What drives you?
“The race was down to just two riders. The finishing line was less than a kilometer away. Both of us were extremely tired.” My coach was sharing with me about his SEA games medal race. “My quads were screaming for me to stop. And my lungs were about to burst from climbing the steep Indonesian mountain.” I was listening intensely as he went on. “So, I looked at him. He also looked suffering like crazy.” Out of curiosity, I asked my coach. “What makes you fight on and won the race?”. He thought about the question and attempted to recall that event. “I see in my mind the finishing line. I was crossing the finishing line. I hear the people cheering my victory. Those pictures and sound drove me to dig deeper to summon the final effort to win the race.”
Athletes are well aware of the importance of visualizing their goals in the competition.
“If you don’t see it you won’t get it”
From the perspective of NLP, the visual and auditory representation of the outcome serves as a powerful filter for the unconscious to continuously seek out the internal experience. As such, in the absence of a clear representation that is grounded in sensory depictions, the goal will often fade into oblivion as quickly as it was formed.
To bring the goal to fruition requires tremendous effort and focus. Like the cyclist in a competition, the picture of you achieving your goals can serve as a powerful motivational force in times when other interesting distractions show up.
Whatever goals you set, ensure it is clearly represented with pictures and sound (where possible).