Life

Magic Results Through Visualization

Visualization is a tool that everyone can put to use, with little effort, for good results

Published

2 years ago

July 24, 2021

Jeff Davidson

Olympics athletes, flying 1000s of miles, can step off the plane and perform at a high level in their first practice session. Why? Continual visualization during the flight.

Visualization, also called imaging, is a simple process that involves conjuring a mental image of something that conveys happiness, warmth, or peaceful feelings for you. For example, you might remember a meadow or farm from your childhood, a waterfall, a picnic site, a scene from a movie, a favorite cousin, or a lover. One can even visualize a sports routine such as walking the balance beam in gymnastics.

By focusing on the image for even a minute, you can lower your pulse, heart rate, and blood pressure. Even on days when you might only have a few minutes alone, visualization could be your cup of tea.

You are Already a Master

You already engage in visualization all the time. A primary benefit of visualization is the minimal time investment required for a good return. Visualizing aspects of your life helps better your disposition and increases your probability of successfully solving problems.

Some people suggest closing your eyes and placing your hand on your chest, cheek, or forehead while visualizing a pleasant scene in order to connect your body with the image that you have conjured. Regardless, visualization works well because your brain can actually recall anything and everything that it has ever experienced.

The examples and suggestions below are designed steer your focus on positive, pleasant, stress reducing scenes:

Visualizing a Desired Outcome – Visualization can help you sail more easily through things that have not yet happened. For example, basketball players seeking to improve their free throw percentage find that by visualizing themselves stepping up to the line and draining the shot, over and over, their actual foul shot percentage can increase in game situations, and throughout the season.

Visualize as a Substitute for Practice – As mentioned, many Olympic performers visualize themselves going through their routines, be it rowing, swimming, or throwing the javelin, and actually improve their performance once they enter the competitive arena.

Visualize Success at Something You Dread – If you fear making presentations in public or confronting your boss, visualizing yourself successfully handling the situation increases your probability of success. You can even write a short statement about your visualization, or a whole article about what you did and how it worked. In this respect, you “live into your visualization.”

A Tool For Everyone

The very good news about visualization is that it’s a tool that everyone can put to use, with not much effort, for a pretty decent return. Such a deal!

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Jeff Davidson is the world's only holder of the title "The Work-Life Balance Expert®" as awarded by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. He is the premier thought leader on work-life balance, integration, and harmony. Jeff speaks to organizations that seek to enhance their overall productivity by improving the effectiveness of their people. He is the author of Breathing Space, Simpler Living, Dial it Down, and Everyday Project Management. Visit www.BreathingSpace.com for more information on Jeff's keynote speeches and seminars, including: Managing the Pace with Grace® * Achieving Work-Life Balance™ * Managing Information and Communication Overload®

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Education

Eight Dysphemisms to Start Your Week

A dysphemism is a word or phrase that is more offensive than the words it is replacing

Published

1 day ago

March 20, 2023

Jeff Davidson

A “euphemism” is the substitution of an agreeable or inoffensive expression for one that might suggest something more bluntly or offend others, according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary. To say, for example, “He doesn’t have all his marbles,” is regarded as gentler than saying “He is stark raving insane.”

The Mighty Dysphemism

The opposite of a euphemism is a “dysphemism.” A dysphemism is a word or phrase that is more offensive, blunt, or harsh than the word or phrase which it is replacing. For example, instead of stating that the Manhattan District Attorney is “cognitively challenged,” you refer to him instead as a “total partisan whack job.”

For your amusement, at the least, here are eight dysphemism followed by the kinder, gentler, or at least more definitive terminology of what is being said:

“Biting off more than you can chew” – Orally extracting an amount of edible matter that exceeds what one is comfortably able to masticate.

“That’s a load of B.S.” – Your assertion reminds one of bovine excretion.

“Sh__faced” – Bearing an expression that one normally associates with the act of removing solid waste from the body.

“Can’t tell your ass from your elbow” – Unable to differentiate between your dorsal side orifice and the joint connecting your forearm and upper arm.

“Stepping in a pile of crap” – A pedestrian venture into an accumulation of animal or human waste.

“Go F-yourself” – Engage in the act of physical consummation with yourself.

“Up to your eyeballs in crap” – Finding yourself surrounded at the visual level by unpleasantly aromatic organic waste.

“Carnal knowledge” – Having a close encounter with another, free of garments and other impediments, leading to direct tactile stimulation.

A True Time Saver

Thank goodness for dysphemisms. In a most fundamental way, they are true time-savers. Without them, we’d be groping for tedious phrasing all day long. “Up your nose with a rubber hose,” if you don’t “catch my drift.”

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Life

Nobody Gets Enough Rest

Few adults sleep each night for all that they need

Published

2 days ago

March 19, 2023

Jeff Davidson

Here is my creation, Nobody Gets Enough Rest, based on the theme of Nobody Does It Better, original music by Marvin Hamlisch, with lyrics by Carol Bayer Sager, and sung by Carly Simon:

Nobody Gets Enough Rest
by Jeff Davidson © 2023

Nobody gets enough rest,
no one gets all that they need.
Too many people gyp their sleep time:
When it comes to rest… they’re in neeeeeed…

I wasn’t looking
but somehow they found me,
all of the things that lengthen my day aaaaaaaaay.
Like the TV above me
and the friends who love me,
up all night so we can play aaaaaaaaay.

Nobody gets enough rest,
no one gets all that they need.
Nobody takes enough naps, aaaand
sure enough, we’re all in nee ee ee eeed.

Nobody gets enough rest,
no one sleeps all that they need.
Yet people come to work like its
some kind of brea ee ee ee ee eeze.

The way that it’s going, all day-long going
there’s got to be some kind of pau au au au ause,
That keeps us from running,
all 24 hours, disobeying nature’s basic law aw aw aw aw.

Nobody gets enough rest,
no one gets all that they need.
Too many people gyp their sleep time:
When it comes to rest… they’re in nee ee eed…

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