Have You Tapped Your Secret Success Powers?
January 7th, 2010 by David Utts
“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”
“Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life’s coming attractions.”
At first take – it does not appear these two quotes are related but they very much are! For example, we are at a time of year when millions are inspired to set big goals both personally and professionally that they feel will lead them to a happier and more successful life experience. Unfortunately, by the time February ends – many of our resolutions and the hope we felt will be a distant memory. Why is this? It is because the New Year generates a mood of hope in many. It is an opportunity to make a fresh beginning! Those making resolutions are tapping into this hope yet over days and weeks that follow the hope – we get hit by the tyrant of the urgent and our grand ideas shaped at the new year no longer seem “realistic” in the face our “reality.” As Mr. Einstein says, insanity is doing the same thing over and over – expecting different results!
Now, I am all for setting goals and big ones! In fact, as human beings we are quite goal directed and we accomplish many things effortlessly because of our unique gifts that others find amazing. That being said, we do not apply the underlying principles that allow for success in one area of life in other areas where we are frustrated with! One of these powers is our imagination. Imagination is the foundation of vision, of great athletic accomplishment, and of great breakthroughs in our life and businesses. Most Goal Setting Approaches Do Not Take Into Account The True Human Powers That Allow Goal Setting to Be More Effective!
What if Results from Goal Setting Come With Far Less Effort?
This can become your common experience! Yet, it takes a different approach to make it so and involves taking time to reflect, engage our imagination and become intentional. For the most part, these are true powers we have as human beings that for the most part go untapped. Yet, when they are, the produce far more powerful outcomes than traditional goal setting and strategic planning. And these are no longer woo-woo or touchy feeling concepts – the power of intentionality and imagination has been proven in cross discipline research that includes medicine, quantum physics, biology, psychology and spirituality. In short, the power of the mind is far underutilized. A pioneer in exposing these powers, Maxwell Maltz, MD, said it just about as succinctly as you can. Paraphrasing Maltz “The brain is stupid and waiting for your instructions – if you do not take charge of the instructions – your programming will.“ And bottom line, when we do not tap into this and take charge – we are using a very small portion of our true power to achieve and live a fulfilling life! We are allowing the messages we took in from a young age to run the show and many of these messages for what Maltz calls “our failure mechanisms.”
As I mentioned in my last article on “Power Networking” – research studies have proven time and again the power of our imagination and the use of intentionality and this research comes solid science that includes quantum physics, medicine, biology, athletics, business/sales and general success psychology.
Creating Your Unique Success Mechanism
You have far more power to draw success to you than you realize. When we begin to take charge of the programming of our brain through our imagination and intention – we turn our brains into success mechanisms! To do so means we have to do things a bit differently and find the time to take for engaging our imagination and taking time to reflect. Yes, I know you are grumbling “when am I going to find the time?” Well if you want more success and fulfillment – you can not afford not to find the time. Quite frankly, in my experience and in the experience of many others – it is time well spent! By taking the time you are engaging in power moves that will generate results. It goes against the grain of what you think you may know but then again science and research does not lie! Here is a general overview of how to begin to build and fortify your success mechanism:
- Yes, first take time to consider what you care about the most and set your goals. Don’t worry so much about being S.M.A.R.T. (specific, measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Timely). That is old school but we can take something away from this. For me it is MST. First, when you are creating goals think first about what will be the most important end measures that will indicate success (amount of money, number of new customers, new ideas, experiences that matter, etc.). And yes be as specific as possible because this will aid in engaging your imagination! Finally, provide a time frame. As for achievable and realistic – I leave that to you. Maltz indicated that we must match our goals to our sense of self and this means understanding our strengths and limitations. As your self-image grows in strength you will be able to expand what you can go after.
- Be honest with yourself by looking at both the things that will support your success as well as those things that may generate obstacles to it. When you consider supports and obstacles – look at them from an internal and external perspective. Externally they are usually the things we may or may not be able to influence (e.g. the economy, emerging opportunities, corporate edicts, supportive relationships, negative relationships, etc.). Internally you want to honestly assess your strengths and blindspots (e.g. habits that support or don’t support you, internal beliefs about success, etc.). Now this is not about “buying into the limitations” or getting overly enamored with the positives. It is about being brutally honest about things so that you can reframe what you must to succeed.
- Yes – develop a plan that breaks down actions you can take daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly etc. This can be a very general plan (e.g. make contact with all my legacy clients and set meetings with at least 60% of them) or more specific (e.g. I will make five calls a day or attend 3 networking events per month). When establishing sub goals – first look at how you will measure success incrementally (e.g. senior leadership knows I am ready to take on a larger role and realize my capabilities, I engage in 5 meaningful conversations that lead to next steps, etc.). Pick measures that you feel are most leveraged at getting you to your larger goal.
- Engage your enthusiasm for the goal each day! Do not only read it – take 10 minutes to imagine it coming true, experience the feeling of satisfaction you will have when it happens, see how it positively impacts you and others, feel the passion for it. In essence when you do this you are filling your tank with fuel while you are opening your mind to look for ways – not already thought of to succeed (remember your brain is stupid and waiting for instructions!). This is tapping the imagination in a powerful way.
- Beware – your failure mechanism may rear its ugly head! While holding a strong intention – obstacles may appear in your mind and may seem very real. This is part of the work of reprograming your mindset. A way to develop a practice to deal with this is to set an intention each day or week for how you want to be in forwarding your goal. As you go through your day – things will happen that might derail you or your gremlins who do not believe in your success may rattle around in your head! At the end of the day ask yourself these questions:
- On a scale from 1 to 10 (10 being absolute focus) how did I do in holding my intention today?
- What if anything distracted me and how did I deal with it?
- If I felt stopped or delayed – what was I telling myself?
- Were those words supportive or destructive to my efforts?
- If they were destructive – how can I reframe those beliefs in order to support my efforts more powerfully?
That is a formula that works for me and my clients. Yes, it means you will likely have to buy into what is proven but seems irrational to your training. But look at it this way – are you as successful and fulfilled as you want to be right now? If the answer is no – try the process diligently for 30 days and let the results speak for themselves!
And feel free to call me 410-381-9155 or email me dutts@executiveskillworks.com – And please offer any comments you would like! For those locally, I hope that you will join me for my upcoming session “Unveiling True Human Powers That Lead to Greater Success and Impact”
