Mackay: Successful people from business leaders to athletes use visualization to improve

A tourist visiting Italy came upon a construction site and asked three stonemasons what they were doing.

"I am cutting the stone," answered the first.

"I am cutting stone for 1,000 lire a day," the second said.

"I am helping to build a cathedral," said the third.

A pile of rocks ceases to be a pile of rocks when somebody contemplates it with a cathedral in mind. Such is the power of visualization.

A vision without a task is a dream. A task without a vision is drudgery. But the two together are the hope of the world.

The ability to visualize is a common trait among all successful athletes, entrepreneurs and business leaders. Long ago, I came to realize that projecting myself into successful situations is the most powerful means of attaining personal goals.

Sara Blakely, the founder of shapewear company Spanx, is proof that visualization can help achieve great things. She visualized herself as a successful entrepreneur and wrote down her goals and objectives every day, which helped her maintain her focus.

Tom Fatjo also used visualization to turn $500 and a used garbage truck into one of the country's largest solid-waste disposal companies, today known as Browning-Ferris Industries, or BFI. He said: "In the beginning stages of developing our first garbage company in Houston, I used to imagine trucks, a whole fleet of blue trucks, running out of our lot onto the streets of Houston in the early morning mist."

People begin to become successful the minute they decide to be.

Experts believe the two best times during the day to visualize are in the morning when you wake up and in the evening about 30 minutes before you go to bed. During both these times, your brain is moving through the alpha state, when it is most creative and receptive to suggestion.

Visualization is all about training your mind to guide your actions in achieving your goals. Make sure to involve the five senses — sight, smell, sound, taste and touch — to make your vision more vivid and real to your imagination. The more you visualize something and see it in your mind, the more you believe it is possible.

That is what Lindsey Vonn, one of the most successful female skiers, did throughout her career. She said: "I always visualize the [ski] run before I do it. By the time I get to the start gate, I've run the race 100 times already in my head, picturing how I'll take the turns. Once I visualize a course, I never forget it. So, I get on those lines and go through exactly the run that I want to have."

Katie Ledecky, winner of seven Olympic gold swimming medals and 21 world championship gold medals, said, "I have my goals, and I visualize things to help me achieve these goals."

Pete Carroll, head coach of the Super Bowl-winning Seattle Seahawks, said: "If you create a vision for yourself and stick with it, you can make amazing things happen in your life. My experience is that once you have done the work to create a clear vision, it is the discipline and effort to maintain that vision that can make it all come true. The two go hand-in-hand. The moment you've created that vision you're on your way, but it's the diligence with which you stick to that vision that allows you to get there."

Seven decades in business later, I can say that seeing and believing is achieving. Don't be afraid to see your future!

Mackay's Moral: Visualization helps you live your dreams.

Mackay is a Minneapolis businessman. Contact him at 612-378-6202 or email harvey@mackay.com.