Envision your way to Success!

I remember hearing in high school about a technique that coaches used with athlete's to help them get into the "zone". They would have the athlete's review their performance in their mind down to the smallest detail, envisioning a successful execution or play. This boosted confidence, and it helped ensure a positive outcome in competition. Knowing this, you can use visualization to make your intentions for the new year, your business or your life a reality. Another way of saying this is to manifest your intentions with visualization.

First, you need to get really clear about what you want. Pick just one intention to start with, and write it down. The next step is to look at what you've written and make sure that it's got a positive perspective. We have a tendency to think about changes in our lives in terms of "I don't want to do or experience this (negative) thing anymore." The thing is though, what we're really doing there is focusing on what we don't want instead of what we do want. That's why, when you decide to make a change, the way to succeed is to take the time to figure out exactly what you want and focus on that instead of what you don't want.

For example, if your New Year's Resolution is to stop smoking and have a healthier outlet for stress reduction - the intention "I want to stop smoking" still focuses on smoking. If you frame your intention to represent what you really want, it would sound more like this: "I want to go for walks around the block on my breaks from work and to breathe only fresh, healthy air into my lungs."

Once you have your positive intention, you can start envisioning it to bring it to life. By the way, envisioning is a type of meditation but it doesn't require you to clear your mind or focus on your breathing. When you do envisioning, you are watching yourself achieve the positive outcome you desire like seeing a movie in your mind. This is a lot easier to do than other meditation techniques, so I encourage you to try it even if you've never meditated before or have had trouble meditating in the past.

Here's what to do:

• Sit or lay comfortably in a quiet space where you will not be interrupted for 5-15 minutes.Take a few deep breaths and relax your body.State your intention (either out loud or in your mind), really concentrating on the essence of it.
• See yourself acting out your intention as if you were watching a movie of yourself. In the example above, you would see yourself taking a break at work by going for a walk while taking deep breaths of fresh air.After you've run through the movie once, replay it a few more times bringing your attention to little details and variations that bring you even more confidence and excitement about achieving your intention.
• Try to see yourself succeeding in as much detail and depth as possible.
• Also, while envisioning, try to feel the excitement, confidence, happiness, and other positive emotions that you anticipate feeling once you've achieved your intention. This serves to boost your confidence and prime yourself to feel great as you are working towards your goal.
• Practice watching the movie of yourself being successful as often as possible. First thing each morning is a great time to do this. Repeat regularly until you have achieved your intention.
• Repeat for each intention you have, or do them all together at the same time.

I encourage you to envision your success for at least week and then evaluate how far you've come towards your goal and how you feel about achieving it. I suspect that you will find yourself more confident and excited about how easy it is to achieve the success that you desire! Email me at info@joannascaparotti.com with your success story!