4 Olympian Ways To Harness The Power of Visualization

What can we learn from the Olympic champions who turn their dreams into reality?

 

Humans are visual creatures.

We process our realities visually. Eyesight is our primary sense.

Spoken language comes a distant second.

The word ‘visualise’ itself means simply to ‘make visual’. Using our minds, we can take an abstract thought and turn it into a visual reality.

Once a detailed visual reality exists within a human mind, then will-power, determination and persistence can bring that vision into reality.

We all have dreams. Day dreams. Fantasies.

The difference between winners and losers is that winners use their minds to make their dreams and fantasies become true.

Let’s look at how you can harness the power of visualization.

#1 Regularly Visualise Your Goals

So what can we learn from Olympic champions?

These men and women - as mortal and human as the rest of us.

Yet, what causes them to rise to the very top of mount Olympus?

These people are obsessed with their goals!

They visualise continually.

As they walk down the street. As they shower in the morning.

As they go to bed at night.

Firstly, you need to know what your goals are. If you don’t have goals, you are merely wandering through your life without aim.

When your goals are clear to you, strive with every ounce of your being and every fibre of your mind towards them. Visualise your success in your mind’s eye. See yourself succeeding.

Every day. Every night.

People will tell you it's bad to be "obsessed" with your vision. Tell this to the champion athlete who trained 8 hours a day, every day for 16 years - and became without peer on this planet. Tell this to Einstein or Da Vinci whose dreams and obsessions left cultural legacies for generations to come.

#2 Learn How to Visualise Yourself Succeeding

What is visualised repeatedly will become reality. This is fact.

Napolean Hill writes in depth about visualising success in his book Think and Grow Rich.

The man that dwells on and visualises success will succeed (positive visualisation).

Likewise, the man that dwells on and visualises failure will fail (negative visualisation).

We become our thoughts.

Do you ever find yourself day dreaming? Living out your fantasies in your mind? We all find our minds wandering at times. This is natural.

The trick is to do this mindfully. Be aware. Use your natural inclination to visualise as a tool!

Don’t just let your mind's eye wander to random, bizarre or meaningless scenes. Use the power of your mind to steer your internal vision towards the achievement of your goals.

Visualise success!

What does success means to you? Earning more money? Finding a great partner? Winning at sport? Writing that book you've been putting off?

See it!

See it in detail. Live it in detail -in every aspect. As if it were real.

Our dreams and internal realities are just as real as anything else!

#3 Make The Most of Visualisation Techniques

To make the most of the time you invest, it pays to be aware of certain techniques and exercises you can use in your positive visualisation.

Most importantly, don’t just concentrate on how success looks.

Bring to mind how it will feel.

Whilst visualising scenes of success in your mind, imagine your thoughts. Think as if you have actually completed your goals. Shorten the gap between your dreams and your own internal reality.
As well as imagining your thoughts, you must conjur the emotions that you will feel.

Feel the emotions.

Live out your future successes - visually, mentally and emotionally.

Don’t just imagine your own thoughts and emotions. Consider how those around you will feel and think when they see and hear of your successes.

Forge yourself into the person you want to be through the sheer strength of your will.

You must also establish faith. Every Olympic champion in history had an unshakable self-believe in their ability to succeed.

Adopt the mindset that success is inevitable!

When negative thoughts enter your visualisations - as they will – mindfully discard them. Do not dwell on them. Simply allow them to drift onwards and replace them with positive visualisations.

You can also write down or draw out an artefact or affirmation of your future success. This can be as simple as a written statement pinned to your wall saying ‘Within 12 months I will [insert your goal here].

This simple step helps to bridge the gap between dream and reality, by proving to yourself that you can act out your dreams.

#4 Use Lucid Dreaming To Live Out Your Dreams

So, you understand the potential power of positive visualization now?

Just as small children naturally visualise and act out their fantasies - as their heads lay on their pillows and enter dream land - the future Olympic champion sees himself winning as he drifts into sleep.

Sometimes he will dream of success.

The curious thing about dreams in our culture is that we have a dual meaning for the word.

Do you see the relationship?

At the core of our cultural construct of dreaming is the concept that we live out our aspirations and ambitions as we sleep!

When you learn how to lucid dream, you can actively rehearse your successes inside the dream world! This is why lucid dreaming for athletes is such a hot topic!

Can you imagine the power - the clarity - that a fully lucid dream of success would bring?

Imagine the man that bounds down the street knowing he will be successful.

He knows he will succeed - because he already has.

In his fully-conscious internal reality, he has already experienced success!

Imagine being privy to a secret.

A secret that only you know - having had a dream so sharp and so clear that you know with absolute and unshakable confidence that it will come to be.

Having seen the future. Having already felt the feelings. Already taken the steps.

Can you imagine it?

I can.