What does the cross-section of neuroscience, psychology and even spirituality offer in regard to making changes – also known as performance improvements or career advancements?
Our ability to change—a habit, a behavior or a skill level – begins with being able to truly connect to being in the skin of the person we aspire to be as opposed to dwelling on being a person that falls short of expectation. To do that, involve your senses. How would it feel to more confidently lead your managers? What will you see on the faces of your team members when you meet with them? For the brain and how it functions as an organ in the body, there is not a great deal of difference between imagination and what is real in the moment. Either way, the brain still processes that success is happening, lighting up those synapses associated with attainment. As a result, investing time in the sensory experience of your vision of success “greases the wheels” for the mind to conceptualize a clearer path towards your aspiration because a part of you has already gotten there.
“Feeling will get you closer to the truth of who you are than thinking.”
Eckhart Tolle
In addition, research has shown that when a person is unable to relate to a future imagined self because that future self is experienced as being so different and foreign, motivation is lost and the old ways of doing and thinking about things returns. Be honest with yourself regardless – if going for a goal of starting a company that will be in the Fortune 500 feels like science fiction, go with what does resonate with who you are now and could envision yourself becoming. Maybe it’s picturing being a business leader whose company has just hit its first million in sales. Too much of a jump? How about being an entrepreneur with a company that’s moving into the black? The big idea here is to synch up with an experience of your upcoming successful career that seems real enough to taste, even if it’s just a small slice of the overall pie. Engage with tasting often, allowing it to lead you in realizing your goal, now and over time.
“Every circumstance is a chance for you to practice being the person you truly want to be.” Marianne Williamson