Ten Surefire Ways to Fail at Visualization (PART 2)

Welcome back! In part 1, you will have learned the first 5 reasons why your visualization may not be effective and how to turn this around so your Vision Board will indeed coming to fruition in incredible ways you never thought possible. Let me explain the other 5 important reasons here:

6. There is no consistency in your visualization regime.
Creating your Vision Board is the first step to take. Once finished, you need to keep focusing on your Vision Board with intention and eager anticipation as often as possible. If you passionately visualize your goals on some days, and totally forget about it on other days you water down the effect. Your Vision Board will make sure you keep an inspired, positive mindset as much as possible. The more consistent and frequent your visualization practice is, the stronger and faster the result. So I recommend to create a structure to make sure you focus on your goals and dreams at least twice a day with intent. You could create a reminder in outlook or make it a habit of focusing on your goals as soon as you wake up and go to bed. The challenge many people report to us though, is that they don’t have the time or just forget to look at their Vision Board. If that is the case for you too, then we recommend having an automatic Vision Board system in place on your computer that pops up pro actively, to help you keep focused and reminded of your goals as much as possible.

7. You don’t have enough exposure to your Vision Board

As mentioned before, the more you put your energy and focus on the display of all your amazing goals on your Vision Board, the quicker and easier you will make those goals a reality in your life. So it is valuable to have a look at ways to increase the exposure to your Vision Board. You could, for instance, hang your Vision Board on your office wall, in the kitchen or any other place you are often. The challenge when creating a “traditional” cardboard Vision Board, is that you only have one board to display when finished. As a suggestion, you could take photo’s of your Vision Board and hang these around your home, or create mini cardboard Vision Boards. An excellent alternative is to use computerized Vision Board systems that will allow you to create multiple Vision Boards and expose them in many different ways.

8. Your plan of action is not clear enough.

How often have you made a decision to set a goal to really lose that weight this time, go to the gym a couple of times a week, start that business or take some more time off for yourself? You know how it goes: in one of those “aha” moments you realize you are “not going to keep going like this” and “really will take action to improve this area of your life” and you set a fantastic goal for yourself. You might even take some action for a week or so. But one day you really need to finish a project at work. Or you feel too tired to go to the gym. Then what happens....? Sadly, your brilliant resolution ever so often gets pushed out of sight on your priority list as soon as other commitments kick in or the automatic pilot of life takes over. Nothing happens really. You didn't do it consistently in the first place, and unless you really make the effort to do things different, nothing will structurally happen ever. It will be the story of your life; “Yeah, I wanted to do it, but....”. You will live your life by default. Unless you create a plan around it to stay inspired. This is crucial! Create a clear plan of “attack” and –just as important- then put a system in place to keep you motivate to achieve your goal. A Vision Board is one of the key ingredients, as well as some proper coaching to create an effective plan of action and ongoing inspiration.

9. You see your visualization as a burden, a “must-do-in-order-to”

You may be one of many who feel that visualizing is kind of a burden, another thing on your to-do list in order to achieve your goals. So each day you look at your Vision Board, see the different goals, maybe dream away a little, only to get impatient, jump up and quickly “get on with life”. In today’s fast paced world it can feel like a challenge to take time to relax and focus on your Vision Board with intent, excitement and anticipation for what is coming your way. The trouble however, is that your visualization won’t work unless you do it with conviction.
The key is to really relax and properly sink into your goals and dreams in the most wonderful, magical way. Put the phone off the hook, get comfortable and dream away while watching your Vision Board with all the incredible things you would like to do, have or become. One thing that can truly enhance this experience is to make sure your Vision Board is interesting and dynamic to look at and really makes you FEEL your dreams. If possible, have it playing on your iPod so you can even look at it on a truly inspiring place such as the beach or near a stream. You can also have a poster print out next to your bed, so you can look at it first thing in the morning with fresh eyes; the perfect day to set you up powerfully for your day!

10. You don’t have a supportive enough environment

When you have big goals and dreams to achieve, one of the things to be aware of is the influence of people you surround yourself with. You see, some people demand a lot of energy by complaining about everything and by doubting your chances of achieving these goals. Spending a lot of time with these kind of people can therefore really influence your positive mind set and actions and could sabotage the achievement of your goals. On the other hand you will find people who seem to emanate a wonderful force of positive energy which makes you sparkle and empowered. These people are interested and support you in your goals. Make an effort to surround yourself with uplifting people like that within your circle of friends and family and via networks, hobby clubs, online communities, etc. They will have big dreams too, so you can keep each other motivated and inspired. (Our visionlounge.com community for instance is free and full of amazing, powerful people). Can you see how important an empowering environment like that is if you wish to keep a positive mind set? I realize that you can't always "escape" the negative people in your life, so to counteract their negative vibrations, make sure to have an inspiring Vision Board all around.

So there you have it :)! Ten important reasons why your visualization may not have worked as well as you thought it would. At the same time, you have now also learned about some of the most important techniques of successful, effective visualization. Here is my proven recipe for success: Create a fun, dynamic Vision Board of all the goals that are clear and important to YOU, focus on it with consistency, genuine excitement while thinking from your goals. Add powerful affirmations to counteract any self limiting beliefs you have, put in place a solid plan of action, create massive exposure in various ways and top it off with some powerful people around you. I promise you will be on your way to the stars straight away!!