even more effective, you can imagine not only the experience you desire, but also significant steps you take to get there. This makes taking these steps feel easier and more doable.

It's important to note that imagining a specific experience does not mean this exact experience will happen exactly as you imagine it to be. Life may have even better plans for you-ones you may not have imagined. What's important is to imagine the experience you desire, given what you know right now, and meditatively engage in immersing yourself in this experience "As If" you are living it. This generates the same state of being as if the experience was happening in real life. And, it creates the same neural pathways in your body and brain.

Once you are immersed in your desired state of being, it becomes a filter through which you can recognize and choose similar experiences in real life. Cultivating this state of being becomes a magnet that draws similar experiences to you. For example, if you long for the feeling of being loved, you mentally rehearse what it feels like to be loved, you carry this feeling with you, and you engage in loving others. Then, you notice how loving relationships blossom in your life.

How to Practice Mental Rehearsal

1. Begin by asking your heart for an experience you'd like to have.

2. Close your eyes, take a few slow deep breaths, and imagine the specific details of this experience, including where you are, who you are with, what you are saying, and what you are doing.

3. Step into this picture "As If" you are taking these actions. Feel the experience with all your senses.

4. Notice any resistance. Is there any way you would like to change the experience to release this resistance? Imagine these changes.

5. Once you have the experience fully present with you in a way that feels good, imagine three steps you take to this experience from where you are now in your life.

Do this in reverse time order, beginning with a step you take just before arriving in your desired experience. Imagine another step you take just before this one. And, finally, imagine a step you take to initiate this whole process from where you are now to where you want to be.

For a simple example, say I want to make a putt in golf. My desired experience is seeing the ball fall into the hole. I imagine that before this moment I followed through on the correct line to the hole, before this I drew my putter back on this line, and before this I visualized the line of the putt. (Note: These three steps can become a routine for the actual putting of a ball in a real golf game, as well as a tool for Mental Rehearsal.)

Notice any challenges to taking these steps and imagine how you might address these challenges.

6. Run the three steps forward, from where you are now to your desired experience. Then, rest in the feeling of your desired experience again, so you really absorb it.

7. Set your intention to live from this state of being and welcome experiences that grow this for yourself and others.

Keep in mind you don't have to imagine this perfectly. You don't have to get all the steps right. And, it doesn't have to feel incredible at first (though it can). You might even find you imagine failing. For example, when I first imagined myself making a putt in golf, the putt lipped out and I didn't make it. That's O.K. You can pick yourself up and try again. See if you can relax more and try less. Welcoming new experiences takes practice.

If you feel resistance, unworthiness, or any other uncomfortable feeling about this whole process, I encourage you to simply observe and accept these feelings as they arise. Breathe through them and notice any ways they shift as you pay attention to them with calm, curious, acceptance. You might ask yourself what is underneath these feelings that is important to acknowledge.

See if it's possible to view Mental Rehearsal as an exploration, a game in your imagination, and a fun way to step outside your normal view of yourself and life, so you can imagine something new, exciting, and emotionally compelling. Have fun with this! You are using untapped creative resources to step into the life your soul desires.

Enjoy your practice!

http://ezinearticles.com/?Practice-the-Technique-Top-Performers-Use-to-Achieve-Any-Goal&id=10001126

Successful People Tap Into Mental Muscles - Six Intellectual Faculties To Achieve Any Goal Desired

Thomas Jefferson is quoted as saying, "A Strong Body Makes A Strong Mind".

But does it really? We know how to exercise our physical muscles to keep them strong. But how do we exercise our mind to keep it strong? I am going to introduce you to your six intellectual faculties which are your mental muscles. Successful people and those that live above the ordinary tap into them all the time. Why do you think 5% of the population own 95% of the wealth? The more you exercise these six intellectual faculties the more freedom and power you will have to achieve any goal you desire.

Most of us live through our five sensory faculties: see, hear, touch, taste, and smell. Why? Because we have been conditioned to do so. We have been programmed to allow outside influences to dictate how we think, behave, feel, and the results that we experience in our lives.

Here's an example: Marcie has a dream. She wants to quit her job and start her own business. She has been thinking about this goal for a very long time. Finally, she shares her goal with family and friends. What does she hear? Nothing but disparaging, discouraging, disheartening comments surround her.

Here are some examples: "Are you serious? You have an amazing job with great benefits. Have you thought about what that would do to your family? Don't you listen to the news and read the paper? Haven't you read about the success rate and statistics regarding anyone starting a new business in this economy? They are pretty low don't you know."

And on and on it goes. Sound familiar? If Marcie listens to those comments and allows outside influences to dictate whether or not she goes for her goal, she may very well put her dream out along with the trash. BUT if she taps into her six intellectual faculties, her mental muscles, no outside influences, obstacles, or objections can stand in her way.

The six intellectual faculties lay beyond the physical senses. They are in the conscious mind which is the thinking mind. These mental muscles when exercised will help us to achieve any goal we desire. Let's zero in on them. They are Imagination, Will, Reason, Perception, Memory, and Intuition.

Use your Imagination. It is the image maker. It is the beginning of all creation. It is the workshop of the mind. When was the last time you sat down, closed your eyes, and used your Imagination to take you on a trip? Close your eyes right now and imagine you have achieved your greatest goal. Imagine what it looks like. Feel in possession of it for a few moments...

Exercising our Imagination allows us to see our goal on the screen of our mind with clarity and in vivid detail. When we picture our goal in our imagination the next mental muscle helps to hold it there.

Use your Will. Exercising the Will means having the power to push out all distractions and outside influences. It gives you the ability to focus, concentrate, and hone in on one goal or objective. Exercising the Will keeps your mental eye on the prize.

Use your Reason. Exercising the Reason allows us to take harmonious thoughts and weave them into wondrous ideas. Our reasoning is our thinking. We have the freedom to think whatever we want to think. No one can tell us what to think. Unfortunately, most people don't think. They think they are thinking when the voice in the head is talking all day long. That is mental chatter and not thinking. Henry Ford said, "Thinking is hard work and probably why so few people engage in it".

Exercising Reason will point us to the right action steps to achieve our goal.

Use your Perception. This is our point of view. Expanding our Perception allows us to look from others' points of view and opens our visual prism to see with an open mind. Exercising our Perception helps us access more insight and awareness to see opportunities for achieving a goal that we might otherwise miss.

Use your Memory. We have a great Memory. It is just that we don't exercise it very much and it's weak from lack of use. There is a great book written by Harry Laraine and Jerry Lucas called The Memory Book. There is a chapter on remembering names. Completing the exercises on recalling names will blow your mind on just how perfect your Memory is. You may never forget another name again. Exercising the Memory means pushing aside the negative associations that the Memory reminds us from the past, and helps us forge forward toward our objective. As a result, we will create new, positive memories as we move onward to achieve our goal.

Use your Intuition. Most people don't listen to their inner voice--that knowing that comes from within. Exercising the Intuition means tapping into and trusting the inner wisdom that points it finger to the right course of action. Be Still and Listen. It is the hunches, flashes and inspiration that don't come in from the senses. Learning to trust and exercise our Intuition will help us to make right decisions with confidence in helping to achieve our goal.

If we exercise our mental muscles, our six intellectual faculties, the Imagination, Will, Reason, Perception, Memory, and Intuition, we can achieve any goal that we desire. Successful people and people who live above the ordinary tap into these gifts every time they want to achieve a life changing goal.

It is where our power and freedom live.

http://ezinearticles.com/?Successful-People-Tap-Into-Mental-Muscles---Six-Intellectual-Faculties-To-Achieve-Any-Goal-Desired&id=9832410

10 Steps to Achieve Any Goal

Accountability powers you toward your goals, and these guidelines for unleashing its power will get you over the rainbow to what you want.

Heart. Intelligence. Courage.

They’re all valuable traits, but they pale in comparison to what each of us needs most in the quest to total life success: Personal accountability is No. 1.

We first introduced our powerful accountability philosophy to the world over two decades ago in a New York Times best-seller, The Oz Principle. Since then, millions of people have come to know us as “the Oz guys.”

Why Oz? As it turns out, the perfect metaphoric backdrop for our timeless principles is a timeless story, one that we both loved as kids.

Surely you will recall meeting Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion from the 1939 movie The Wizard of Oz, based on L. Frank Baum’s classic children’s novel. All of the main characters are thrust into despairing circumstances beyond their control. A tornado rips Dorothy from her Kansas farm and hurls her against her will to a strange fantasy world. The Scarecrow lives a stagnant life amid corn and crows because his creator skimped on brains. The Tin Man is rusted in place, unable to act because he lacks the heart to move. And the lovable Cowardly Lion? He lacks courage and nerve, and therefore lives a life well below his potential.

Feeling victimized by shortcomings and circumstances, the characters believe they cannot possibly change things on their own, so they set off on the yellow brick road to the Land of Oz in hopes of finding an all-powerful wizard who will solve all of life’s problems for them.

At the heart of their message and ours lies this one simple principle: Don’t let your circumstances define who you are and what you do.

In other words, don’t place the hope of future success in the hands of some wizard’s wand. Relying on someone or something to save you only brings a sense of victimization that paralyzes your ability to think clearly, creatively and quickly. Instead, take charge of shaping your own circumstances, and good, positive, game-changing things will begin to happen.

Whether you’re looking to make wholesale changes in your life or just want to fine-tune it a little, here are 10 guidelines—highlights from our newest book, The Wisdom of Oz—that will help you unleash the power of personal accountability to take ownership for your actions, decisions, successes and failures.

1) Redefine accountability. 

Does the mere mention of the word accountability make you shudder? The negative (and uninspiring) view of accountability is reinforced in the common dictionary definition: “Subject to having to report, explain or justify; being answerable, responsible.”

Staying true to yourself and your goals should not be drudgery. You must view your accountability as a gift to yourself, a voluntary mindset to ensure success, not something you’re force-feeding yourself even though you hate it.

2) Think as if your life depended on it. 

When you shift to a determined, creative mindset, you begin to discover solutions for challenges that you may have believed were out of your control. If your life depended on it, would you come up with a new idea or strategy to save yourself? Absolutely.

The goal you want to achieve or the problem you want to solve probably is not a life-or-death scenario, but many creative solutions come when you put everything on the line. While your life may not be at risk, your happiness and success are.

3) When you can’t control your circumstances, don’t let your circumstances control you. 

On March 22, 2012, the state army of Mali stormed the presidential palace, overthrowing the western African country’s 20-year-old democracy. In the turmoil, Islamic militants took control of two-thirds of the country and crushed the upcoming democratic elections.

It was a tragic moment when the coup happened, says Yeah Samake, mayor of the small town of Ouélessébougou, located approximately 40 miles from the chaos. “I came into my living room and completely collapsed on the couch. My wife came and kicked me. I couldn’t believe it. I told her, ‘I am looking for sympathy here. Why are you kicking me?’ She only said, ‘Get out there and go do something.’ ”

Whether you get off the couch on your own or require a little nudge from somewhere else, the point is to get out there and do something.

4) You’ve got to want it more than you don’t want it.

 Everything will exact a certain price from you—energy, effort, patience, resources. It’s natural to want the good things in life without paying the price: You want to lose weight but don’t want to exercise or sacrifice your favorite foods. You want a promotion but don’t want to put in the extra hours. Success comes when you hit a tipping point and begin to desire your goal more than you dread the cost of reaching it.

5) Don’t let gravity pull you down. 

Just as massive planets produce gravity—drawing everything toward them—it seems that tough problems and challenging obstacles have enough mass to pull you away from getting what you want. This force gets bigger and stronger as the challenges get larger and tougher. Don’t give in.

6) Every breakthrough requires a bold stroke.

Actor Jim Carrey grew up so poor that his family lived in a van after his father lost his job; at one point the Carreys slept in a tent on a relative’s lawn. But Carrey believed in his own future and in the things that he wanted to accomplish in his life.

As the story goes, one night early in Carrey’s struggling comic career, he drove his beat-up Toyota to the Hollywood Hills and, while overlooking Los Angeles, pulled out his checkbook and wrote himself a check for $10 million. He scribbled in the notation line “For acting services rendered” and stuck it in his wallet. In that moment, Carrey cemented his personal resolve. Over the next five years, Carrey’s promise to himself led to worldwide fame. At the peak of his career, his per-film paycheck reached $20 million.

When you discover your own internal power, you see that you have the right, the ability, even the obligation, to create your own best reality.

7) Ask for feedback. 

Soliciting advice and criticism from others creates accountability.

For this to work, you will need to convince the mentor, friend, colleague or significant other whom you’re appealing to that you want to know what he really thinks. The evaluator needs to know that he won’t suffer any blowback if he is totally honest. Feedback is key to overcoming blind spots and achieving better results.

8) Ask yourself, Am I a renter or an owner?

 We care more for the things we own than for the things we rent because we don’t have as much invested in things that are temporary; there’s not as much at stake. Have you ever washed a rental car? Of course not.

When you own something—whether it’s a car, a work assignment or a relationship—you make an investment, usually involving some degree of sacrifice. When you rent, you can walk away without losing anything. If you’re really committed to achieving your goal, go all in.

9) Prepare to move a lot of dirt.

 Finding solutions is just like digging for gold. Have you seen the Discovery Channel reality show Gold Rush? It follows the lives of modern-day miners as they compete against time, one another and nature in hopes of striking it rich. First the miners must remove a top layer of 6 to 12 feet of dirt and rocks before the real mining even starts. Below this seemingly worthless and painful 6 to 12 feet, they hit pay dirt. The more pay dirt the miners process, the more gold they potentially find. In the end, they must move several tons of dirt to find just 1 ounce of gold. It’s hard work, but it yields rich rewards.

Their bottom-line secret to success: Keep digging.

10) Make it happen! 

How do you do that? How do you really make personal accountability work for you? Wouldn’t it be easy if there were just some switch you could flip? An Easy Button you could push? Maybe an app you could use? Well, there really is a flipping magical switch-app-button. It’s called making a choice and acting on it.

You have the choice to fulfill your aspirations or wallow in the blame game and victim cycle.

True success doesn’t come from the outside but from within. There is no wizard. Taking greater personal accountability is the key to succeeding in everything you do.

http://www.success.com/article/10-steps-to-achieve-any-goal