2017 Party!

Some of my family and friends know that for a few months I've been listening to audio books instead of the radio in my car. Sometimes, I give myself a little break and listen to a song or two, but I honestly feel that listening to motivational books is a better use of my time in the car.

One of the audio books, The Success Principles by Jack Canfield, is a book that I have already read but I knew I could use hearing it again. Jack talks about how in 1986 (ish - can't remember exact year) he went to a 1991 Party where every attendee was to act as if it was 1991 and they had accomplished all of the goals they had for the next 5 years.

He mentions how everyone was dressed and was acting as if they had become that person they wanted to be in 5 years- retired, successful, expert in their fields, etc. The one guy that sticks to me is the one who wanted to be a successful stock broker. He dressed in a fancy suit and hired someone to call him every 15 minutes during the party so that he could say "Sell 5000 shares, Buy 500 shares!" This guy knew precisely how he wanted to live in 5 years, down to the frequency of phone calls he wanted to be getting- all related to the field he wanted to be successful in - Stock Exchange.

The point is to visualize yourself having the things and being where you want to be, even if you are not there yet. The thinking process behind this moves your mind to attract those things that you want. Sounds deep? It is, and it takes a few times of trying it and watching it work to be truly convinced.

I'll give you my personal example, and one of the most recent successes for my business, our new studio space. We were incubated for 1.5 years at the Santa Fe CIED, which was one of the most beneficial experiences we've had as a business. We were ready for our own space, cement floors, paint on the walls and cute retail items. I envisioned a long space, and I would see myself looking down the space, with my drawings on the wall. I would see our guests sitting in rows all facing towards the back where the artist was. I would also see our retail items at the entrance of the space. And, this is where it gets tricky. I had to find a landlord who would understand the transition I was about to go through with my business. I needed someone who would do some sort of temporary "post incubator" transition and allow me to pay up to the full amount after a few months. I attempted about 5 times to speak to landlords and look at spaces, and none of them ever worked out. Then, after seeing a space advertised for a while, I went for it. When I went to look at the space, it was too small for our needs, and then... my landlord said "Let me show you this space over here" and off we went to suite E-5. He asked me- "how do you like it" and I said "well, I love it, it's perfect, but it is above my budget."

And then (and here is where my envisioning having this conversation a thousand times before comes in...) He said- "well, how much can you pay?" and I said " well, I can pay $xxx for a few months, and after that I'm sure I'll be able to pay the full amount." He said, "how many months do you think it would take for you to get on your feet?"

This whole time I was thinking 4 months, but I was almost afraid to say it because I didn't want to push things too far- they were already going good!

And I hesitated... and he said "do you think you could do it in 4 months?" and the rest is history.

Today, we have a studio space at the one that my landlord showed me. I've stood in the front, where the retail items are, looked back at the rows of guests all facing the same way, watching the instructor at the front, surrounded by my drawings on the wall. All because I thought it many times before.