According to the major dictionaries, success is "the accomplishment of an aim or purpose; the attainment of fame, wealth or social status and the good or bad outcome of an undertaking". For most people, success means some kind of mix between financial well being and achieving what they've set out to do. When you're starting out in business, success is certain to be on your list of things you want to achieve. But unfortunately, when things get tough, it's only too easy lose sight of that success and what you were hoping to achieve. One sure-fire way of keeping success in your sights is to be able to visualise it.
Visualisation, put simply, is "the act of imagining something" and is a technique used by all sorts of sports people; business people and successful people throughout the world. Sometimes portrayed as a bit of a hippy notion, concrete evidence of the effectiveness of visualisation is hard to pin down, but there is no doubt that the act is one which can help people achieve. There is no end of articles on visualisation on the internet, but we've chosen to focus on 5 actions to help you visualise your success:
1. Define clearly what success means to you. If you were to stop ten people in the street to ask them what success means to them, it's almost certain that you'd get ten different answers. The definition of success varies from person to person and no one can define what success means to you except you. It sounds blatantly obvious, but it's absolutely essential before you try to visualise your success, you define it. Success for you may mean the clearance of debts; the achievement of a better work:life balance; a healthy investment portfolio or simply inner peace. But in order to visualise that success it's essential that you define it and define it clearly. Once you've defined it in a global sense, set to work to define the detail. Note down all the elements of your success and get an image in your head of how it will look.
2. Decide how you're going to get there. Only once you've defined your success can you decide how you're going to achieve it. It may be that you decide you will set up a home based business which you can manage around your job, which will allow you to bring in extra money to pay off your debts. It may be that you decide you will choose to work part-time and spend more time with your family or you may decide upon a completely different way of life to achieve your success, but either way, you need to write down clearly defined, achievable steps to reaching your success.
3. Define what your success is going to look like. When you define success and decide how you're going to get there, you'll be starting to get a mental picture of what your success will look like. Visualise the person you're hoping to be when you reach success. At one end of the scale, it may be as simple a vision as laughing on the beach with your kids or at the other; it may involve financial trappings like a better car or a bigger house. No matter how you define success, it's going to look different to what you see when you look at your life today. You are more likely to achieve that success if you can develop a mental picture of what it will look like and file that mental picture in your brain so you can pull it out when the going gets tough and let it help you get back on track.
4. Decide how you're going to measure your success. No matter what people tell you, overnight success is (unfortunately) very rare. With that in mind, it's essential that once you've defined your success you put in place measurable and identifiable milestones for reaching it. These milestones will be of huge help to you if you find yourself wandering off the success path you've created for yourself. These milestones will give you the chance to take any corrective action you need to get you back on track if you've gone off and will of course give that necessary motivation when you need it most.
5. Decide how you'll feel when you're successful. Success needn't be about outward demonstrations of wealth or happiness. Success is often simply about feeling better. Feeling better about the world; feeling better about your opportunities; feeling better about yourself. No matter how out of touch with your feelings you are, the process of visualising success is a great way to get back in touch with them. Write down how you're feeling today. How you're feeling about what you've achieved: in your life; in the last month; in the last year, in fact over any period you wish. It's your plan. Then write down how you imagine you'll feel when you're successful. Try to really dig deep on this one: at the end of the day, you spend 24/7 with your feelings, so getting them to where you want them to be will be a huge achievement. A huge success!
