Your parents were not wrong. To get what you want in life...a slimmer waistline, a better job, less stress, greater wealth, happier relationships, more victories, fewer disappointments...there is no substitute for hard work.

There is, however, an effective supplement. It's a powerful technique employed by people in all walks of life to help them reach personal and professional goals.

VISUALISATION.

Studies of countless achievers have shown it to be true. You are more likely to attain what you desire if you can clearly see yourself doing so.

In the late 1800s, before building the first alternating current motor, Nikola Tesla did something even more inventive. He spent several months constructing the entire device IN HIS MIND. He imagined exactly where each piece would go, what it would do even when it would wear out - and he was right!

Joe Voeltner, an overweight chain-smoker, used visualisation to help himself shed 37 pounds and a 20-year tobacco habit.

Bruce Jenner trained for the 1976 Olympic Decathlon in his living room every night. He would sit back, close his eyes, and visualise himself competing in each event. He saw himself capturing the gold medal in Montreal. And he did.

Throughout history, one winner after another has described how visualising success contributed to it.

Harvard, Yale, and Stanford give visualisation an A+

Steven De Vore, former CEO and Chairman of Sybervision, conducted a collaborative study with some of the nation's most renowned universities. He interviewed and observed numerous chief officers of major U.S. corporations, men and women who regularly practice visualisation techniques in their professional and personal lives.

In the end, these business 'movers and shakers' revealed a common characteristic.

"They knew what they wanted out of life ," De Vore reported. "They could see, taste, smell, and imagine the sounds and feelings associated with achieving their goals . . . before they ever reached them. A sharply developed sensory vision became one of the most powerful driving forces in their lives."

The Amazing Monks of Tibet

Still questioning the validity of 'mind over matter'? Other cultures around the world have believed in visualisation for ages - and practice it religiously to this day.

In Tibet, novice monks are eventually put to the ultimate test of spirit and commitment. They're seated naked in freezing weather, then wrapped in icy wet sheets. They must dry the sheets, seven times in a row, by visualising flames within themselves - and thus mentally raising their own body temperatures!

Oh yes, visualisation works. There's no doubt about it.

So, why aren't more people visualising their ways to happier, more successful lives? The answer is quite simple - people just don't know enough about visualisation, or how to correctly use it. Or they're among the many 21st century sceptics, slow to believe what they can't see with the naked eye.

More than 'Positive Thinking'

Like every valuable skill, visualisation must be learned and practiced correctly. That's why so many of the world's top executives and all-star athletes have their own visualisation coaches.

'The soul cannot think without pictures.' - Aristotle

In 1954, Roger Bannister visualised himself running faster than any man ever had. Over and over, he ran track laps in his mind. Then at long last, on 5/6/54, he became the first human ever to break the four-minute mile . . . 3:59.4.

"Your vision will become clear only when you look into your heart. Who looks outside, dreams. Who looks inside, awakens." - Carl Jung

"I can't change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination" - Jimmy Dean