Key to vision: unlock the power of visualization

Keytovision is one of my core lines of courses. It teaches critical of personal growth: seeing the worthy goal, and getting things done. The main tool we use is visualization, however we do not look it to remember things. In a way our visualization is very much like computer simulation. And then things get more interesting, and our visualization can also control us.  More reading here, here, and here.

What can you achieve with visualization?

There are several profound way we can use visualization for productivity:

1. Simulate plausible activities and their results and build a decision tree. Think of a coach preparing for an important game.
2. Replay the same activity multiple times, increasing the proficiency of dealing with it. Consider a fighter pilot in a flight simulator.
3. Visualize a scenario that generates the emotional response and the mindset required for the next task. Hands up, feel your chest with the air, step into your circle of confidence and step out as winner.
4. Simulate an array of processing steps and stations, and plan the most effective and robust processing architecture. Like a chef in a kitchen.
5. Monitor and analyze trends for the perfect opportunity and timing. Traders do that.
6. Envision your life in a year, ten years, and your epitaph. Is that a life worth living? What would you change?

The list of things you can achieve with visualization is much longer, probably infinite. Yet, you can see that each time a very different set of visualization tools is used. It takes very long time to acquire the relevant tools. Maybe a year to require a large toolset and then several lifetimes to perfect the tools.

How can you teach so complex?

My approach to the skillset was very trivial. What can you learn for the maximal return on investment? How can these skills be combined for the optimal synergy?

1. Anchoring and diffusion. Before everything else you need to have the right mindset. Motivation can be built up by anchoring visualizations. Anxieties can be handled via diffusion techniques. The course itself covers a very wide array of CBT and NLP tools, when the focus is on visualization to control one’s mindset.
2. Productivity. First we build a sort of architectural approach to treat the things we need to do. Then we develop systematic creativity tools to use them when we are hyperproductive. And finally we describe all aspects of the hyperproductive “flow” state.  The visualization is used for optimization of the processes. I think x10 productivity can be guaranteed –  if it can be measured…
3. Investment. We invest attention, time and money. The growth is slow, but  it is exponential! So if we have patience, the results are incredible. First we consider various tools that we have to achieve the goals. But next… How do you envision yourself in the future? How do you envision the future trends? Now, do your thing and bridge the gap! If you have around 30 years for growth, you can almost for sure become powerful influencers and millionaires, or something else if you want.

Commitment to growth

Just like I ask you to be committed to your personal growth, I am committed to provide you with all the help you may need. I identified eight core courses and I am committed into making them great. Memory, speedreading, analysis  skills help in learning. Anchoring, productivity and investment are effective for reaching your goals. Speedwriting and teaching allow to help others, and also help yourself.

Each of these basic masterclasses should be 16 sections by 2025. I kind of know what the future sections will be, and I am committed to make them work. In 2021, the core courses are around 10 sections each. Not for long.

Are you equally committed to your personal growth? Will you be disciplined and persevering unlocking your personal vision?

The focus is on the road, rather than the destination

I personally visualize a lot, maybe half of my day. For different purposes. To memorize, deal with emotional issues, plan, and entertain myself. These are different forms of visualization.  Yet, all of them are fun! I have an ADHD and I cannot handle effectively anything but fun. So my days are full of quiet bliss. At least this is how Anna (my wife) describes that.

While over time significant achievements are almost guaranteed (if we do not die in a car crash or a massive earthquake), the efforts should be fruitful all the time. Otherwise, it is very hard to remain motivated. I deal with this aspect of practice in all of my courses, a large part of each course.

One of the things that makes the practice more interesting is creativity. I do not have a course that is dedicated to creativity. Instead I describe creativity in  all courses in different setups: research creativity, business creativity and artistic creativity. These are different kinds of creativity, yet they work together wonderfully.

In the same way, I do not have a dedicated course for mindfulness. Mindfulness is an integral part of all activities. Each masterclass has sections dealing with different aspects of mindfulness.

Vision can be unlocked but cannot be measured

In speedreading, memory or perception training everything can be measured.  Most of my students are addicted to improving the measurable aspects. How can you measure the vision?

Considers startups. Some startups bring revenues from the first day, but these startups usually grow very slowly. Other startups grow very fast, losing boatloads of money, but these are our shining unicorns. And then there are social endeavors. How do we measure those?

Focusing on the way occasionally requires a different kind of measurement. What critical skills did you master? Which limitations did you overcome? Did your habits change in a positive way? And then there is a firm positive believe, that eventually over many years the progress will pay off. It is not even something we know – it is something profoundly motivating like a religious conviction. If people around you share the same conviction, everything is easier.

Whose vision is locked?

Some people unlock their visualizations and use them almost effortlessly. This is especially true for  those who practice meditation, swimming and diving, long-distance running. Meditation deals with mindful visualizations. Swimmers live is a sort of sensual deprivation and need to visualize to get by. Runners visualize to deal with pain and increase stamina.

Others cannot effectively visualize. They often claim aphantasia. Even though the visualization does not have to be vivid, people who do not get vivid visualization experience some sort of personal issues. Guess what! My visualizations are usually very flat and schematic, yet I use them effectively all day long!

Visualization is locked for people who are high on anxiety and perfectionism. They do not allow themselves to daydream, as they are busy doing important things. Guess what: structured daydreaming is probably more important than anything you can do in “real life”!

Dealing with unrealistic expectations

With the power of visualization you can achieve almost anything. Only you have to be patience. I mean REALLY patient. Suppose you invest your money. One program offers you 4% annual returns, the other offers you 6%. It is clear that within 30 years the difference will be colossal, but within a couple of years it may be negligible.

Visualization works the same way. You aggregate small achievements over a very long period. If you are disciplined and practiced, the change will be colossal. Only if you consider one year you might not notice it or not attribute it correctly. It is a longterm game with very high stakes.

Ask a professional trader you know what he is willing to do for just one percent of alpha. After your hear the response: double that! And be patient.

The only skill you will ever need

Some of my friends argue that learning is the only skill you will ever need. I respectfully disagree. Applying knowledge unimaginatively will get you nowhere. Computers do that better than humans. What you really need is visualization, as a creative force capable of changing the reality. Both the perceived reality and the reality that can be measured!