It’s a new year, and I’m sure you’ve spent some time thinking about your goals for the next 12 months.
What are you dreaming about for 2023? Will you take more risks? Will you say yes this year to new possibilities?
Most people dream. They set goals, and a plan, and have good intentions. But so many people stop there.
If these dreams and goals just live inside you – then you aren’t giving them a chance to flourish. You HAVE to do the work.
When you are working on making your dream a reality, you need to keep it top of mind and relevant in your life even after the excitement of the new idea wears off.
What is one way you can keep your goal top of mind and relevant so that it doesn’t just remain a dream living inside you?
An important step I take when focusing on bigger goals is visualization. It’s a major part of the mental game that I often incorporate, especially into my bigger goals.
I don’t think people realize how powerful visualization is.
I’ve done a lot of reading on the topic and studies have shown that the neurons firing in your brain during visualization exercises are the same ones that fire when you are actually doing that thing. Your brain thinks you’re actually there. When I use this technique in bowling, for example, it’s like having an actual practice session. And it keeps me on my mental game at the same time.
So why don’t people practice at home when they can’t on the lanes?
That’s probably because visualization requires heightened focus to really work well, and that level of focus takes extra effort. Most people just want a magic pill. They want immediate results without putting forth the effort. If it was that easy, there would be a whole lot more champions out there.
If you can’t get to a bowling center one day, I recommend trying it out yourself though! You can have a bowling practice from your couch by closing your eyes and imagining your practice in detail.
Top athletes around the world regularly use this technique, as it is a powerful tool for working on your game. You’d think everyone would use visualization, but aside from top performers, few people really take it seriously.
In my career, it’s clear that visualization works and it IS worth the effort to stay focused. I’ve used it multiple times to meet my top goals, but the best example that comes to mind is when I used it to qualify for the 2004 World Ranking Masters in Moscow, Russia. I had found out that the bowling finals were going to be held in a former Olympic arena, where no Americans had ever won yet. The arena was the one used in the 1980 Olympics, but that year the Americans had boycotted the Olympics. For the 2004 Masters, they were going to install bowling lanes into the arena just for the event, and the arena would have stadium seating for about 2000 people to watch us live. Many athletes had won medals in that arena, but none had been Americans. To me, all of that made this particular event seem so special. I thought I need to make it a goal to get to those finals and win in this arena. Getting there was really important to me.
Three months before the event, I started visualizing myself in the finals every single night. I would lay in bed before going to sleep and I would imagine myself bowling in that arena. I would go through my entire pre-shot routine, my approach and every step in between. I would always strike. I would essentially put myself to sleep every night, visualizing that win in Moscow. I never saw my competitor, but I did see an image there in the finals with me.
Fast forward to three months later, and I was actually in Moscow, Russia. I had a really good week of qualifying and became one of the top qualifiers for the finals. That meant I was going to be bowling in that Olympic arena.
Even though I’d never physically been there before, standing there on the lanes felt familiar. It was an interesting feeling like I had already been there. In fact, I had been there before – in my mind. Every day for the past three months, I had already stood there, stepped up to that approach, and thrown a perfect shot. It all felt right.
I was in that huge arena with over 2,000 people in the stand watching. A world title was on the line. Was I nervous? Uhhh, yeah. But, whenever something you care about is on the line, nerves are part of the journey. It’s all about managing the nerves.
I bowled Shalin Zulkifli from Malaysia in the finals. At the time, we were the best two bowlers in the entire world. If I could choose any competitor to bowl – it would have been her.
On two pairs of lanes set up in this beautiful Russian auditorium that had once hosted the Olympics, I won.
I became an American athlete winning where no American had won before. Not only did that remind me how powerful visualization can be as a step toward your goals, but it also reminded me that you should never think something is impossible just because no one else has accomplished it before.
Impossible is a word that I haven’t said very much in my life. Things don’t just happen, but I feel that anything is possible. When you have the right commitment to putting in the work, your dreams are possible.
Whether it’s visualization or the other steps, I believe the key to making anything possible is how you set yourself up for success. When people aren’t successful at meeting a goal, it’s often because they haven’t planned out specific steps and processes for getting there. Whether you want to average better in league or bowl in an Olympic arena, it’s the plan that will get you there. Following your plan today sets the foundation for tomorrow and the day after that…all the way to success. Even when the results aren’t immediately visible, keep believing in putting in the work and following your plan. No matter your goal timeline.
You’ll rarely get immediate results with anything. That’s not how life works. So you just have to keep believing in your vision. Believe with all your heart that you will get wherever you want to go.
Live out your days, weeks and months with that same level of belief in where you’re going. Keep following through on any steps you plan out. When you add visualization exercises, that keeps your vision even clearer for what you’re working towards.
Planning those first steps can sometimes be difficult, though. I get it. Especially when a goal is further away, and the timeline is longer. When you’re on your own, you may doubt that you’ll ever get there because it feels so far away. I’ve got you though!
In a few weeks, I’m having a free live Mindset Lab chat. I’ll be there for you to chat live, answering many of your top mental game questions. You can reply to this email to pre submit your question for me to answer.
Tell me, what excites you this year and what goals are you moving towards? Send me a note, and I may give you some direct tips in the live chat about how to stay on track to getting there!
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