When I was a child I would stand in the garden alone, with a wooden stick, standing in front of the waste bin. I would imagine that I was standing in front of a huge crowd of cheering fans in a stadium. I imagined someone in front of me who was pitching me balls to hit. I imagined that the bin was the wicket, and that my wooden stick was a baseball bat. I would actually swing to thin air, imagining that I hit the ball out of the field and celebrate to the welcome cheers of the thousands of fans there to see me.
In truth, it was just me alone, with a wooden stick. But this was a favourite game of mine to play.
I developed a heightened sense of imagination and would often come up with novel ways to entertain myself. This was because I grew up without many toys and so my mind would develop interesting ways to create new realities for entertainment.
I am creative in nature, and I cite my early development as the root of this creativity.
Over the years I would notice thoughts entering my mind about the future. In this future I saw myself jet-setting the world. Being seated at large corporate meeting rooms. Presenting to senior corporate leadership. Signing off on huge contracts. Living a suburban life. Visiting exotic destinations.
And most salient of all, being happy.
I must have been 8 or 9 when these thoughts began to formulate. However, there was absolutely nothing in my life at that time or even before that would explain why these thoughts began…
Visualising belief to allow for the ascension to higher realms of spirituality is an ancient and sacred practice amongst many creeds. This is a form of catharsis; the purification of emotions resulting in rejuvenation.
The quietening of the mind brings with it a stillness. Through this stillness can the mind flourish and elevate. Letting go to grow is what underpins this transcendence, and the manifestation of goals through visualised future states becomes your compass.
We’re products of our beliefs, and so we become what we believe.
We’re philosophers in our own right, curating our personal principles that template how we chose to see and interact with the world. Our thoughts over time become our northern star, dictating our habits. The more a habit is repeated, the more it sticks. Our principles are formed from our thoughts that create traits that lead to the formation of our personality.
The past presenting the future is an anomaly that more times than not is what guides us.
A daily life is made up of habits on repeat. I’ll take a pause and reinforce that if nothing changes, nothing changes.
Taking ownership of our daily thoughts brings our minds into context. Once we’re regularly acquainted with our thoughts, we can begin to chose what we want to think about. This mental intervention slows the pace of our thoughts, until there is only room for a single thought. This thought has the potential to either create a change or make more of the same. Expecting a different outcome by repeating the same thing is a form of insanity. Therefore, something must change for change to occur.
The ideology of a self-fulfilling prophecy lends itself here. A self-fulfilling prophecy is based on predictions about the future that are based on experiences of the past.
People tend to reaffirm their personal narratives to fulfil their perceptions of a future outcome.
Example, someone who’s disposition is largely negative due to the way in which they have interpreted their past experiences will want to see the negatives in events that occur in the future. So, if and when that event occurs, rather than viewing that in isolation, they will reaffirm their negative narrative by using the event to strengthen their pre-destined belief.
The opposite is true for those with a positive disposition.
It’s easier to see the silver lining if that’s how one generally chooses to see things. Our minds are connected to the known. Over time, our beliefs and actions cement our predictions. Therefore, even if we’re engaged in something new, our behaviours skew the outcome towards a known state connected to our past experiences, rather than embracing the unknown without any bias. What was a defence mechanism for survival has evolved into a tool to predict future outcomes. This is why change can be seen as unsettling. Failure to leave our comfort zones substantially impacts our growth and development.
When we embrace change, and dive into things that are challenging, we’re forced to learn new things which over time become less novel and more comfortable.
Dormant success lies within us all and success is of course subjective. Accomplishment, achievement, fulfilment. These are all both tangible and intangible.
I view success as the realisation and attainment of potential. Release the latent power within to realise potential. Framing a desired state within the mind’s eye swindles the brain into thinking it is a reality.
If I close my eyes and imagine myself receiving an award, concentrating on the fine details of the suit I am wearing, the way my hair looks, the aroma of my cologne, my brain will think that is real. The continuation of this image within the mind will strengthen the brain’s perception of its reality. An increase in confidence, conviction, and purpose in the pursuit of achieving that award will begin to ensue.
Many leading athletes use visualisation as a tool to improve performance. Visualisation is innate. It is a creation of thought. The mind can either be a map to the future or the recollection of the past. Connecting your present thoughts to desired future states will begin to create your future in your present, creating new realities.
Now full circling back to start of this post. 22 years on from my childhood thoughts. My career has seen me travel to over 30 countries. I have won industry leading awards. I am a young senior executive within a large Aerospace & Defence organisation. Most importantly – I am a happily married, Father to be 😊