LIFE’S battles don’t always go, to the stronger or faster man, But sooner or later, the man who wins is the man who thinks he can! Many, many years back I learned something I will never forget. I learnt you can more or less get what you want from life, if you can visualise yourself getting it, and work towards that vision. If you want a Mercedes-Benz, and can hold a picture of you driving in that car and even see it parked in your garage, then there is a very real possibility of you getting it, depending on how vivid you make the picture and plan in your mind.
In the mid-1950s, a flamboyant, but unknown, American pianist named Liberace had dreams of performing in front of a big crowd at the famous Hollywood Bowl. So, he gathered some money, rented the Hollywood Bowl on an off night, showed up wearing a tuxedo and played a full concert on a grand piano to absolutely no audience at all.
As he played, he imagined the audience he would have one day. He imagined the clapping, the applause and painted a distinct picture in his mind of it happening! Then he kept that dream alive by practicing day and night, until, four years later to the very night, Liberace performed at the Hollywood Bowl before a capacity crowd.
Several years prior, it was Harry Emerson Fosdick who voiced a new thought about self-transformation. He said, “Hold a picture of yourself long and steadily enough in your mind’s eye and you will be drawn toward it.
Picture yourself vividly as defeated and you will be defeated. Picture yourself vividly as winning and that alone will contribute immeasurably to success. Great living starts with a picture, held in your imagination of what you would like to do or be.”
The pianist Liberace held a picture in his mind of himself performing before a sellout crowd at Hollywood Bowl. He made that picture more vivid by playing a full concert on stage. And that mental image, combined with hard work, skill and his trademark showmanship, contributed immensely to his eventual success.
This 2024, you can get what you want by having and fixing a mental picture of you achieving and getting something. Then work with determination and resolve, never letting that picture fade. There will be lots of obstacles and problems, challenges and impediments, but hold that picture sky high and carry on relentlessly.
The first month of the year has not yet ended, so whether you want to simply change a habit, change an attitude or change your life…can you “see” the person you want to be? Picture it, capture it, work towards it! And win life’s battles..!
—Email: bobsbanter@gmail.com
