“I believe that visualization is one of the most powerful means of achieving personal goals.”—Harvey Mackay
JIM CARREY
Actor Jim Carrey is no stranger to the art of visualization. During an interview with Oprah, he spoke about how he visualized achieving his goals. Early in his career, he didn’t have a lot of money. Jim was hungry for success. He went to the top of a hill on Mulholland Drive and pictured the things he wanted. He imagined directors interested in his work and his idols praising him. He told himself he already had these things. At the time, he wasn’t conscious of how powerful this technique was, but he did it daily to keep his spirits high.
In an interview with Oprah, Jim Carrey told the story of his most famous visualization. While struggling to find gigs and progress in his career, he made a bold decision: he wrote himself a check for ten million dollars. He made it out to “Jim Carrey. For acting services rendered.” Then he dated it for Thanksgiving 1995, giving himself 3 years to achieve it. He folded the check and put it in his wallet as a constant reminder of his end goal. Jim acknowledged that dreams like this don’t magically come true. Oprah explained that “visualization works if you work hard,” and the actor agreed, saying, “Well, yeah. That’s the thing, you can’t just visualize and then, you know, go eat a sandwich.” It takes hard work and laser focus on a specific goal.
He worked harder on his craft and continued auditioning. On Thanksgiving 1995, Jim Carrey received confirmation that he would make ten million dollars for his role in the classic movie Dumb and Dumber.
THE POWER OF VISUALIZATION
When asked about visualization, Jim Carrey said, “Whenever I wanted something to happen, I manifested it. I stood there in an open field like this, with my arms out.” This sounds too good to be true. Well, it is. Visualizing the end goal won’t make you magically move mountains with your thoughts. If you can move things with your mind, stay put, the CIA will be knocking down your front door within the next minute. The power of visualization doesn’t directly change the world. The power comes from the way it changes your mind.
In a well-known study about visualization, sports psychologist Judd Biasiotto split basketball students into three groups to improve their free-throw shooting.
The first group didn’t practice or think about free throws. They couldn’t even touch a basketball. The second group of players went to the gym every day and practiced free throws for half an hour. The third group went to the gym every day and spent half an hour with their eyes closed, visualizing making every free throw. They imagined feeling the ball’s texture in their hands’ grip and shooting with proper form.
After 30 days, Judd tested the players. The results were astounding. The first group showed no improvement. The second group improved by 24%. The third group improved by 23%. That means that the group that only visualized shooting improved nearly the same as the group that physically practiced.