Photo by Abigail Keenan
Two of my least favorite places to visit are the post office and big office supply stores; but I received a request over the weekend from a local film production company I’ve been working with on a pilot show for one of the big nature networks. It required a scanner. So I dropped by a down-the-street box store this morning to scan a contract. The twenty-something running the register seemed sleep deprived and in a spot of bother (cycling term for hurting). In my own sleep debt haze, I asked her how she was doing on “this glorious spring morning,” to which she confessed that she had slept through her study sesh for her final coming up later in the day.
After a week-end of great weather, I’m sure she wasn’t the only MSU student awaking to this predicament. Home to Montana State University, Bozeman, Montana, is a spectacular place. Men’s Journal just ranked it one of the top ten places to live in the country, in part because of the outdoor scene, which is overflowing with opportunities to play outside. By the looks of her raccoon eyes, my cashier had spent the weekend floating one of our local rivers, perhaps, as is common, partaking in too many beverages and was now paying the price.
While fun-hogs abound in Bozeman, something about this young lady told me that she cared deeply about doing well on her final. So I busted out a little material from my motivational book to be released this fall.
“Do you believe in positive visualization?”
“How so?” she replied.
“Well, don’t get me wrong,” I answered. “I don’t believe sitting idle in meditation, concentrating on meeting the man of your dreams is going to help him magically appear. We’ve got to be proactive and put ourselves out there. But I’m guessing you’ve done pretty well in your class this semester, yeah?”
“For sure,” she responded with a proud smile. “I’m carrying an A right now.”
“Do me a favor and take a few minutes sitting in your car before you walk into your final.”
Not skipping a beat, she replied, “Sure, I think I’m up for it.”
“Before you walk into your test, take a few minutes to positively visualize yourself answering the questions. Pay particular attention to how calm, cool and collected you feel; how confident. Then spend a few minutes visualizing your desired outcome, seeing that big fat A written in red pen.”
I finished with: “You’ve got this my lady. Go get it.”
Smile widening, she agreed to give it a try. I intend to go back one of these days to see how she did.
While positive visualization is no secret (the book, The Secret, which is about this topic, sold millions), next time you find yourself in a spot of bother, anxiety brimming and mind racing, take a few minutes to visualize your desired results.
What do you have to lose?
~Michael W. Leach