The boxer Muhammad Ali used this technique frequently. He called it a ‘future history’. When Ali agreed to fight somebody, he would run through the fight in his imagination right up to the moment when he had won. He would then freeze the winning mental image and become aware of all the senses as if he were there at that very moment. His future history was experienced in such detail that subconsciously he believed it had already happened.

You can use this technique on anything in your life. For example, on a day at work – what do you absolutely intend to achieve today? Or if you’ve got into the habit of letting weekends slip away not having done very much, you can use this technique to change all that. How would you like things to be on Sunday night when the weekend comes to an end? How would you like to be feeling? How about the other people in your life? Partners? Children?

And then there are the things in your life you don’t want to do – that tax return, that tricky piece of DIY, the difficult phone call you have to make. Visualising how you will feel when the thing is done is a fantastic way to get you focused and motivated. This is one of the major techniques I use with my clients in all my coaching.

So basically, if you don’t like what you see in your life, then you can change it by imagining how you would like it to be. What I would like you to do now is answer the questions below. Write the answers down. The questions are in no particular order, and don’t worry if there is some overlap between the answers to the questions. The main purpose is to get you thinking about the alternatives to what you are doing at the moment. Good luck.

1. How would you like things to be? What would be the best possible outcome when you make the changes you’re going to make?

2. Who are the other people involved in all of this – people like your boss, your spouse or partner, your children, your customers?

3. How would these people be affected if things were to change? What would it mean to them?

4. Would each of them have to buy-in to the change? Would this be a problem if so?

5. Why would they want to buy into it?

6. Why do you want things to change?

7. Imagine life when you have made the transition. What would a typical day/week be like? Be specific. What will you do? What will be your routine?

8. Think of each of the people you have identified in the answer to question 2 above. If you make this change, what will they be saying about you?

9. How will you feel?

10. Will you have changed as a person? If so, how?

11. What will be your ambitions/hopes/dreams once you’ve accomplished this change?

12. Will your standard of living have changed? Is this a good thing or a bad thing?

13. Will your view of yourself have changed? If so, how?

14. Do you think it would be difficult to accomplish this change?

15. Would it be worth doing?

16. Could it fail?

17. How would you feel if it did? What would you do?

Has visualisation brought you success and achievement in your life? If so, please leave a response. I would love to find out more.

In the meantime, I strongly recommend you read Rhonda Byrne’s The Secret, which has a whole section on visualisation.

We all know that to get good results we have to take new actions, and of course all our actions start from a decision: the power of decision is the power of change. After all, it is our decisions, not the conditions of our lives that determine our destiny. So, what would happen if you could always make the right decisions to help you feel happier, earn a better living, become more successful, have a better relationship, or improve virtually any area of your life?

Maybe you need to make a decision to give up smoking or drinking. Maybe you want to find a way to lose weight and get fitter. Maybe you need to find a new job or make your business more successful. Maybe it is a decision to study and develop some new skills to allow you to earn more. Maybe you simply want to start each day with a better attitude, no longer blame others and figure out some new action to make your life better. The trouble is that most people find it incredibly hard to make some of these decisions on their own.

Do you know what the major force is that controls your decisions? The force that influences how you think and feel all the time, and determines how you feel about everything that occurs in your life? That force is your beliefs. The problem is that the majority of people have a whole load of self-limiting beliefs that can almost cripple them, and they have no idea how to eradicate them and create new empowering beliefs.

Most people have something they want to change in their lives, but they do not know how to do it. The obvious way to change things is to change what you are focusing on. Focus controls how you see the world and what you do about it. Your focus can literally save your life. But again, it can be hard on your own to find the discipline, motivation, tools and techniques to steer your focus in the right direction.

When you hear about successful people achieving extraordinary, seemingly impossible goals, do you always assume that they were just fortunate? Or that you could never possibly be as successful? Most people are afraid to set goals because they fear failure. What they do not realise is that achieving the goal is not half as important as setting it and then taking massive action towards its attainment. Remember, the harder you prepare, the luckier you will get!

We all need to set inspiring goals to give our lives more focus and move in the direction we want to go. We also need to develop action steps to achieve our goals within a carefully planned and structured timetable. If you think you need some help with deciding to make important changes then please keep tuned to this site for more practical ideas and support.