Last week I was reminded of the power of visualization as a success strategy. I was at the Saint Francis Professional Women’s Networking Breakfast in Hartford, Connecticut and I won the door prize. It was a good one – a Motorola Droid XYBoard tablet by Verizon.
How did I get so lucky?
Firstly, I showed up; that’s always a winning strategy. Secondly, I employed my positive thinking and visualization to will my name to be called. As they were preparing to pull the winning business card out of the fish bowl, I could hear them say my name. I concentrated on hearing my name being called. And then it was. Yahoo!
Let me tell you a little about the event and why I felt motivated to go. It was sponsored by the Saint Francis Foundation is efforts to raise awareness and money for their Comprehensive Women’s Health Center. Over 200 professional business women were in attendance. My good friend Judy Rosenthal works for the foundation and she invited me. When Judy invites you, you go. It’s that simple. She has that much clout and good will with people in her network!
I was also motivated to go to this event because this was the hospital where, one year ago, I was diagnosed with ovarian cancer and had my surgery. I feel motivated to give back to an organization that gave so much to me. A year later, I am very lucky to be back to full health. That has taken a great deal of visualization as well!
Thought become things
Some people call this force the law of attraction. Seeing yourself winning, doing well, getting what you want, enjoying perfect health, having successful outcomes. What you are thinking about and focusing on will manifest into your reality. I believe this to be true. I also believe in the principle of hard work, honesty and a whole lot of networking!
The power of positive thinking
There are shelves filled with books on the topic of positive thinking in every library and bookstore in America. Entire courses have been built on its principles. I won’t belabor what already exists, but I will share with you a specific technique that I practice with myself and my clients.
When I facilitate presentation skills training workshops, we practice techniques of visualization and positive thinking to reduce anxiety and nervousness prior to public speaking. It works. It helps to reduce the physical symptoms of anxiety and fear that speakers often experience before and during their presentations.
To help public speakers eliminate their anxiety (which is basically fear of the future) I have used the Time Line Therapy™ and specifically the Anxiety Model that Dr. Tad James invented and incorporated into his Neuro Linguistic Programming study. I trained in this method when I earned my master practitioner certification in Neuro Linguistic Programming from NLP Trainer Mark Shepard. This method and other techniques taught in the NLP training series really helped me get out of my own way and set myself up for greater personal and professional success!
Time Line Therapy™ – The Anxiety Model
The procedure basically goes something like this:
- “Float up above the Time Line, and out into the future to fifteen minutes after the successful completion of the event about which you thought you were anxious. Tell me when you’re there. What do you see? Hear? Feel? Think?”
- “Good. Turn and look back towards now, along the Time Line.”
- “Now, where’s the anxiety?” “Is it there, or is it gone?”
- “Come back to now.”
- If desired, test by thinking about what used to make you anxious, and notice that the feeling is emotionally balanced, or flat.
How might you use this technique in networking?
If you experience any anxiety with meeting new people for the first time or when networking with people over the telephone, try the Time Line Therapy technique before you have your meeting or call. Simply close your eyes and relax. Imagine yourself lifting out of your body and rising above yourself. You can see yourself in the chair. Turn and look towards the future and go into your future at least 15 minutes past the successful completion of your networking meeting. Look back on yourself in the picture and see yourself successfully networking. Engage your imagination and dream up the best possible outcome. Make it colorful and exciting and wonderful.
Below is a imagined outcome that I conquered up for myself:
“My networking meeting ended fifteen minutes ago. Wow! What a great meeting that was. I can’t believe all the things that we had in common and the people that we both knew. I felt like I’ve known him for a long time. It was great how he reacted when I mentioned my new project. The new introductions he offered to make for me will definitely help me move towards my success goals. I am confident that I can develop this new connection into a mutually-beneficial business relationship.I feel really good and positive about my future. I really handled that networking meeting well. I love networking!”
With these positive thoughts and feelings generated inside your mind and body, return to your imaginary time line and come back to now. Open your eyes and ask yourself “So where’s the anxiety? Is it still there, or is it GONE?” Most likely it will be gone or at least dissipated.
Your Networking Goal for this Week
No, I’m not going to tell you to go out and buy lottery tickets and visualize your success. I believe in earning your good fortune the old fashioned way; through hard work, positive intentions, perseverance, motivation, and a strong network of people who believe in you and you in them.
This week, spend some time imagining successful outcomes to your upcoming meetings, presentations, tests, doctor appointments, job interviews, sporting events, conversations, projects, and yes, the networking events you will be attending this week. Start visualizing your success in your mind’s eye first. Engage your active imagination to create fanciful, positive, incredible outcomes. Set aside your worries and concerns and focus your mind on positive outcomes. With your head in the right place, your body, emotions and actions can support your desired outcomes. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain by engaging the power of positive visualization.
About the writer: Kathy McAfee is known as America’s Marketing Motivator and is author of the book Networking Ahead for Business. She is certified as a master practitioner in Neuro Linguistic Programming and Time Line Therapy. In her role as Executive Presentation Coach and Professional Speaker, Kathy helps her clients to become the recognized leaders in their fields by mastering the art of high engagement presentations, more effective networking and personal marketing. To learn more about Kathy, visit her web siteMarketingMotivator.net. If you like this tip and want to receive free networking tips on a weekly basis, please sign up at NetworkingAhead.com
