User:BecomingLimitless77
For example, I teach clients how to [1] visualize and affirm positive outcomes to situations they're worried about or feel pessimistic about. I call this "worrying about things going right" or "positive worry." Negative worry consists of vividly imagining a situation going wrong. The clients who are most successful in turning things around are able to form a vivid picture in their mind's eye of a positive outcome. As a colleague of mine once said, "If your going to create a reality in your imagination, why not make it be flattering to you?"
A powerful example from my own life of this new way of looking at things came when I was studying for my prelims -- or what I like to call "Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Psychology, But Were Afraid To Ask." In preparation for this comprehensive exam, diligent grad students will study for 3-6 months, practically living in the library, digesting and synthesizing tons of material. The stress of prelims likely has caused even the most earnest and dedicated student to consider a change of career. Either that, or the stress may have launched a fresh batch of alcoholics.
The overarching belief about prelims is that the entire process - from start to finish - would be awful. Indeed, it SHOULD be awful - a sort of trial by fire or rite of passage. For some unknown reason, I decided upon a paradigm shift right at that critical stage of my academic career. I decided to change my "reality" and make prelims fun. I wondered what would happen if I just studied when I felt like it, instead of forcing myself to do so when I wasn't inclined. Looking back, I guess you could say I trusted myself.
Taking this approach, I found myself studying at odd hours, sometimes briefly, sometimes in the "zone" for hours. Plus - here's the point of this long set up - I would practice visualizing the day of the exam down to the tiniest detail and seeing myself go through the day calmly and with confidence.Guess what! It went EXACTLY as I had imagined it - from going mentally "blank" in the shower right down to the type of paper I was given to write my essays. Oh, and of course, I passed on my first attempt. Whee!
