Before getting into the heart of the point I'm going to try and make in this article, I want you to think of your idols. Evaluate who the people you admire most are and the areas of your life they have already affected.
What is an idol? In my book, somebody i idolise is simply somebody with admirable traits, and usually traits that I would love to emulate in myself. You might pick an idol because they're intelligent, because they've done work for charity, because they're creative or sporty, whatever your reasoning is, your idol may be the most important person in your quest to improve yourself.
Think of an aspiring boxer. If he idolises John Lennon, he'll learn some amazing lessons about life, creativity, tenacity, talent and world peace, but to be honest he'll learn very little about boxing. Idolising somebody like Mohammed Ali will be far more useful, he will learn his story, the skills he developed and needed, how he coped with the setbacks relevant to this career choice. It's obvious really.
I always say that projecting a future image of yourself and then aiming to become this image is one of the most effective ways to improve yourself. Want to have a better body? Visualise yourself six months or a year down the line with a better body, feel the benefits of your improvements and then make them happen. One of the greatest tools in this method can be realising who you admire, and basing your future image on those that you admire makes this even more effective.
So why is it that this method of visualising your future, idol-based self is so helpful? Setting goals is always a useful thing to do in your quest for self improvement, and I'm sure you don't need me to tell you that, but using your idols to create these goals amplifies the effectiveness. I believe that this is because the idols have a special connection with people, not only with their heads but their hearts. Somebody may not just idolise John Lennon, they may love everything about him and everything he achieved in his life. Lennon becomes a part of their thinking and is loved almost in the same way as a friend or a member of family. You wouldn't want to let a member of family down would you? A runner on a treadmill with the image of a great runner in their head that they not only like but love.
For the John Lennon lover, there is almost an element of wanting to emulate his amazing achievements. This brings a more powerful strength than you could ever achieve through looking in the mirror.
Your idols are so important to your life and the way your brain rationalises, as well as being the ones who will keep you going when times get hard, and trust me, times will get hard. Choose those that you admire wisely and make sure you take everything you possibly can from them.
Ben is an entrepreneur and writer from the UK. He writes about his journey to improve himself, and to get out of the rat race at Escape Nine to Five.