{"id":24915,"date":"2022-02-01T03:00:37","date_gmt":"2022-02-01T11:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/?p=24915"},"modified":"2022-01-27T11:36:42","modified_gmt":"2022-01-27T19:36:42","slug":"is-visualization-the-key-to-success-by-catharine-bramkamp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/2022\/02\/01\/is-visualization-the-key-to-success-by-catharine-bramkamp\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Visualization the Key to Success? by Catharine Bramkamp"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Is<\/a>Let\u2019s welcome back monthly columnist Catharine Bramkamp<\/a> as she shares with us \u201cIs Visualization the Key to Success?\u201d Enjoy!<\/p>\n

***<\/span><\/p>\n

Remember the advice from the book\/movement\/myth <\/strong>The Secret<\/span><\/i><\/a>?\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Essentially the message was that if we do nothing more than visualize our goals, believe in our goals, feel our goals, put ourselves into the finished scenario of our ultimate goal, we will achieve them.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Or rather<\/strong>, they, all by themselves, will manifest in our lives.<\/span><\/p>\n

One of the central tenets of visualization is that our brain doesn\u2019t distinguish between a visualized scenario and the real experience.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Visualizing success is as real as actually achieving success<\/strong>. And once you \u201cachieve\u201d success, it will appear in your life — fully formed.<\/span><\/p>\n

Except it doesn\u2019t.\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

The Reality\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

Turns out that all that strong vivid visualization is counterproductive.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Turns out that once your brain believes you\u2019ve achieved your goal<\/strong>, it stops working hard to achieve that goal.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Because to your brain, it\u2019s already a done deal; no need to spend any more energy on it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Scientists have measured this drop in energy using systolic blood pressure.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Visualizing success<\/strong>, then, can have the opposite effect to what you’re looking for.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

You have lovely dreams of graduation but miss holding the diploma in your hands because you didn\u2019t bother to study.<\/span><\/p>\n

In other words, visualizing the ultimate success, imagining that we already won the prize, is counterproductive.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

What works is doing the work.\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

Not exactly what we all had in mind.<\/span><\/p>\n

We were all searching for the easy win<\/strong>. And dreaming a project into reality seemed to fit the bill.<\/span><\/p>\n

Yes, visualization has some downsides.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Along with convincing the brain to stop working towards an already achieved goal<\/strong>, another challenge is that visualization can encourage all or nothing thinking.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

If what transpires doesn\u2019t look exactly like me in a red Versace accepting the National Book Award, then it\u2019s not success.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Another challenge with that wonderful big picture visualization is that the goal can be so overwhelming we quit before we start.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

How do I get the dress?\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Who will drive me to the airport? <\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We start imagining the steps but it\u2019s too much, and we quit.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Now we know this depressing news.<\/span><\/p>\n

What does work then?\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

The Real Solution<\/span><\/h2>\n

I wrote a chapbook of poems this last year, <\/span>UnConscious Words<\/span><\/i>, <\/span>the Poet as Scribe<\/span><\/i>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I loved the work<\/strong>, the methodology, the process, and I wanted to share the results.<\/span><\/p>\n

My options for sharing were to post the poems on a blog, post the poems into <\/span>Instagram<\/span><\/i>, or publish a chapbook.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I chose to try indie publication first.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I did not visualize winning a <\/span>Pulitzer Prize<\/span><\/i> for poetry.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I think that if I spent my time visualizing winning an award<\/strong>, any award, my brain would have rejected the small press efforts as unworthy.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I do love to daydream, but in light of this new science, I don\u2019t want my brain to subvert my efforts. Instead of the daydream, I simply moved forward, doing the work.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Work<\/span><\/h2>\n

I made a list of appropriate publishers.<\/span><\/p>\n

I created a budget since we poets must pay to be published or even pay to enter contests.<\/strong> This can add up. I created a reasonable budget for submissions.<\/span><\/p>\n

Between August and October, I submitted to 11 publishers.<\/span><\/p>\n

The plan was that if there were no responses by spring<\/strong>, I would publish my book myself.<\/span><\/p>\n

As boring and methodical as this sounds, it works.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It <\/span>really<\/span><\/i> works if you are prone to getting in your own way.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Instead of feeling like steps or submissions are unimportant compared to searching for the perfect awards ensemble:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n