Imagination Wins the Stanley Cup

After the dust settled at this years NHL finals, the winner came down to the team who imagined having it with more conviction. Convincingly, that team was the Pittsburgh Penguins, and they were lead by the imagination of their young captain, Sydney Crosby.

After accepting the Stanley Cup as the youngest NHL captain to hoist it, 21-year old Crosby confirmed the importance of both your dreams and imagination when he told NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman: “It’s a dream come true… It’s everything you imagined and more.”

And imagine this scenario in his mind he did… Crosby has admitted to dreaming of hoisting the Stanley Cup too many times to count, although if you asked him, I’m sure he would admit it was a small price to pay to eventually be able to experience the feeling in real life. Dreams come true when you are passionate enough about making them happen.

People often want the results they can imagine but they are just not committed or capable of doing what it takes over time to achieve those results. To get the results we want in life we must offer up an equivalent of value in exchange. In Crosby’s case, it was his determination, resiliency and willpower that showed and told the universe that it was him who wanted this reality more than anyone else.

There are a lot of factors to be considered when it comes to winning a sports title. It can’t be based on dreams alone, because there are as many imaginations genuinely intent on winning Lord Stanley’s cup as there are players in the NHL. When there are multiple candidates and only one reality, like in sports or the lottery, the winner is the person who is imagines their success most clearly and confidently.

When it comes to winning things like awards, sports titles, and even the lottery, the winner is simply determined by the person who is able to demonstrate that they want it more. And why shouldn’t the Universe work on this principal? Deep down inside we all know that a reward system like this is fair, reasonable and beneficial for everyone.

For example, if you had a priceless antique that you had to give away, if given the chance to choose, you would probably prefer that the person already had some appreciation of antiques to begin with correct? Similarirly, if you had to give your prized pet away you would want to ensure it went to an animal lover over animal abuser. The Universe is no different, it wants to make sure our desires are genuine before rewarding us.

When you desire something but lack the willpower to get it success is unlikely. However, when your willpower and your desires are aligned nothing can stop you. People and professional athletes often become unstoppable when they use a crystal clear vision of success to drive their willpower. Anything you can conceive (desire) and believe (willpower) you can achieve.

Hockey legend Wayne Gretzky used to imagine the puck going into the net moments before he shot. Tiger Woods, one of the most dominating forces in Golf wins because he imagines being the greatest golfer alive. Not only does he believe in his vision, he also has a clear definition for what exactly that means.

You can model the success of athletes like Crosby, Gretzky and Woods by taking a page out of their imagination playbooks. Take a moment and think about what your favorite idol, mentor or hero(ine) has done that you would like to do. How did they go about getting it done? How did they use the power of visualization to aid and assist them along their journey. How can you apply or adopt the same principals to help with your success?

I’m not sure the name of the team that will win the 2010 Stanley Cup, nor can I tell you who will be the captain to hoist it come June. What I can tell you is that as you read these very words the winner is already earning their right to win by first winning in the realm of imagination. If you can imagine it possible you can take steps everyday to make it possible.

Have you downloaded a copy of “The 7 Imagination Misuses” yet? In it I describe in detail the 7 most common mental blocks that prevent people from getting exactly what they want. How would it feel in your life if you could re-structure your subconscious so that is is programmed for automatic success? Get what you really want with alot less hassle with Subconscious Restructuring.

Manifesting a Muscle Cramp

If you have ever experienced a muscle cramp in your legs it is not a pleasant feeling. Before the New Year I finished the last game of ball hockey in pain, as I was overcome by one of these cramps. In the New Year I promised myself to do whatever it takes to stop this habit from forming.

The first thing that I did was visualize a great game of hockey. While it wasn’t specifically visualizing NOT having a cramp, the point was to visualize the end result of a game well-played. This step assumes that a game cannot be played well if I was injured and thus organizes people and events to produce this result. Whether it was the brand new hockey stick or a result of this visualization process, I scored more goals and got more assists than ever before!

More importantly, I didn’t receive any muscle cramps that game. Not even close. My legs felt limber and I had the energy to run around at seemingly mach speeds. Do you think that my visualization prior to the game had any effect on the outcome? I do… Here’s why…

The very next game after the one without any cramps I forgot to visualize. Well to be more specific, it wasn’t that I forgot to visualize, it is that I visualized running into trouble. Since I knew that this thought wouldn’t benefit me in any way, I tried to replace the thought with the “great game” strategy mentioned above. However, I could feel that my emotion was placed in “resisting” and “avoiding” the pain, not in having a great game. This is an important point, because our experiences (past and future) are encoded by the emotions that we feel when experiencing it.

Since I hadn’t yet experienced the situation, experiencing these emotions acted like a huge magnet that attracted more emotions just like it. Sure enough, by the end of the game my legs were fatiguing and I could tell my legs were tiring out. The worry that I now had about getting a cramp acted to accelerate the process and before you knew it BOTH of my legs cramped up. Up until this point only one leg had been affected, yet somehow, the emotional resistance I felt to getting a cramp seemed to amplify the negative result.

If you experience muscle cramps you might want to check out this blog post for information on how to stretch it out. If you want to step up the mental game you have before playing or exercising then you’ll want to check out my Platinum Coaching Program. There I will take you through the necessary steps to creating the results that you want and avoiding the situations that you don’t want.