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Words By Tara Wagner

How I Use Visualization for Success

Tara excited wearing a gray tank top with a backdrop of deep green leaves

I wanna share with you what I’ve done that has helped me to create a multiple six figure business while really gaining the confidence and courage to put myself out there and play a bigger game.

In this post I’m going to talk to you about using visualization for success in a really effective way and especially as an entrepreneur.

Watch here or read below.

How I Use Visualization for Success in My Biz Share on X

I just wanna say right off the bat that this is not about visualizing something while you sit there and do nothing.

The purpose of visualization is not to just magically manifest things.

The purpose of visualization is to get your mindset in the right place so that you can take the right actions.

So, if you were hoping for something where you could just picture a pretty outcome and it would magically appear, this is not the post for you. But, if you’re looking to use visualization in a way that works, that creates more intuition, connection to what you’re doing, excitement, confidence, and it really gets you out there doing what you know you need to do without the fear and overwhelm, then this post is definitely gonna help you out.

WHEN I FIRST STARTED USING VISUALIZATION

My very first memory of using visualization as an entrepreneur specifically, was almost 20 years ago (and yes, I am dating myself right now).

I was trying to pick up the phone to call and make an appointment for my business license. I was terrified, totally dealing with Imposter Syndrome. I was young and I felt like they were gonna tell me I was too young, I didn’t deserve a business license, who was I?

All of these thoughts and ideas were coming to mind, so I started using visualization as way to gain confidence.

What I would do is visualize myself going through that conversation, visualizing the different ways that conversation would go and how I would handle it, what I would say, how I would act, and all the things that I needed to do to gain the courage to pick up the phone.

It was hard and it took a lot of time the first time I was doing it, so if you’re new to this, just give yourself some grace and know that it takes practice.

WHAT WE’RE DOING IS LAYING NEW FOUNDATIONS OR NEW TRAIN TRACKS.

Patterns in our brain that we are trying to create take time and they take practice. To really create something as a habit, you gotta know that in the beginning, it might not come smoothlyor easily to you. It will over time though. Visualization is very natural and organic to me, and I’m doing it all the time. It’s very simple and easy for me to get myself into the state of mind that I want to be in before I go and do the thing I’m gonna do.

I’m gonna walk you through the steps that I take so that you can figure out how to do this. Make sure to read til’ the end because I also have a little bonus tip for you that has made this a lot faster and more effective in recent years.

STEP #1: GET SPECIFIC

There are three steps, and the first step is to get specific.

I wanna get really specific on my outcome or my goal or my big vision, and this could be short-term if you’re just talking about something like picking up the phone, or it could be something long-term, like a five-year goal or something you’re working on over a long period of time.

If you already have a lot of clarity on your goals or the outcome that you’re after, this step isn’t gonna take you a lot of time.

If you don’t have a lot of clarity, this is really important because you have to have a target in order to know how to aim, and if you’re not exactly sure what you’re wanting and where you’re going, this is not gonna be as effective.

Really spend some time asking yourself some questions and getting really clear on what it is that you’re wanting.

2 women side by side celebrating silhouetted by the sun

In order to really figure out what you’re going for, you wanna ask yourself some questions:

  • What will it look like at the end of this?
  • How will I know that I was successful?

Sometimes this is really obvious.

If you are wanting to be a bestseller on the New York Times Best Seller list, then success is gonna look like being number one.

For other people though it might be more emotional, so you might really need to look at how you’re gonna wanna feel, what you’re gonna wanna be doing, or what you want your life to look like.

You really get to decide what elements you’re playing with there, but get really specific so that you have that target and you know where you’re aiming.

Get specific when it comes to your goals and outcome, you have to have a target in order to aim. Share on X
STEP #2: ASK GOOD QUESTIONS

Step number one is all about getting specific on the outcome or where you’re heading, but step number two is getting specific on that path to get you there.

Visualization focused solely on the outcome makes us feel good and it creates a false sense of confidence, but it doesn’t create momentum and movement.

When you visualize yourself on the path taking the rightactions that lead to that target, you actually start to gain the confidence and courage to take the actions that will actuallylead to the target. So, this is where we tap into our mindset and emotions while starting to align both with our actions.

Michael Phelps is a Great Example of This:

I know I mentioned Michael Phelps a couple posts ago when i talked about the 3 reasons why your vision board isn’t working, but I have to bring it up again.

He didn’t visualize himself receiving a gold medal.

He visualized himself:

  • Swimming the race
  • Falling behind and then what he would do to get back up
  • Going through the water and practicing while doing the things necessary that led to the gold medal

Again, when we focus on just the outcome, it creates a false sense of confidence, but when we focus on the actions, it can actually build our confidence, which builds our momentum and pushes us in the right direction.

What does success for you look like in action?

What is that path?

What are the actions that you need to take to gain the success that you want to gain?

These are the things that you need to know or outline because these are the things that you’re gonna be visualizing when you’re actually doing your visualizations for success.

You’re not gonna be visualizing the outcome; you’re gonna be visualizing the steps to that outcome.

These are the things that you wanna be visualizing every single day:

  • What do you need to do?
  • What do you need to not do?
  • How will you organize your day?
  • How will you approach things?
  • How do you stand?
  • How do you show up?
  • How do you talk?
  • What’s your body look like?
  • What’s your face look like?
  • How are you showing up and doing the things on a day-to-day basis?
  • What does that look like when you’re making that scary phone call, getting up on stage, or writing that book?
  • What does it look like for you to actually take the actions of a successful person?

If you happened to see my post a few weeks back on anxiety and stress, you’re gonna notice that the practice is pretty similar.

In both of them, what you’re doing is training your mindYou’re also choosing the habits and the behaviors that you want to create in order to create the outcome that you desire.

Training and practicing while really focusing our mind in one direction is one of the most important things that you can do for personal development and for business success because if you don’t consciously steer your own ship, you’re leaving it up to chance.

STEP #3: PRACTICE

Step number three is to practice, practice, practice!

If you are not consistently putting your body, mind, emotions, or thoughts into the right state of being, then you’re doing something else: you’re creating a habit in a different direction.

If you’re wanting to create a habit toward success using visualization for success, it requires practice: consistent practice and constant practice.

Put yourself into that state of being, put your body into that thing that you just visualized, practice it in front of the mirror, say it out loud, role play it with yourself, be silly, feel awkward. It’s totally okay…

I wanna say a thing about awkwardness.

So many people say, “I can’t do that. That’s not me. That feels awkward.” Of course it feels awkward. Everything you do in the beginning, feels awkward.

What I want you to ask yourself is, “Do I wanna still feel awkward a year from now, or five years from now, or do I wanna get through this awkward stage so that this becomes natural and organic and comfortable?

It will only become comfortable through the consistent awkward practice of it, so don’t let that hold you back.

Dive in and be awkward.

Awkward people get stuff done.

Awkward people don’t care what other people think.

Awkward people create success because they are not afraid of getting out of their comfort zone.

Dive in and be awkward. Awkward people get stuff done. Share on X
neon light that says "perfect"

Also, remember that practice makes progress, not perfection.

Don’t expect things to just turn around in a week.

They might and that’s cool when we have those breakthroughs, but oftentimes, we have to outweigh the old habits and patterns in our brain. Doing this can take some time, so practice this consistently, but look for progress not perfection.

If you’re not seeing that progress get some support because maybe there’s just some simple tweaks that you need to make to make this more effective. There’s been plenty of times where I needed to have a coach step in to help me see some of my blind spots or help me to course correct and figure out exactly what I needed to do so that as I was visualizing what I needed to do, I made sure I was visualizing the right things.

Again, practice it!

Put your mind, body, and emotions into that state before you put yourself into that situation. But then go out and put yourself into that situation. Don’t just visualize and hope that it all happens by itself. Actually go and do the things that you’ve just been practicing!

BONUS TIP!

Use aromatherapy! Aromatherapy can help you to actually interrupt emotional and thought patterns in your limbic system, the emotional center of your brain, and help you to hardwire in new ones.

Things like confidence, self-approval, courage, feeling comfortable in your own skin, knowing that you’ve got this, those are things that you can help to hardwire into your brain faster as you’re doing these visualizations for success while you’re using aromatherapy.

You also create aromatic associations between your state of being when you’re practicing these visualizations and your state of being when you’re actually in the situation.

I wrote more about how essential oils effect the limbic system on a past post and you can read that by clicking here!

I’ll give you a really cool example of this:

I was invited a few years ago to go on the Ricki Lake Show. She was having a green living show, I had a green living website at the time, and she wanted me to be one of their guests experts (which totally freaked me out because I was not an expert).

I hurried up, I said, “Yes,” before I could say, “No,” and talk myself out of it, and then I had three weeks to feel confident and not look or sound like a blubbering fool on that stage.

I used aromatherapy with visualization for success and affirmations nonstop, practicing it constantly for three weeks.

When I got up on that stage, ALL of the nerves and the fears I felt right off stage started coming up for me, and I sniffed my oil, and immediately brought myself back into the state of mind when I was feeling good, when I was feeling confident as I was practicing how I wanted to show up on that stage.

And instead of tripping over myself out there (which I was afraid I was gonna do) I danced out onto that stage, I felt so good and so confident.I was laughing and having fun.

That situation, that experience completely changed forever my experience of being in front of a camera or being up on stage, simply because I used aromatherapy to hardwire those feelings into my brain, my emotions, and my state of being.

IF YOU ARE NEW TO THE IDEA OF EMOTIONS AND ESSENTIAL OILS, I WANT TO ENCOURAGE YOU TO DOWNLOAD MY FREE SNIFF, SNIFF, AFFIRM GUIDE.

This guide is going to walk you through my top 10 essential oils, as well as all of the major mindsets, emotions, or limiting beliefs that female entrepreneurs struggle with in their business.

It’s gonna list affirmations to go with each oil and it’s gonna walk you through how to actually use aromatherapy in the most effective way possible.

You can grab it for free by clicking the button below or by clicking here to learn more!

WHAT ABOUT YOU, BOSS LADY?

Let us all know your best tips for visualization for success, or what your favorite tip was from this post.

Scroll down to leave your comments!

xoTara

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*This post may contain affiliate links and I may earn a small commission when you click on the links at no additional cost to you. You can read my full disclaimer here.

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About the author

Picture of Tara Wagner
Tara Wagner
I’m Tara Wagner, creator of the Breakthrough Boss®. I help small biz owners overcome burnout and create part-time schedules with full-time profits. Not with some new marketing strategy, but with a holistic approach to how you operate.
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