Professional athletes visualize success before it actually materializes—one can do the same in his or her own profession. This is called autosuggestion in psychology.

In support of using such creative visualization to overcome obstacles, recent medical studies have shown that a great deal of problem-solving activity actually takes place at a subconscious level. If you ever had a chance to read any motivational books, you might have observed that they always insist on people to run their desires by ‘Mental Movies’. Mental movies are visions of success constantly visualized before they are actually achieved.

A mental movie drives us towards our goal eventually leading us to success. Most of us might have experienced such instances in our life very frequently. If you would like to wake up early in the morning (say 4 O’clock) to catch the flight or train or study for the exam, apart from keeping an alarm we make repeated resolutions to wake up at that time. What is the result? We would be awake before the alarm rings. How is that possible? We write this message in our sub-conscious mind. The sub-conscious mind never sleeps and that is the one which drives everything.

Running a mental movie is nothing but visualizing your success in your sub-conscious mind. Each one of us might have done this in one way or the other. In our childhood days we might have run a mental movie of a particular gift from our father on the occasion of our birthday and that would have come true.

I would like to mention here that by creative visualization not only we can visualize success and overcome all the obstacles, but with the right tools we can also tap into those hidden problem-solving reserves.

The components of creative visualization are isolation, relaxation, visualization, and repetition.

Isolation
Retreat to a peaceful setting where you can eliminate all external noise, eliminate any visual distractions, and where you can habitually return to and associate with positive emotions. This is what most of the people do before they do Yoga or Meditation. In the beginning, this isolation stage helps a lot to be alone and generate lot of positive energies around.

Relaxation
To consciously relax, you first need to make yourself comfortable (for example, by sitting on your favorite chair). Then quieten your mind’s idle chatter by cutting short any ideas that appear and simply concentrating on the silence—this may take some practice.

Visualization
Visualization is an active process. It entails forming and rehearsing mental images of your problem in a resolved state. In other words, you do not allow your mind to wander at will.
When visualizing, imagine how it would feel to have your obstacles removed and what that would actually look like. Do not focus on potential solutions or obstacles—only on the accomplished state.

This visualization process is a great way to blow off steam. In addition, concentrating on the feel of success often spontaneously generates the once-hidden solutions.

Repetition
The key to get the most from creative visualization lies in making this technique habitual, success results from repetition.

After effectively using the components of creative visualization tested in the previous context, the entire process becomes second nature.

You should use creative visualization not only when your problem-solving efforts become stymied, but even when you are experiencing success.

Did you know that in a recent study of antidepressants, the analysts concluded that as much as fifty percent of the positive benefits of the drugs were due to the placebo effect - the belief or suggestion that they will make one feel better was enough to actually inspire ‘feeling better’.

The best meaning that I found in the net for Creative Visualization is, ‘Creative Visualization is the art of using mental imagery and affirmation to produce positive changes in your life.’ It is being successfully used in the fields of health, education, business, athletics, and the creative arts.

Our most respected and beloved ex-President, Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam frequently advises the students of India to dream. Obviously, he refers to Creative Visualization.

Let us spare 10 minutes a day for Creative Visualization which would give sixty hours a year to think about the problems and the achieved success by which we can excel in our professional and personal lives.

The author is Training Manager, FCG Software Services (India). She can be reached at bduraiswamy@fcg.com