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VISUALIZE your FUTURE to find your life's calling πͺ | eliasxhahn.com
Published 5 months agoΒ β’Β 5 min read
Arnold Schwarzenegger (1947-)
He saw it clear as day.
When Arnold Schwarzenegger was 15, he saw his vision.
He was looking at a Joe Weider muscle magazine. On the cover was Reg Park, the reigning Mr. Universe.
Just that summer, he had also seen Reg playing Hercules in a movie at the theaters.
Arnold was instantly drawn to Reg's presence projecting from the screen.
That was when it started for him.
He saw his future.
And that future was in bodybuilding.
Arnold (age 19) with his idol Reg Park (1928-2007)
Arnold had already been obsessed with the idea of moving to America and making a name for himself. He was in love with the imagery of movie stars, rock music, and big cars he had been seen.
But now this dream was more tangible to him. Now he had a vision for his way toward it.
Arnold committed to bodybuilding seriously that year.
He eventually started winning local and regional competitions.
People began taking notice.
His idol was one of them.
At age 19, he got the chance to train with Reg Park for three months.
A year later, at age 20, Arnold won the Mr. Universe competition, the youngest person to ever do it.
Reflecting on his early pursuit, he said:
"When I fell in love with bodybuilding, I didn't have vague hopes of becoming a champion. I had a very specific vision of it, borrowed from the pictures inside muscle magazines of guys like Reg Park celebrating their victories. I could see myself on the top step of the podium holding the winner's trophy. I could see the other competitors on the lower steps looking up at me enviously, but also in awe. I could see their tight smiles, I could even see the colors of their posing briefs."
At age 21, Arnold moved to America.
He found a calling in life and created a clear vision for it.
It defined the path for him to pursue.
But this was not a singular event.
Again and again, Arnold would find his way to newer and greater heights:
Winning Mr. Olympia 7 times,
Becoming at point the highest paid actor in Hollywood, and
Serving as the Governor of California, the most populated and one of the largest states in the U.S.
Each time, he vividly visualized his potential future.
He created the goals he needed to chase.
And he took the path to get himself there.
The Power of 'Future You'
Athletes understand the power of visualization.
Following his historic Olympic run, Michael Phelps's coach Bob Bowman said this regarding Michael's visualization practices:
"The reason why it works is because the brain cannot distinguish between something that is really vividly visualized and something that is real. So by the time Michael has to compete in an Olympic race or Wold Championship race, he's swum that race a hundred times already."
But this visualization effect extends beyond a purely competitive or performance context.
The researchers conducted two studies, each using over 70 individual responses from people aged 18 to 57.
They set out to answer two questions:
How do future self-projections versus experienced memories influence a person's self-identity?
Do future projections have significant impact on behavior and esteem?
They came to some pretty profound conclusions:
"Overall, these observations support the idea that in addition to memories for significant past experiences, oneβs sense of self and identity is in part nourished by the imagination of meaningful, self-defining future events."
In his historic 2008 Olympics performance, Phelps won a record-breaking 8 medals.
How the survey respondents envisioned the people they thought they were going to be, influenced not only their current self-esteem, but also how they identified the direction of their lives.
Simply, you are influenced just as much by the future you visualize, as by past that you experienced.
You can determine your identity simply by visualizing it.
Work On Your Vision
Your future self is a project.
And like any project, you can define the end point, the execution, and the success for yourself.
"The type of person you want to become β what the purpose of your life is β is too important to leave to chance. It needs to be deliberately conceived, chosen, and managed."
He breaks down the process into three parts:
Likeness. The rough idea of who you want to become.
Commitment. The conversation and connection you have to this future you.
Metric. The measurements you can track to see if you're making progress.
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Arnold followed a similar process with his own pursuits.
Over the course of his life, he found his to success across bodybuilding, cinema, and government.
The commonality across all three directions was simply this: he saw a vision of himself and he worked relentlessly to get there.
He emphasizes this point in his recent memoir, Be Useful.
"This is what a clear vision gives you: a way to decipher whether a decision is good or bad for you, based on whether it gets you closer or further away from where you want your life to go. Does the picture you have in your mind of your ideal future get blurrier or sharper because of this thing you're about to do?"
Arnold Schwarzenegger (age 56) being sworn in California governor in 2003.
Arnold did not wait for something to find him. He was active in pursuing his callings.
And three times, he crafted a vision that moved him forward.
He imagined his own future and he brought it to life.
Conclusion
The future that you imagine can shape you as much as the past you lived through. It's just a matter of visualizing what can be.
Three steps you can take to get started:
Create a specific idea of 'future you'. Be as vivid as you can. The sharper the image, the stronger the impression it makes in your mind. Be flexible if it's not clear to you yet.
Always move towards your vision. Use it as a guidepost to help make decisions. Measure your progress to keep yourself on course towards your future you.
Work relentlessly for it. This is your future that you're building.
Your path forward is yours to define. It is bound only by the person you can imagine yourself becoming.
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