PRISONER EXPRESS

Facing our fears is one of the most difficult things we can do in life, but it is a necessary step in overcoming obstacles that may be holding us back and keeping us from succeeding and reaching our goals in life. Fears close us down; fears convince us we are not ready; fears make us believe we are not able. Most fears are conditioned, meaning that we've conditioned ourselves to fear certain objects, subjects, or situations. We do this through bringing to life a negative image, example picturing getting bitten by a snake, failing an exam, getting turned down or rejected by someone we may like to meet or get to know, imagining all the worst scenarios in giving a speech to an audience, etc. The secret to turning our fears around; however is through positive visualization and self--talk. If we are capable of bringing to life a negative image then we are capable of bringing to life a positive one and setting the path we want to take

Visualization is the ability to conjure up relaxing scenes of the outcome we would like to see happen. It's a form of mental practice in which you repeatedly perform a certain task or activity in your mind until you achieve perfection. For instance, let's say you have an important interview with a client or for a potential job offering. Instead of picturing all the worst scenarios like seeing yourself stuttering, getting tongue tied, or a loss of words; stop and try to imagine the situation with a different outcome, one that's positive. Try to picture it vividly and with as much detail as possible. Picture yourself going through the interview with ease and with little or no anxiety. If you can visualize yourself successfully handling the situation, you will increase the probability of success. By using repeated visualizations you can make yourself more familiar with the situation can guide yourself into a state of greater confidence and control. When you're done, normally stressful events or activities become far less anxiety producing.

The idea here is to go through any anxiety provoking situation and rewrite the scene with a better ending. The mind has a difficult time knowing the difference between real and imagined events. If you can see yourself conquering a fear, then it may go a long way towards convincing yourself that you are in fact capable of conquering that fear. Imagery is so powerful you don't have to believe it works. If the image is held in the mind, whether you believe it or not, the physiology works. Sports psychologists work with athletes helping them to create an image of themselves winning a point of catching a difficult pass. In essence they are creating a positive script for them to follow.

It is important to use positive affirmations along with these visualizations, as well. If you are steadily telling yourself you can't do it, you're eventually going to believe it and picture yourself not being able to do it. There is power in our words and self-talk. Tell yourself you are competent and able and eventually you are going to believe it and act accordingly; tell yourself you are a loser and inadequate and guess what....

Visualization and positive self-talk can go a long way to boosting our self-image, confidence, and above all our morale.