Armed with the answers of where you are today, where you want to be tomorrow and of course the best way to get there, right now. Also armed with a clear picture of your primary reason why we can start to visualise the future. We have already looked at the important role mindset, mindfulness and the development of emotional intelligence often referred to as EQ has and there is no doubt all of these are improved with a vivid reason ‘Why’. I mention this again as I believe the right mental attitude is a very important part of the ability to create in your mind a vivid and full-colour picture of your vision of the future for you and your business.
One of the mindful skills that I want to explain and promote to you is the art of visualisation. I have used this extensively throughout my career and still use it as much today as I did many years ago. I have included it here as I believe this will be of great use in helping you to formulate your vivid and full-colour vision of the future, for you and your machine.
Our brains are amazing and have power beyond most peoples comprehension. But this is no secret and people have been writing about this for many years. The power of your mind over reality is phenomenal. It was in the 1930s that Napoleon Hill wrote in his book, ‘Think and Grow Rich’, and ‘The Laws of Success’, about the power of the mind and how if you think about it you can make it happen. Later in the 50s Earl Nightingale recorded a set of records called ‘The Strangest Secret.’ In these recordings, he said ‘…we become what we think about most.’ He said this in an attempt to explain to people the power of the mind over physical and mental actions.
If you have ever doubted the power of thought over actual physical action consider this. Whatever it is we think about most is probably going to be a good indicator of what will happen, because as we think these things we start to act in a way that will create that outcome. So if you tell yourself you can’t, it is a fair bet that you won’t and if you tell yourself you can, at the very least, you’re going to give it a blooming good go.
The power of the mind, your mind is incredible. To gain results, all you need to do is use it. Simple? Yes. The reality is, however, somewhat different, very few people use this power. I want you to be one of those that does.
There is empirical proof of this in many studies which we can use as examples to illustrate this point. How you think can impact on your performance and so this is a powerful tool that can be used to your advantage or indeed your disadvantage. You see it works both ways.
If I was to place a standard scaffolding plank on the floor in front of a group of people. If I then asked them all to slowly walk across the length of that plank, without allowing their feet to touch the floor, you can imagine that would be easily achieved. But what would happen if I was to raise the same scaffolding plank 12 feet off the ground and ask the same group to walk the length again?
There is no doubt some people would do it but just as many would let their thoughts of losing balance prevent them from doing it some might even tell themselves they will fall and if you say you will fall you probably will.
It is this power of the mind that I would ask you to practice using in the production of your vivid and full-colour vision. The empirical evidence of the power of visualisation, using your mind to paint a picture of the future is out there for us all to see.
A group of basketball players who were all of a certain comparable standard were split into three groups. They were briefed that they would be required to compete in groups with the others to see which group could score the most baskets.
The first group was told to practice shooting baskets leading up to the completion. The second group were told to individually visualise scoring baskets, they were briefed to imagine how they would stand, holding the ball and lining it up. To imagine throwing the ball and watching it fly through the air and passing through the hoop.
The third group were asked to do nothing and were placed in a room where they could eat, listen to music or watch the Tv, anything other than play basketball.
After the competition, the score sheet showed little difference between the performance of the first two groups and a long way behind was the third group. This then illustrates that visualisation was as powerful as practice. Clearly doing nothing was not an option that should be taken.
When I was in the armed forces, I used to visualise the patrol that I would be commanding before the event. Patrolling in hostile territory brings with it a number of risks and possible outcomes. As the patrol commander, I was not only responsible for the mission but also the safety and welfare of the soldiers under my command.
So before each patrol I would find some quiet time and close my eyes and visualise the patrol, the route I was going to take and the obstacles I would encounter. I would imagine the patrol experiencing a range of possibilities, including finding weapons, coming under fire or experiencing or discovering an IED (Improvised Explosive Device).
I used the same process during my time playing rugby. The night before a game I would do the same thing and visualise the entire game, in great detail I would practice in my mind the set plays, the scrums, line outs and penalties. I would visualise the first crunching tackle and recycling the ball. This exercise was very useful and helped me to prepare and it is interesting the number of times the visualisation helped me to improve my game and tactical awareness on match day.
If you use the same technique to imagine the business you are developing, imagine what you are going to grow it into and how you are going to do that. Do this with great detail. Imagine that you are going to turn the business into over the next few years and imagine what it will end up looking like. The more detail you give it the better. Some would call this daydreaming, some call it visualisation. The name is not important, what is important is the impact this can have on your actions and behaviour. As Earl Nightingale said in 1956, ‘We will become what we think about most.’
Some of you may be familiar with the recent reality TV show which takes everyday people or celebrities and puts them through a condensed and somewhat diluted Special Forces selection process to find an eventual winner. many of the participants fall by the wayside during the series. Have you ever noticed that those that fail start their failure by repeatedly telling themselves they can’t? You do become what you think, of that there is no doubt!
When it comes to creating your vision, the vision for you and or your business, I want you to do more than simply write about your vision I want you to live it in your mind, not once, not twice but daily, set aside some time each day and visualise the journey you are taking. If you can’t manage that do it once a week, give yourself a fighting chance to be the best version of you and create the best version of your machine. many of us plan our weeks, plan our days and that is a good thing. Take a few moments at the start of the day and visualise the day and what you will be doing and how these actions fit into the vision you have created for your business and its future success.
When it comes to your vision for the future of your business, put as much detail as you can make it full colour, the more detail you can bring to this vision the better. Your vision for the future should be a combination of what is clearly achievable and the seemingly impossible, or at least what appears to be impossible right now.
Within the visualisation, you will imagine the individual actions you will be taking that will step by step make the seemingly impossible right now, very possible. Although this is a form of daydreaming it is a real vision that you want to achieve and therefore while imagining the possibilities you will also have one foot on the ground a firm and stable understanding of reality. In this way, you make your vision more believable and more executable.
When it comes to working on your vision you need to be considering the three items I previously mentioned when describing ‘The Broad Concept’. So to start the process ask those same three questions but this time it is about your vision for the future of your business. The three questions are:
In terms of your business:
- Where are you now?
- Where do you want to be tomorrow?
- What is the best way to get there, right now?
You have started your business for a reason and that also comes into play here too. What is it you want your business to become? Where do you see it in 3, 5, 10, 20 years? What will you be doing?Again, repeating myself, it is really important at this stage that you include as much detail into this vision as you possible can. I am assuming, I am hoping that you are reading this because you want to build a business that is capable of creating exceptional and sustainable results, a business that can work for you, rather than you having to work for it.
There is also a final question you need to be asking yourself and one that I am adamant is pivotal to the entire vision, the actions you take and the future of you your business and the wider community. That question is not given anywhere near enough thought and planning by most people in business. It is a question of exit.At some point, you are either going to clock off and never clock on or clock on and never clock off, that my friend is a certainty.
My military career and more latterly my position on my local Lifeboat as a Helm has continuously reminded me how fragile life is and how quickly and easily it can end. I do not want to be filled with regret at the end of my journey for not giving it a go, and so planning features highly in my life as does understanding the end game for me and my machine!What happens next? What is your exit plan, will you sell, partially sell, keep going until you drop, hand over to someone? The range of options is endless, but with the exception of doing it until you drop, they will all require a plan, they will all require actions that will or should start long before the actual event. Unless of course, you intend to just turn the lights off and walk away! Seriously that is not an option either, I could not live with the thought of all those people I would disappoint by not planning effectively. I want my life to positively impact people and so I plan to make it happen. I want you to do the same.