I send motivational quotes to my members every day. I came across this one from Dr. Norman Vincent Peale, author of the famous book The Power of Positive Thinking.
“Formulate and stamp indelibly on your mind a mental picture of yourself as succeeding. Hold this picture tenaciously. Never permit it to fade. Your mind will seek to develop the picture.”
Doctor Peale is talking about the power of visualization here. I am a big believer in the poser of visualization. Tweet 11 in Success Tweets says,
“Create a vivid mental image of yourself as a success. This image will keep you motivated and moving forward when things get tough.”
Tweet 12 says,
“Visualization is powerful. The more vivid the image you have of your success, the more likely you are to succeed.”
Notice that these are two of the earliest quotes in Success Tweets. They point out the importance of visualization when it comes to your success.
Monday is Martin Luther King Day here in the USA. Dr. King is one of my personal heroes. He helped lead our nation out of the dehumanizing segregation policies that flourished in the post-civil war period. I believe that he, more than any other single person, was responsible for the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Today a black man is president of the United States. This would have been unthinkable on August 28, 1963, the day Dr. King delivered his famous speech, “I Have a Dream.”
I bring up Dr. King and the “I Have a Dream” speech because it is the embodiment of a vivid mental image of success. Read the words below and see how they so clearly describe Dr. King’s vivid mental image of success, for himself and the nation.
“And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.
“I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.’
“I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.
“I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.
“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
“I have a dream today!
“I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of ‘interposition’ and ‘nullification’ – one day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.
“I have a dream today!
“I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together.”
Those are powerful words and a powerful vivid mental image. They kept Dr. King moving forward through the dark days in Selma all the way to the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. If you are interested in the civil rights movement in the USA, you should see the movie Selma. It’s in theatres right now.
I urge all of my career mentoring clients to develop a vivid mental image of themselves as a career success. What is your vivid mental image of your career success? Can you articulate it as clearly and vividly as Dr. King?
The common sense point in this discussion of Dr. Peale’s quote on the importance of having a clear mental image of your success and Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech is simple. Successful people clarify their purpose and direction for their life and career. Few people have demonstrated such a clear sense of purpose and direction for their lives as Dr. Martin Luther King. His famous “I Have a Dream” speech is one of the best examples of a clear, vivid mental image of not only personal success, but success for us as a society. “I have a dream… that little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.” The dream is alive today as we celebrate the Martin Luther Kind holiday – although we still need to keep working on it.
You need to work on creating a vivid mental image of yourself as a career success. The more vivid the image the better. Creating a vivid mental image of your success isn’t daydreaming. It’s real work that will lead to a successful and fulfilling life and career. As Tweet 11 in Success Tweets says, your vivid mental image of yourself as a success will keep you motivated and moving forward when things get tough.
Your career mentor,
Bud
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