Here’s something champion athletes know about visualization
that the rest of the world doesn’t.
When most people visualize, they sit back, relax, close their
eyes and begin imagining what they want to achieve.
This, no doubt, is a must-learn skill. That’s why I keep stressing
the importance of doing the “Theatre of the Mind” exercises.
But once you are able to RELAX on command, and once you are
able to really FEEL yourself in your future reality – being able to
effectively visualize with your eyes wide open represents a whole
new level of skill that you’ll want to integrate into your training.
When I visualize, for example, much of the time I don’t need to close
my eyes to get results of a startling nature. I don’t need to think about
going into delta or theta. I don’t need to put on special high-tech glasses,
listen to a metronome, or think about setting and releasing anchors.
Why? Because I believe success has MORE to do with de-hypnosis than
anything else.
And by this I mean de-hypnotizing yourself from false beliefs; de-hypnotizing
yourself from the idea that you can’t do the things you really want to do;
de-hypnotizing yourself out of thoughts about lack, poverty, ill health and
so on – while simultaneously allowing visions of a brighter future to come
into your mind – and into your life.
Think of the athlete who is out on the court or on the field.
Suppose he’s in a position to score the winning point in a basketball game –
or kick the winning field goal. Being able to mentally tune everything and
everyone else out while visualizing doing what it takes to win the game …
that’s the hallmark of the supreme athlete.
Last weekend I was watching the Cowboys and Seahawks in the first-round
of the playoffs. During the final two minutes it looked like Dallas was going
to win. They had driven the ball down to the 1.5 yard line. All they had to
do was make a chip-shot field goal and they would go ahead – and quite
possibly win the game.
The quarterback for the Cowboys, Tony Romo, got set to receive the snap
from the center. It was a good snap. Romo caught it and … oh no, instead
of the ball touching the ground in a position that the kicker could boot it
through the uprights, the ball slipped from his grasp. He immediately picked
it up and began racing toward the end zone. And he would have made it if
a Seahawks player hadn’t dove for his ankles and tackled him.
I thought about this situation a lot. Not only did I feel badly for Romo, as no
one wants to see a star quarterback go through the embarrassment and
humiliation he must have felt – but I feel, based upon my athletic and martial
arts career – that prior to receiving the snap, Romo’s mind was fighting off
mental images of failure. And these mental images of making a mistake
came to life in front of 60,000 screaming fans.
It takes a ton of relaxed concentration to have your mind so deeply centered
that you can filter out 60,000 screaming fans – as well as any negative image
that may pop into your mind in a critical situation. In situations like these, I must
remind you there’s no time for sitting in a chair to visualize. You’ve got to be able
to do it NOW – with your eyes wide open. You’ve got to be able to relax and put a
cancel stamp on all negative thoughts. You’ve got to be able to see precisely what
you want in such a gargantuan way that nothing else can possibly enter your mind.
For the non-athlete, this skill is necessary as well. Think of a situation in which you
feel fear or nervousness. For many, “public speaking” may come to mind. The very
thought of speaking before a group of people terrifies a lot of people more than the
thought of death (and why is that terrifying? – could it be a negative picture in your
mind?).
Now, if you take a person who is afraid of speaking in public and observe him, you
may witness that he has no trouble at all speaking to people one-to-one, even two-
to-one or eight-to-one. Yet, this same person, never thinks about the fact that he
CAN speak, and speak well, to people in those situations. But instead of recalling past
successes, he thinks only of possible failure. Instead of activating his internal Success
Mechanism, he activates his internal Failure Mechanism.
Back to Tony Romo. I think that is what he did. In the high-pressure situation,
instead of recalling previous snaps he’s taken successfully, he dwelled on the fact
that he might make a mistake. And make a mistake he did.
Afterward he went to the bench, put his head down and sulked. The game was NOT
over. There was still time to win.
Yes, he’d make a mistake. He’s human like the rest of us. All of us screw-up. It’s part
of life. But the faster we let go of our mistakes and focus on what we’ve done in the
past that is right, the faster we will rise above our blunders.
What Romo could have been doing after he bobbled the ball, was imagine throwing
a game-winning “Hail Mary” pass.
Those work from time to time – and interstingly enough, do you know when they
work? They work when the quarterback and receiver are mentally in sync. They
work when BOTH players can see what they want to have happen – and see
it LIVE, on the BIG SCREEN of their minds, when their eyes are wide open.
Simply throwing the long bomb will not do it.
There is a reason quarterbacks like John Elway and Joe Montana became famous
for engineering last minute come-from-behind wins. Both of these men saw themselves
winning the game in the last minute. They were still cool and calm under pressure.
They had engineered successful drives before, so they believed they could do it again.
What have you done before successfully?
Take a moment to recall your past successes – then blend them into your future. Don’t
focus on previous failures – unless you want more of them. Focus on previous victories,
no matter how big or small.
When you do this you will begin to experience an UNSTOPPABLE feeling of success –
and I think you’ll be surprised at how often this feeling leads to you getting what you
want out of life.
P.S. Take your life to the next level. Take control of the images in your mind. Steer
your ship to the Port of Success. It’s easy to learn how. Members of the Psycho-
Cybernetics Success Group are raving about their accomplishments – why not you?
Go to http://www.psycho-cybernetics.com/success_group.html and get involved in
this extraordinary program.