Lesson 8 In the SGR: Thinking in the Certain Way - Definite of Purpose and Visualisation
Remember that it is faith and purpose in the use of the imagination which make the difference between the scientist and the dreamer. Wallace D. Wattles
If only I had that degree then people would respect me and my work or if only I had the capital then I could start that business.
Are these some thoughts that have crossed your mind before or any of similar calibre when you’ve thought of a specific desire? Well, I know I have had some before I got a better understanding of setting goals. I have always been a dreamer and I love to dream big but I also used to dream vaguely, without specifics until I came across the works of my mentor Bob Proctor and his mentors. The way I set goals previously was just like me walking into a restaurant and asking the waiter to get me their best dish that’s very vague and so I could see, I would manifest some desires but not to the extent I really dreamed off. So, when I started getting very clear on what I wanted I found that these teachings were not just for some but applied to all. I started seeing the results of having a clear goal, seeing and feeling myself with the end result and acting with a definite purpose to achieve them.
In recent years, Visualisation in the personal development space has become a household name, though this isn’t a new phenomenon at all, we’ve seen it suggested more and more in our quest to improve ourselves and conditions. In the first paragraph the author opens with this statement “You must first form a clear and definite mental picture of what you want; you cannot transmit an idea unless you have it yourself.”, which also reinforces the concept of visualisation. It is true that if we don’t have a clear idea of what we want to achieve our efforts will be scattered and futile. It is just like when we desire to have a lot of money or be living our best lives. What does this entail? How much is a lot of money to you? What does living our best lives look like? In this chapter, Wattles encourages us to have a clear goal and a definite purpose to achieve it and so among the many ways of defining a goal, I believe the most important is being able to see in our minds eye ourselves with the goal we want to achieve. This is what a lot of athletes use as they train for their specific competitions, they first get a clear picture of what they want to achieve and then train as if they already had that.
In her book - Your Invisible Power, Genevieve Behrend explains Visualisation as follows -The exercise of the visualizing faculty keeps your mind in order, and attracts to you the things you need to make life more enjoyable in an orderly way….Visualizing is the great secret of Success. The conscious use of this great power attracts to you greatly multiplied resources, intensifies your wisdom, and enables you to make use of advantages which you formerly failed to recognize.
She also adds that we all visualise whether we know it or not. Visualisation can be a challenge for some people as creating mental images without having experienced them seems near to impossible so then the most vital thing to remember in visualisation is to “live” this dream or goal. Here, I mean to use the other senses to feel, taste, touch, hear etc. I know this is difficult in mere visualisation but from research we know that the mind doesn’t know reality from events visualised, so if we are able to embody the sensations of how we will feel when the goal is manifested then we can help speed the process of them manifesting for the mind thinks that is our reality. As we get the “physical” sensations during visualisation the reticular activating system - RAS looks for such events for us to experience thus bringing us closer to the desired goal.
Let’s say if your dream is to go on holidays to an exotic place with beautiful weather and beaches but you can’t create that mental picture of the place then what you can do is think of how the sandy beach feels on your feet, the sound of the waves and how it makes you feel or the many wonderful dishes you get to try and how yummy they taste. If we are able to incorporate all our senses that also helps in the visualisation process and as Wattles puts it we take a Mental Attitude of Ownership living as if we already had this in our reality.
So back to how this helps in the SGR, it is not just enough to think that promotion at work or the successful business we desire but more so what that promotion will do for us or what that successful business will do for us or what having a successful business means specifically to us. When we have this down we can then begin to think of ways to make this a reality in our lives and as we have a clear goal we will start encountering clear directions as well, to get to it. With this in mind we must also make sure not to have other things distract us from our goal, this is not to say we can’t have multiple goals but to emphasise that once we get a goal set clearly we must stick to it with faith as we work on it. It is the faith we have in the clear vision that ensures the manifestation of our dream for like in the restaurant when I place an order for my meal I have faith that what I ordered is exactly what I will be served no matter the time it takes, as long as I know what I want and gave the instructions for it. I am not to allow the dishes that others ordered before me or with me distract me from what I ordered because what I ordered is what I desire.
How does visualisation sit with you, is it something you practice or have an ease with? I would love to know your thoughts about this in the comments.
Journal Prompt: If nothing could stop you and there were no limits what would you really desire to have?
This is an eye opener!!!! I will start practicing. Thanks Coach Daisy.