Simple Mindset Tweaks — Visual Cues
Do pictures influence our decisions?
Why does a picture speak a thousand words?
Why do we make shopping decisions solely based on sight?
How does our brain perceive and digest the things around us?
Did you know?
The brain processes visual information 60,000 times faster than text -3M Corporation, 2001
Here’s an image, held in contrast to textual description:
We realise that in a world where messages convey effectively through images, we need to implement visual indicators to get us to our vision. Our vision isn’t the end all be all — it’s merely the first step to heading in the right direction.
If you’ve missed our article on visualisation, don’t forget to check it out first!
Visual cues play an essential role in ensuring effective visualisation. It acts as a roadmap that connects the dots throughout our journey.
Visual indicators have higher success at helping people get things done and work toward our vision. Hence, there are multiple methods you can use to keep track of your progress. Here are the more important ideas— ranked by order of significance.
Make it BIG
Visualisation dreams your ideal into existence; however, you need to implement action to get there. It ensures you’re not driven by visualising itself (all but fleeting motivation) but fueled by the process of making that commitment toward your vision.
Think about the big things. Your roadmap 5–10 years in the future. A blueprint for your dream house. A place you’ve always wanted to visit. These things are so substantial and apparent to you that they become phenomenal movie scenes. The audience is captivated at the climax of your story — you broke boundaries, achieved your dreams, and prevailed against the odds.
You can visualise the big picture, the endgame. You may even feel the emotions associated with it. You can’t avoid seeing it; it reminds you of its vast presence. That’s a good thing because you can anchor your vision and magnify it. Your idea needs to be the first thing you wake up to and your last thought before you sleep. How?
In my case, I draw inspiration from my role models through various social media platforms like Linkedin, Spotify and Youtube. They constantly remind me of the patience and hard work it takes to see through your vision — by envisioning success through their eyes.
Make your vision and goals visible throughout the day, any place you will pass, like a noticeboard or fridge, to reinforce and remind yourself of your “why”. It gives you affirmation for what you stand for today, why you’re doing such things, and how you’re going to paint out a reality of your vision. My vision is the first thing I see when I wake up.
A question you can ask yourself whenever you think your dreams are too big is, “How badly do you want it?” It’s normal to face doubts in the pursuit of your dream. However, your dream is something you must chase ceaselessly — the moment you lay your eyes on the prize to the day you truly attain it. That’s the power of making your goals visually significant in size.
TAKEAWAY: YOUR GOALS NEED TO BE PROMINENT. YOU WAKE UP TO IT EVERY DAY.
Stay accountable — Habits
A habit is a routine of behaviour that is repeated regularly and tends to occur subconsciously.
Habit Trackers provide immense value when you’re planning for a long-term commitment, whether a habit journal or a habit tracking app. Since Habits aren’t built overnight and compound over time, it is good to implement habits that align with and aid your goals.
Let’s illustrate this with an example: say you want to be a successful student. I define a student as anyone who is an active learner that encounters learning difficulties along the way. Learning is a life-long effort — if you truly want to become a successful student, you will need to learn and acquire essential habits.
That’s where habit trackers come in handy. They act as visual cues by constantly reminding and holding you accountable for your actions.
- Have you been keeping your desk tidy?
2. Have you completed tasks with deadlines?
3. Have you been revising your material?
James Clear, the author of Atomic Habits, explains this succinctly:
Habit tracking naturally builds a series of visual cues. When you look at the calendar and see your streak, it reminds you to act again.
Habit tracking also keeps you honest. Most of us think we act better than we do. Measurement offers one way to overcome our blindness to our behaviour and notice what’s going on each day.
When the evidence is right in front of you, you’re less likely to lie to yourself.
Since we are prone to overestimating ourselves and making mistakes in hindsight, why not fall back to systems that enable us to work rationally?
TAKEAWAY: BE CONSCIOUS AND PATIENT WITH HABITS. IMPLEMENT ACTIONS TO HOLD YOURSELF ACCOUNTABLE.
Mental Health — Journaling for Wellness
I’m sure you’re familiar with the proverb ‘Health is Wealth’. It’s a common misnomer that good physical health helps you to achieve your goals, avoiding the plague of ailments. Undoubtedly, keeping oneself physically healthy is paramount to a good life. However, we commonly overlook that it’s not just the physical health that gets you going. It’s the mental uphill battle that goes against us.
You need to remove the shackles of your pride, self-esteem, and resilience to get what you so badly want. On the opposite end of the spectrum, you must pull yourself up whenever times get hard to not spiral into a defeatist mentality. For example, Navy Seals Commander William McRaven tells recruits not to think about all the physical training. Instead, he warns them that, “If you do that, the event horizon becomes a little too far. If all you do is try to do the very best you can at that very moment…you take it one evolution at a time, and you made it. It is easy to quit in seal training.”
Journaling reaps mental health benefits and gives you an elegant, methodical overview of your week. Journaling every day allows you to stay laser-focused, and by the end of the week, you’ll have an overview of your performance.
I enjoy journaling because it acts as a channel for me to jot down my ideas and thoughts throughout the day. It gives me ease of mind whenever I’m dealing with multiple tasks; my attention isn’t diverted to other unnecessary problems at the moment. It keeps my emotions in check, so I don’t feel burnt out.
You stay exceptionally focused on the task at hand, which allows you to inch closer to your goals every single day. Having a daily journal book or a journaling application helps keep you accountable throughout the week. Accountability is crucial because it helps you value your work, and make your words and thoughts translate into action and purpose all the time.
Also, by journaling, I understand myself better — by asking myself how and why things turned out that way. By keeping a record of how I was doing at that moment, I am able to look back and review my psychological state at that point in time and temper my expectations for the future.
You spend less time being emotional at things that have already happened, and you work on the next rational thing to do.
In life, you are bound to face obstacles and setbacks. What defines you aren’t these setbacks; it’s what you do when you’re beaten down to the ground.
Are you willing to take responsibility for what happened, or will you keep running your mouth by complaining?
TAKEAWAY: JOURNAL FOR MENTAL HEALTH
No such thing as busy
I used to tell my friends that I was busy and couldn’t get things done. My perspective changed when one of my friends told me, “There is no such thing as busy. What you’re held back by is how you sort your priorities.” You can be productive doing things that further your pursuits or things that aren’t worth your time.
It is worth mentioning that in your checklist of daily habits: the essential tasks are placed on top of the list, and the least demanding task at the bottom. This ensures that:
1) Tasks are completed as they should be, clear from distractions
2) The effort required to tackle the tasks gradually decreases
Regarding point 2, how does it work in our favour? When you accomplish the most challenging task of the day, your brain translates this into a reward and produces dopamine — the ‘feel-good’ chemical that motivates you. This is processed by the brain, and the brain takes note of this specific action. Hence the positive feedback loop — where each task builds upon the preceding task. You end the day with good vibes.
Here’s an analogy from Mark Twain:
“If it’s your job to eat a frog, it’s best to do it first thing in the morning. And if it’s your job to eat two frogs, it’s best to eat the biggest one first.”
Eating the frog means conquering your most arduous task for the day. If you delay the job, second thoughts about how difficult the task is will begin to fester. You give yourself excuses to avoid the task, and suddenly, it all starts piling up, giving you unnecessary added stress.
TAKEAWAY: IT’S NOT BUSY; ITS PRIORITIES
CONCLUSION
To sum up, in order for you to make visualisation as effective as possible, you need to create a roadmap from the minute you start till the endgame, taking every action along the way. These actions include: making your goals as prominent as possible, staying accountable with habits, journaling for mental health, and learning to prioritise.
Whenever in doubt, revert to the systems you’ve built as a safety net. You’re most likely not being consistent with the systems set in place for you to succeed. You need to find order in chaos, especially in our bustling and rapidly growing world today.
Lastly — start acting; stop blindly consuming. Pure theory will never beat practical training, such as that in life — you apply the things you’ve learnt to construct the world you’ve always dreamed of.
Commit your actions to memory, and I assure you, you’ll find a sense of accomplishment in every facet of life.
Stay tuned for the last segment of this 3-part series that will supercharge your mind for productivity. We’ll cover the crux of discipline, an outstanding value that sticks with you throughout your life.
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