If I were to ask you, what was the most important characteristic forovercomingprocrastination, for persistence, and long-term achievement, what wouldyou say? Willpower? That would not be an unusual answer, but it wouldbe wrong.
Willpower is vastly overrated as the leading trait used bysuccess-mindedachievers. If we keep this discussion on a scientific level, willpowercannotbe responsible for more than one-sixth of anyone's success.
The real secret to success is your imagination and your ability tovisualizesuccess. This powerful trait is responsible for five-sixths of everygreatachievement.
Suppose that you have set a goal to lose 10 pounds. You are absolutelydetermined to be 10 pounds lighter by next month! You are using yourwillpowerto prove that you are stronger and more powerful than those extracookiesand calories.
So you say to yourself, "I will not overeat... I will not overeat...You repeat thisto yourself over and over again, using your willpower. But all the timeyou areconsciously saying this, your imagination is visualizing how great thosecookies smell, and telling you how great those cookies taste. Sooner orlateryou will grab those cookies or extra calories and chug them down. Why?
Whenever you have a conflict between willpower and your imagination,whenever they are pulling in opposite directions, your imagination willALWAYS win!
But if your willpower and imagination are working together, pullingtowardthe SAME goal, this will create an all-powerful force that is impossibletoovercome, and success is always the automatic, inevitable result.
Now this sounds great, but how does this work scientifically? Mostsources ofself-help tell you "what" you should do. But very few tell you "how" things work. KNOWLEDGE is the real key to success.
Revolutionary brain-science discoveries have been made inthe last few years. In that research lays the proof of the above theoryand howyou can put this to use in your life to overcome procrastination, andreachtranscendent levels of success.
While using a PET scanner to verify that indeed most people solve mathproblems in the left side of the brain, neuroscientists made a startlingdiscovery.
[A PET scanner is used to take a scan-image of the brain. The subject isinjected with a very small amount of radioactive isotopes, then placedin thescanner, in which an electromagnetic device passes a very thinelectromagneticfield through their brain. The part of the brain that is "thinking" atthat time will have excess amounts of blood-flow, which, due to theradiation, shows up on the PET scan.]
In the math function tests, each of the subject's brain scan lit up in asimilar area of their left-brain.
But something else occurred that the scientists had not predicted. Thebrainscan also lit up in 5 other areas of the brain! This was arevolutionary discovery.It verified that your brain is constantly "thinking" on six or morelevelsat once.
In additional testing, subjects were given a math problem to solve and asedative that was slowly increased, until they fell asleep.
What happened? The light on the scan image representing the maththinking,WENT OUT! But the other five areas of the brain scan that were lit,stayed lit.
CONCLUSION? You are constantly thinking on 6 levels at once, but onlyat theconscious level, are you aware of your thoughts and ideas.
The other five areas are known as your nonconscious brain or what usedtobe called the subconscious brain by non-neuroscientists.
When the scan-light went out for the conscious thinking and mathproblem-solving, as each subject fell asleep, all of the other areasstayed lit.
This means that you are always thinking at your nonconscious levels.No matter that you may be consciously asleep.
Your imagination and powers of visualization reside in your nonconsciousbrain.Your willpower resides in the conscious brain.
Your conscious brain represents one-sixth of your brain's thinkingpower.Your nonconscious brain represents five-sixths of your brain's thinkingpower.
Which part of your brain is most important to control? Which is morepowerful:a 500 pound Gorilla or a 100 pound weakling who gets sand kicked in hisface? Do the math!
Your nonconscious brain has five times the power of your consciousbrain.
Therefore anytime you have a conflict between your willpower, whichfunctionsin your conscious brain (1/6), and your imagination, which functions inyournonconscious brain (5/6), who is ALWAYS going to win?
Yep! Your visualization and imagination of the taste of thosecookies-every time!
So what can you do to fix this?
Well there is another scientific principle involved here.
Your mind sees only in pictures. If I were to ask you to close youreyes andremember what you did first thing after you got up this morning, youwould seethis in pictures. You would not see this written on a page of notebookpaperin your brain!
Because you are aware of what you think consciously, your consciousbraincan see things and think things through and filter out negative picturesand givethoughts (mind-pictures) true meaning or perception.
You CANNOT filter out the negatives from your nonconscious thoughtsbecause you're not even aware of what that thinking (picture) is!
So when you say to yourself, "I will not overeat!" Your conscious brain(1/6)can give this true meaning, but your nonconscious brain (5/6) sees apicture of, "Overeat!" "Overeat"!
And boy does your nonconscious listen to you!! It is not at alluncommon forpeople who want to lose weight to actually gain weight!
Have you ever said to your children, "Whatever you do, don't spill themilk!"?
Five/Sixth of their brain, sees a perfect picture of what?
That's right! "Spill the milk!"
Kids listened well at my house. They always spilled the milk.
How do you solve this problem?
Now that you know the scientific basis, it's easy. You've got to getyour nonconscious brain, 5/6 of your brain-power, in line with yourconscious, willpower brain, 1/6 of your brain-power.
You must use your imagination to dream and visualize all of the positivebenefits you can gain by losing ten pounds and bombard your nonconsciousbrain with these pictures so that your entire brain is working towardthesame end.
Instead of saying "I will not overeat!" say, "I am fit, and thin,because I eathealthy foods!" See yourself doing so as you say this!
Also, start seeing yourself doing the things you will be able to doafteryou lose weight.
Start visualizing every single benefit of that goal.
Then your entire brain is working in the same direction. And no matterwhatyour goal is, weight-loss or other great goals, your success will beautomatically guaranteed. You won't need willpower anymore.
After about thirty days of imagining and visualizing your success,your brain will have created enough new neurode connection-patterns, sothatit will automatically take the steps necessary to reach your goals.
You won't have to do it; your brain will do it for you!
Willpower is overrated! Oh, it's still important. You need to use it tomake the initial decision to change.
But once that decision to change is made with willpower,use your imagination in your nonconscious brain to make that willpowerdecision stick, permanently!
Procrastination will disappear, persistence and long term success andachievement will take its place. Not a thing you can do to stop it.
Your brain will be programmed for Success. Automatically! Trust YourGreatest Achievements to Neuroscience!
ABOUT DOUG BENCH:
Doug is a noted educational and motivationaldramatist, humorist, author, trainer and speaker. Over the last 7 years,Doug has read over 60,000 pages of books and research reports andstudies on the human brain. He has delivered keynotes and seminars tomore than 220 groups and 180,000 people in the last 7 years.
Doug currently resides in Orlando, Florida. He obtained his B.S. fromKent State, his M.S. in Education from the University of Toledo and hisJuris Doctor from Capital University Law School. He taught and coachedat an Ohio high school; was a faculty member at the University ofToledo, University of Dayton and Florida Metropolitan University; and,in addition to his 15-year tenure as a practicing trial attorney inOhio, he served as a municipal court acting judge.
Doug is a published researcher in the field of applied physiology,specializing in the effects of extrinsic stimuli on maximal performance,and has written several ebooks, reports, and manuals including "MindYour Brain", "Mastery of Science-Based Advanced Achievement", "RecentRevolutionary Brain-Research Discoveries for Success", "MotivationAutomation" and "The 80 Most Important Neuroscience Lessons forAchievement"
He is a member of the Central Florida Speakers Association, the NationalSpeakers Association and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.