This is an incredibly powerful exercise that I have used with hundreds of clients to learn how to visualize, but first:
A warning.
There is a danger of getting so taken up with fantasies of success that by the time it actually comes to taking the first steps, all the momentum is lost.
If you spend hours strongly imagining having won the lottery, eventually the thought of actually having to go buy your ticket seems almost mundane.
So visualize all the steps needed to complete your dreams. You can do this exercise with another person.
Make believe you have reached the stage where your dream has “gone big.”
Now get the other person to question you as to how exactly you arrived at where you are now (in make-believe land).
Your friend needs to be relentless, almost as if trying to catch you out. “What was your very first step to becoming this successful? How did you get the initial money? Who helped you? What are their names? What happened next? What colour is the door of your international office? How much is the rent there?”
Your job is to be as convincing as possible in your answers. Pretty soon you’ll find it start to feel amazingly real to you. Your friend’s job is to ask as many practical questions as possible. This links fantasy to practicality in a very powerful way.
As you reply, get your friend to write down all the steps, put them in chronological order, and number them. He can also ask “negative questions” like:
“What was the hardest thing about all this? What have you had to sacrifice?” (TV watching? PlayStation?) But also: “What does it feel like now?” and: “What’s the best thing about having realized your dream in this way? Describe your typical day now.”
Now close your eyes while your friend talks you slowly through each step that you have drawn up together. Strongly imagine, as if seeing yourself in a movie, completing all the steps that you had envisaged during the “fantasy interrogation.” Once you have done this, it will become much more likely that you will begin to actualize the real steps toward creating your ultimate goal, rather than just endlessly fantasizing about life once you’ve arrived.
Of course, hypnosis is great for this because it engages the imagination so powerfully.
To your stellar success,
Mark Tyrrell
Co-founder, Uncommon Knowledge / For SelfHypnosisUSA
Author of 10 Steps to a Stellar Success Mindset
