In the previous chapter I touched on the topic of my runs and in this one I'll continue a little with that example. Do you know what's most pleasant in the running process — from preparation to recovery? The only thing that brings pleasure is entering the run results into the shared runs file.
When you want to give up something, look at your charts and diagrams. Realise that you've already achieved a lot in this direction and stuck with it even in the hardest times. Do you still really want to give it up?
Visualisation is a powerful tool and helper in planning and achieving goals. I will repeatedly draw attention to how important it is not just to make plans, but also to visualise the progress of their execution, checking against it periodically. In fact, I've just described the main advantages of visualisation:
1) Psychological — it helps you keep going with your endeavours.
2) Monitoring — you see the results before your eyes again in a convenient form.
3) Managerial — on the basis of monitoring you can adjust your goals.
Perhaps not everything can be visualised, though if you set goals using the SMART method, which we'll discuss below, then almost everything can be visualised. Nevertheless, try to apply visualisation at least in the most important things for you, in those where you especially need motivation and support, above all internal. Use tables, diagrams, charts and any other forms of representation that suit you. Want to lose a lot of weight? Record your weight every week — let the non-decreasing figure in the table (chart) push you to make the next figure lower. Want to quit smoking? Record the number of cigarettes smoked per day (week), so that the next entry motivates you to reduce that number. Do sport and don't want to lose motivation? Mark all your workouts, try to show consistency and regularity in your records and stick to it. For sport, as for weight loss, quitting smoking or any other goal, it will also be useful not only to keep charts but to make a public contract.
