Take a mental picture and make real progress now!

Think about it. You move forward easily when you see where you’re going. (It’s even better if you make it a place you want to go.)

Be the creator you are. Consciously create exactly what you want.

What Takes Your Progress Forward

I’ve learned that creating mental pictures is key to making the right things happen.

I want to share with you a few ways that I create a mental picture. A mental picture is something that you hold in your mind. It’s a picture that’s bright, clear, and focused. You see the wider view and the details. It’s in color. You distinctly hear what you’re saying to yourself. You notice the sounds around you. It’s so vivid you could literally step into it. You can actually feel yourself there.

Done right, the imprint of creating a mental picture is so strong that you could draw it out 10 times over. The picture shows the matter at hand completely finished. In fact, this is just like how Mozart created his music. He saw pictures of it first. At the end of the process, he wrote out the notes. (Oh, by the way, he was relaxed and feeling positive from the start).

What Ways You Can Use Mental Pictures

You can use them in limitless ways!

These are examples to stoke your creative juices:

  • Laying out a plan for the day
  • Healing a sickness
  • Achieving a goal
  • Setting vision for a project
  • Taking care of your home
  • Making a presentation
  • Preparing a report
  • Handling a challenging conversation
  • Giving feedback
  • Organizing your things

What Holds Your Progress Back

When you don’t make mental pictures, darkness comes. So, you end up feeling stuck. And, you fail to make any progress.

Mental pictures are extremely useful when you’re procrastinating. Take a minute to imagine the thing you’re avoiding to do – completely done – and the good feeling that comes from that.

This is a great way to sum up how I felt about my email for a long time. I knew it was important to take care of it timely. Yet, a feeling of dread was there. I couldn’t see where I was going. I was drowning in a bad feeling. All I could see was the email piling up. There was zero image of the email being handled. Not to mention, all the critical voices going on in my head.

Now, when I feel that unease come on. I make a picture of the task at hand completed. Remember that – completed. Not starting, not in the process – completed. Done. It’s the key.

Try This Short Practice to Make Real Progress

Give yourself a minute and a quiet place to do this. Pause for a moment and than proceed.

  1. Let your mind scan for an important matter to handle.
  2. Once you’ve zoomed in on that matter, observe the pictures that pop up.
  3. Take note of these – where they’re at in the stage of progress (helps to build your awareness)
  4. Check if any pictures represent the matter completed
  5. If none exist, make a picture of the matter handled in exactly the way you want
  6. Reflect on that picture in your mind each time you think of that matter
  7. Let all the other pictures float away

Tip: Remember. It’s extremely important that you use correct imagination. Moving forward to what you value. What serves others. Sometimes, you get lost and start imagining the things you don’t want. Try to stop doing that.

Now, enjoy using mental pictures to support real progress in your life. I’d love to hear what you learn. Share in the comments below.