The Rolling Stones Were Wrong

In the Rolling Stones’ famous song, they say, “You can’t always get what you want, but ... you get what you need.”

We all know that’s wrong. We don’t always get what we need. I believe we get what we see.

Getting what you see is the practice of visualization—creating vivid pictures in your mind of the outcome you want.

In Jack Canfield’s amazing book, "The Success Principles: How to Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be." he tells us:

1. Visualization activates the creative powers of your subconscious mind.
2. Visualization focuses your brain to help you recognize resources that were always there but you previously overlooked.
3. Visualization magnetizes and attracts the people, resources and opportunities you need to achieve your goal.

In this article, I will discuss the first point. I will cover the next two points in upcoming articles.

It’s a fact that visualization activates the powers of your subconscious mind. Harvard University researchers found that students who visualized their tasks in advance performed those tasks with nearly 100 percent accuracy. Students that didn’t visualize the tasks achieved only 55 percent accuracy.

Using visualization to activate your brain is simple. Close your eyes and see your goals as already complete. The more clear you can make the images in your mind, the more powerful the impact. Get a clear image of what you want your life to look like when you achieve your goals. What will your home look like? What will your cars look like? What will your business/career look like? What will your family look like?

How will you feel when you accomplish all these things? Einstein tells us that the mind cannot perceive the difference between that which is actually achieved versus that which is vividly imagined.

Wow.

How much more confident will you feel by accomplishing your goals? How many more opportunities will you pursue when you achieve your goals? Einstein tells us that we can feel that confidence now by using visualization.

Let me encourage you to create a visualization document. Just find pictures of all that your life will look like when you achieve your goals. Put that visualization document somewhere that you can focus on it in the morning and at night.

You may not get what you want. You may not get what you need. But you will get that which you see.