I enjoy Mel Robbins. Her work is all about personal growth using science backed strategies. She spends a lot of time talking to researchers and examining data from studies in psychology and biology.
Among other things, she talks about the right way to visualize your future. I’ll paraphrase.
It’s not enough or even optimal, to just visualize crossing the finish line. The way to use visualization for success is to spend time visualizing not giving up on the hard days.
Challenges will come. There will be cold, rainy days where you would rather stay in bed that go on your training run. Visualize putting on your shoes and going out into the drizzle anyway.
There will be rejections and setbacks. Visualize accepting the feedback and going back to the drawing board and continuing the work.
It means knowing what the ultimate goal is (and Mel Robbins says “10X your goals”) and understanding the step-by-step, daily commitment to reaching that goal. And visualizing the process, including the hard days.
Right now the entertainment industry is in a state of disruption. According to The Creative Handbook newsletter, some production support companies are noticing a recent uptick in productions. Let’s hope it’s a trend. But for many of crew workers, it feels like finding work is a slog. It’s easy to let yourself slide. It’s a long hard day.
Let’s practice visualization the Mel Robbins way, preferably at a time when you are feeling balanced and positive.
First think about what a hard day looks like.
For me it’s a day when I’m tired, when I’m stressed about bills, the house is a mess, other people have needs, and I just want to stay in bed instead of doing my workout, writing 3000 words, or working on my next piece of art. It’s so easy to fritter away a day like that doing nothing in particular (scrolling the socials) instead of taking small steps towards my goals.
Then visualize overcoming these challenges.
I need to visualize getting on the exercise bike even though I feel a bit stiff. (I will feel so much better afterwards). I need to visualize planning dinner and prepping the food (I hate cooking but we all like to eat). I need to visualize coming to the end of at least one piece of writing work that day – a client’s resume draft or cover letter, a new blog post, another chapter on my book. Or see a new spread in my sketchbook that will take me closer to my next project. I need to visualize setting my timer – and I know that using a timer to either set a limit for an activity, or to time how long it really takes to accomplish – is one of the greatest drivers of my productivity.
(That’s my list. You might need to make your own.)
See yourself doing the work, whatever that work is.
It might be taking the time for your selfcare and health, taking that run in the rain. It might be following through on your job seeking plan – spending a specified amount of time researching the production listings or visiting careers pages at your target companies. Watch yourself analyze a job listing and prepare a customized resume. Read the trades or industry newsletters – that might even be fun. Call two or three old colleagues. Work on your script for some defined time – fix that one scene that’s bugging you. Plan your calendar for the next week. Visualize yourself as you leave the house and go to the screening.
Studies show that the emotional brain can’t tell the difference between something you imagine happening and something real. The less enthusiastic you feel about a task, the more valuable it is to visualize completing it. So, you can feel the reluctance and then feel the victory of success.
Then get up and do the next thing on your list.
Mel Robbins encourages us to write out our five big goals every day, just to keep them top of mind. I try to do that. Sometimes it’s just a numbered list. Sometimes I spend time on each goal writing a little about what it looks like. This gives me insights into the actions that I should take.
But the magic is in the repetition and the daily practice. Visualizing continuing despite the challenges is a practice too. Just like a resume or cover letter, it’s NOT “one and done”.