Do you have a vision for yourself or your business?

Would you like to refresh yourself today? Read this then go for a ten-minute walk, and ONLY think about your vision. Come back and write it down or tell someone.

Visualise success

What you would like to achieve? Visualise it in detail. Think about yourself in a new role, in a healthier happier state, or living a fun lifestyle. Imagine how you will feel if you succeed with a goal you set out to achieve. Maybe you’ve thought about it for a long time, or it’s been a casual thought.

Visualise yourself having succeeded.

Refine your vision – see yourself achieving great results.

Focus yourself.

Answer these

Why is this so important to you?

What excites you about this?

Is this something that will make you happy? How do you know?

If you achieved success, who would you tell?

And if you don’t succeed? Will you be pleased you tried or not? Why?

Voice the vision

Tell people your ideas; this will help you refine them. What are the positives, what are the drawbacks? Ask questions, be open to their thoughts and feedback. Talking about your dream brings it to life.

If you were to start a new career – what skills do you need? If you want to open a business, why will it be special? If you want to grow your brand – whose success attracts you to learn from their strategies? Talk about it. But be careful with your language.

Killer phrases to demotivate you:

• Easy for you to say
• I wish
• I’m gonna, gonna, gonna – but you never do!
• If only
• One day maybe
• I’m not that lucky
• You had it easy
• It’ll never work

Ask friends: “What do you think of this?” Listen to their questions – not defensively! Summarise their best points – they will appreciate your taking in their comments and then be open to more soon.

Be persistent and resilient

Setbacks will challenge you. You will get tired and frustrated.

When you want to give up – tackle something you CAN do, and stop focusing on what you CAN’T DO! Complete a task. Focus on completion – you will feel so much better not giving in, not giving up.

Breakthroughs make us feel great. So make sure you give yourself every chance to have the great feeling of success.

Eve Ash is a psychologist, author, filmmaker, public speaker and entrepreneur. She runs Seven Dimensions, a company specialising in training resources for the workplace.