Use Arnold’s Technique for Achievement.

Arnold Schwarzenegger was recently asked in interview how often he worked out.  The seventy plus actor replied that he worked out every day.  The interviewer then asked him why.  Arnold replied that it was the same reason he ate breakfast every morning and the same reason he slept every night.  It was a part of his identity and therefore something that was a part of him.

He has been using this technique of an identity for himself from his earliest days.  When he first started bodybuilding at age 15, he would visualize his muscles growing to massive proportions and he put up pictures of the best bodybuilders in the world that he wanted to look like.  He repeated to himself that he was the best bodybuilder in the world and it became his identity.  While it took years to achieve his goal, he always had that identity that he could see and feel to guide him. 

He did the same with acting.  He decided he was going to be the most successful actor in the world and modelled himself after the most famous actors of the time.  He took acting lessons and began to associate with people who were already successful in Hollywood.  He adopted the identity of the most successful actor in the world and did all of the things that a successful actor would do until he actually became successful.

This is a powerful technique to use if we would like to achieve success.  Rather than say we are going to do something or be something, if we actually adopt the identity and act like we are already doing the thing, our mind will begin to act as if we have already achieved the goal.  We will also attract like-minded people to us and we will see many more opportunities to advance us toward the goal.  Our reticular activating system will work to identify all of the things that can help us become that identity.

Now, we should be clear that just adopting an identity is nowhere near enough to achieve our goals and dreams and just visualizing our success can actually be counter productive.  Our brains will see that we are visualizing a goal but are so far away from achieving it that it becomes distant and hazy rather than crystal clear. 

The most effective way would be to adopt the identity, visualize it constantly as being complete AND also determine what steps we should take to achieve this identity, work on them and visualize the steps as complete as well.  This is as important as visualizing the final outcome as it gives us definite steps to follow and grounds us in the reality of achieving the goal.  If we can see the steps as an integral part of the journey toward achieving the identity we want, our brain can relate to the work required and see the journey toward the goal and relate to it.

The way Arnold became a successful bodybuilder illustrates this point.  In addition to visualizing his body the way he wanted it, he also visualized his muscles growing from the exercises he visualized doing!  Connecting the final goal to all of the steps he took was vital to his success as his body and mind were constantly connected to the process as well as the final result.  His identity became real once he visualized both the final result and the steps he was going to take to achieve it. He then implemented the steps and followed them to the achievement of his goal.

So, if we would like to achieve something, deciding what we would like our identity to be is an excellent way to do it.  Then we should determine the steps to achieve it, make them part of the identity and implement them as soon as possible while constantly visualizing both the identity and the steps as complete.