The Power Of Visualization To Help You Lose Weight

A lot of people attempt to rely on motivation to help them stay on a diet or exercise program but this can be a very slippery slope. Motivation is a tricky thing. The degree to which you can remain motivated will ultimately determine your success or failure, but be careful with relying on motivation alone to get you to your goals.

Remember, emotions are responsible for the majority of our decisions. If you don’t develop strong emotions to trigger actions you’ll find it very difficult sticking with any program over time. Most people don’t have a clue with how important the mental and emotional connection is with reaching their goals but you’re about to get in on the secret.

“You must subconsciously reinforce the “why’s” (reasons why I’m doing this) with strong emotions involving all the senses in order to program your mind with the right information for success.”

Using pep talks and trying to rely on will-power alone wont’ work very well. If you want to change your body you must change your thoughts, specifically your subconscious thoughts.

What are the rewards (fruits) I’m looking to receive from my efforts (labor)?

You need to be clear with exactly what it is you’re looking to receive in the form of rewards or benefits from reaching your goals. This involves the emotional side which you now know is the real powerhouse to personal change.

Let me give you an example. Let’s say one of your primary goals is to get back into a size 2. That is a very specific and clearly defined goal but it lacks substance, there’s no emotional hook that can induce action.

While this is a great place to start for clarity with developing a specific and measurable goal, you must tap into the emotions that will help you get there.

Use all your senses if possible and paint pictures in your mind. Your subconscious mind can do amazing things, for either a positive or negative outcome depending on what it is you provide it with in the form of thoughts.

Alright so now instead of thinking for example “I want to be a size 2,” start thinking about what you’re going to be doing and how you’ll be feeling when you put that size 2 on. There is a big difference here.

Avoid the traditional goal achievement advice from the so called “experts.”

A lot of self-help gurus will tell you all you need to do is put your goals on an index card and look at it daily over it again until you program your mind to “make it so.” I think this advice stinks. There is one big problem with this practice because there’s no emotion to accompany the thought so it ends up being weak and ineffective. Here’s a much better strategy.

Say for example you want to be in a size 2. Great, now you know the measurable part.
But you also need some tools to help you get there. You need something that will create consistent, repeatable actions.

This is where you’ll want to start using all the senses and create mental images of your “rewards” in your mind daily, preferably several times a day. Now instead of just thinking about being a size 2, you’ll be visualizing and thinking about what it will be like being in that size 2.

Imagine in your mind the look of amazement and envy on the faces of your friends who deep down never thought you could do it. See yourself entering a dinner party in your new sexy little black dress with a grin that says “look at me now!”

Imagine the smell of the cocoa butter you’re putting on after a beautiful day at the beach and you’re now getting ready for a night out on the town in some Caribbean island. The look that your significant other gives you as you stand by the mirror getting ready and they walk by patting your backside telling you how sexy you look tonight.

This stuff may sound crazy but it absolutely works. Visualization is a very powerful thing. If you create the scenarios in your mind you give it a target. The secret is not thinking about the end goal but rather what you’ll be doing what you accomplish it. Think emotions and rewards instead of numbers on a scale or dress sizes.

Experience has shown me that people who feel very strongly about reaching their goals tend to do much better. The more emotion you can tie into your goals, the more likely you are to achieve them. Give visualization a try with any goal and see for yourself the difference it can make.