I enjoy watching the Duggars. I marvel at how they manage to raise 19 kids, homeschool them, and stay debt free.
Three years ago, Michelle Duggar gave birth to a premature baby, Josie, delivered at just 25 weeks. At birth, she weighed just 1 lb. 6 oz., and her chances of survival were about 80%. She spent her first 6 months in the hospital, and though it must have been a very emotional and trying time for Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar, they remained upbeat.
In fact, at one point when Michelle was left alone with baby Josie while the rest of the family was on a trip, she mentioned that she just reminds herself that in a year, Josie’s fragility and precarious physical condition would be nothing but a memory. Josie would be a healthy toddler in another year.
What Michelle Duggar was doing at that time was not only demonstrating her strong faith, but also using visualization to help her through a difficult period. She could see Josie moving beyond being a fragile baby hooked up to oxygen to a playful toddler, healthy and energetic.
The Power Of Visualization
We know that world class athletes routinely use visualization to help them perform better, especially before big matches or tournaments or to prepare for the Olympics. However, we can use visualization to successfully enhance many areas of our lives.
According to Angie LeVan in Psychology Today, ” It’s been found that mental practices can enhance motivation, increase confidence and self-efficacy, improve motor performance, prime your brain for success, and increase states of flow – all relevant to achieving your best life!”
Michelle Duggar successfully used visualization (and faith) to get her through an extremely difficult time in her and Josie’s lives. And she was right, by the next year, Josie was an average toddler.
How Can Visualization Help You In Your Financial Life?
By putting the power of visualization to work for you, you can imagine yourself getting out of debt, for example. The chance of actually getting out of debt becomes higher the more you visualize it.
Why? The more you imagine yourself out of debt–imagine the moment when you pay the last debt, and imagine what it will be like when you get your next paycheck and don’t have to spend any of the money on debt repayment–the more likely your goal is to come true.
“Visualization can work to achieve goals but only if you believe in it. You must be able to totally put yourself into your visualization and stay focused on it. The more often you visualize the more likely you will be to achieve your goal. Also, the better your visualization is the better your chances will be of attaining that which you desire. Make your visualization seem as real as possible.
The mind isn’t able to distinguish between reality and non-reality. Therefore you can fool your mind into thinking that you already have what it is you want” (Silva Life System).
Visualization is a powerful tool that helps athletes turn in world class performances, but we everyday people can also use visualization as a tool to improve our financial lives. From getting out of debt to finding a better paying job to buying our first home, visualization can help us achieve each of these goals.
Though I don’t have scientific proof, my guess is that by visualizing your financial success regularly, you can actually make it happen faster. Someone who spends a few minutes every day imagining what his life will be like without debt would likely have more motivation to pay off the debt as soon as possible, wouldn’t you agree?
Have you used visualization to help you achieve your goals or achieve them faster?
Because the mind has a hard time distinguishing between imagination and reality, visualizing also gives you 80% of the joy of a new purchase, without spending a penny! :) A friend of mine recently discovered that when he was shopping for a car. He never bought one, because he realized the fun is in the shopping, not the owning.
A harder challenge is visualizing happiness “without.” By denying yourself something in order to have a bigger future benefit (either no debt or investments) it’s a lot harder to counteract the immediate feeling of denial by the visual of the future. The future joy of “no debt” has a hard time competing with new furniture which will impress guests more than the saggy, bedspread-covered sofa.
But, if we want to succeed, this is something we have to keep practicing… good post!
I liked this post. I think it is true that you can achieve something quicker by visualizing that you are already there. The mind is a tricky thing and you can go far by tricking it.
Now that you mention it, I use visualization all the time. I visualize success in my career and small biz, our house transformed after future renovations, and of course paying down that last student loan ;) This post was a great reminder that visualizing success and positive things can really benefit you, even if it is just a psychological benefit.
We’re using that visualization trick right now in that we’re saving up for a down payment on our future house, and we’re visualizing the good that will come from that in denying ourselves other things right now. While we may not be spending as much on non-necessities right now, being able to visualize the end goal of our cutbacks means it’s all worthwhile.
Visualization is indeed very important. One needs to have a proper vision and goals that one can look forward to.