85. See It, Achieve It: How Visualization Can Help You Reach Your Goals

Today I'm sharing an often overlooked yet powerful strategy to help speech pathologists achieve their goals: visualization. Whether you're struggling to start a report, establish a new habit, or manage changes in your schedule, visualization can offer clarity about how to get there and a catalyst to get you started. Tune in to learn how this strategy can be applied to both personal and professional tasks/goals, and be sure to share your experiences in the SLP Support Group.

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Transcript

Speaker: [00:00:00] Welcome to Work Life Balance for Speech Pathologists. I'm Theresa Harp, an SLP and productivity coach, and this podcast is all about how to build a successful career as an SLP and still have time for yourself and the people and things you love. So if you're ready to ditch stress and burnout for a more balanced and fulfilling life, then you are in the right place. Let's dive in. 

Hey, SLPs, PTs, OTs. Welcome to the show. I am warning you, this episode is totally off the cuff, was not planned. I actually was planning on recording an episode about boundaries and I, I, I just felt compelled to pop on and record this episode, which is not about boundaries. It is about a little known or I would say little used strategy that is going to [00:01:00] help those of you who have ever found yourself struggling to initiate a task, like starting a report, having to write a report and being really, really stuck in getting it going, how to begin.

that task. For those of you who have maybe set a goal, a personal goal, or you have a new habit that you want to build into your daily routine and you're struggling. Maybe those of you who have had a change in schedule, maybe there's been a shift in your schedule, whether that's your family schedule, your personal schedule, your client schedule.

I mean, hello, this is This is what we do all the time. You all know what I'm talking about. So any of you that have any, have ever experienced anything like that, this is going to be a good one. Okay. I promise you [00:02:00] whatever. Wherever you're coming from, whatever it is that you need, whatever it is that you are struggling with and trying to work on, regardless of what that is, this strategy will be useful.

Okay, so stay with me. Now, the strategy that I'm going to talk about, if I actually haven't named this episode yet, So, as I'm recording this, so I'm not sure what the title, if the title is going to tip you off in terms of which strategy I'm talking about, but it is the skill of visualization. It is the skill of visualizing, picturing, imagining the result that it is that you are trying to create.

Whether that is, like I said, handing in a report on time or beginning a report or creating a new workout routine or going to bed at a certain time routinely or [00:03:00] eating a vegetable once a day. Okay, whatever that is. The strategy of visualizing not just the results. that you want to create, but also the process of how you get there is something that we all can do, but so few of us actually utilize.

We just don't do this. We don't stop to imagine and picture what it would look like. And I'm not just talking about, you know, close your eyes and you see yourself in the bikini. If that's, you know, for just to illustrate the point. If that's what your goal is, who cares? Great for you, good for you, but you get the idea, right?

It's not just to be able to picture you with it. It is to help you imagine and help you conceptualize what things you need to do, what thoughts you need to [00:04:00] think in order to get there. How does that person show up? How do they feel? How do they look? What do they, what are they thinking about? what sorts of people are in their lives, who do they associate, who do, who do they spend time with, what do they eat for breakfast, right?

So really looking at all of these different components, these little minutiae that are seemingly unrelated to the actual result that you want, but that can actually help you get the result that you want. And I'm going to talk about. Why that is okay. I think this is for a number of reasons, but I'm going to talk about it too important reasons of why I think this, why this is.

So, when we are visualizing the thing that we want, okay? When we are visualizing the [00:05:00] habit or the pattern that we want to create, we do two things. Number one, we get some clarity about how to get there. Okay? We, it doesn't always, But you can really start to get some clarity and insight and awareness about how that result will come about.

And you also begin to experience the feelings that you'll have when you have that result as if you already have it right now. So if you start picturing you in the bikini, or for me, I don't know why I keep going there, but for me, It would be, let's say, oh, okay, let's think about what one of, what, what one of my goals are.

Okay, this is totally unrelated to speech, but I'm just throwing it out there. I told you off the cuff. One of my personal goals for this year is related to, uh, cleaning up our digital [00:06:00] technology, our photos, photos online, okay? Trying to get a better storage system and, and set up. And so if I visualize what that looks like, if I sit there and imagine myself, With, I open my computer and I see folders, I know exactly where they are, I double click and inside I see folders that are labeled according to year.

And then when I open up those folders, I see more folders that are labeled according to, I don't know, event of, or seasons from that year. And then I can open those and I see the photos. That go from or came from that time and they're all organized, they're easy to find, I know exactly where to look, right?

And as I think about that, as I visualize that, I start to feel that sense of peace, that sense of control, that sense of order, that sense of [00:07:00] safety, that sense of calm, right? I can sort of trick my brain to feel it now and it really helps light that fire and it increases the belief in my ability to have that.

It also strengthens my why. It also really gives me that stronger connection for why this matters, why this is important. And that's just by, you know, 30 seconds, a minute of me visualizing and talking it through. I also, by visualizing it and talking it through, that is what made me, what made me realize or discover that the potential organization system for my photos is going to be folders on my computer labeled by year, and then within each year labeled by, what did I say, uh, season or events or [00:08:00] something, right?

Those sort of potential strategies to get that result. I wasn't even aware that that's one way that I wanted to set up my photos. Maybe that is, maybe that isn't, but now I have a starting point. Now I have some actual tangible material, mental material that I can work with to start tackling this goal. If I hadn't visualized it, this goal would just be sitting written.

In my planner, written down as a, you know, dream, a thing on my checklist, a thing on my goal planning board that never actually amounts to anything because it's just, it's written down, which is great, that's a step in the right direction if you're writing your goals down, that's great, but then I tuck it away and I never really think about it again, right?

That's not effective. I do think about it again, actually. I'll think about it every time I'm in a situation where I need to find a [00:09:00] certain picture for a certain event or from a certain event, or I'm trying to, you know, come up with a gift idea, and I know we had a really great photo of my daughter and her godmother, and, ah, but God knows where it is, right?

And then I start going down that shame spiral of, God, Teresa, why can't you just Get this together. Why don't you just have these photos organized? This is supposed to be something on your to do list This is something on your goal list. Like what what is wrong with you? You'll never gonna get it together That is a totally different experience and spoiler alert that Experience that last one does not lead to the result that I'm trying to create So if I haven't sold you on the idea of visualization yet Um, I'm not sure that I will, but I really want you to think about that possibility for you and what that might look like.

All right. Now let's talk about this in terms of report writing, in terms of actual [00:10:00] speech tasks, speech responsibilities, and, um, Really look at how you can take this goal, or I'm sorry, this strategy of visualization and use it to write a report. Okay? And the reason why I'm picking this example is because it is the number one topic that I coach on with clients, especially for those who have ADHD or suspect that they have ADHD.

And I know that it is something that Almost all of you who are listening will be able to relate to, whether you're currently writing reports in this season of your professional career, or you've been there before, you know how this goes. Okay? So, what I was talking with with my client was, when it comes time to write a report, For so many of us, especially those who have ADHD or neurodivergent brain, it is not as simple as [00:11:00] just writing the report.

And I don't know about you, but I get really frustrated when I hear someone tell me or when some one of my clients tells me. That someone told them, just do it. Oh, it's not so bad. It's not so hard. Just do it. If it was, you know, if you had just started already instead of complaining and instead of, you know, avoiding it, it would have been done by now.

Well, yes. We, we know that. Yes, thank you. It's not as simple as just doing it. And so I said, what are those things? What are those little, little like ankle biters, as my husband will, husband will call them. Those little annoying obstacles that either prevent you from starting or you start and then you never actually get to the report writing itself.

So we said, like, what are those things? Well, [00:12:00] those things for her, for me, for many of you, I suspect are, okay, wait, who's this kid that I'm writing the report for? Oh, yes. All right. I got to find their file. Wait, do I have their file on this computer or that computer? Do I have to go back and search for the file on my computer?

Or is it labeled really clearly and I know where to find it? Oh gosh, if I have to find, if I have to actually search for the file on my computer, what search terms am I going to put in? Like how did I label it? Did I label it by initial? Did I label it by first name? Did I label it by an ID, patient ID or student ID?

Right? So right now we've just identified the block of not knowing where to retrieve the information, where to find the information that is needed. Then we need to look at, do you know what information is needed? So it's not just knowing where the [00:13:00] information is, but also you need to know what information to find.

Are we looking for test protocols? Are we looking for something on Q global? Is that what it's called? The, you know, online scoring? Are we looking for something, you know, a paper, paper copies of test protocols? Are we looking for test manuals that we need for scoring? Do we have the score sheets with the file?

Or are they somewhere separate in a pile of you know, a doom pile maybe on our desk, right? Do we have all of the test protocols? How many tests did we administer? Well, where are all of those test results? Where are those test protocols? Are they all together? Making sure we have all of the ones that we administered.

Having to then remember, okay, go back and look. Did I, I know I said I wanted to do these assessment tools, but what did I actually get done [00:14:00] during the evaluation? What did I shift? What did I pivot towards? You get the idea, right? There's lots of little, mini, I don't know, steps, tasks that we have to figure out and plan for.

And I can promise you that this will be easier to do for those of you, especially who are neurodivergent, when you visualize it before you take action. So I know for me, what would often happen is I would just start sometimes. I would start and I would then be searching, I would then be overwhelmed, I didn't know what I was searching for, I would hop from, you know, one thing to the next without a clear plan of what I needed and where I would find it.

So when I paused. And I planned it out in my head, talked it through out loud, self talk, huge, [00:15:00] huge advocate for that strategy, it works very well for me, self talk, and then visualize where I would go to find it. That is the simplest thing that makes the biggest difference. Oh my gosh. It sounds so trivial.

It sounds so silly. It sounds Unnecessary, fluffy maybe, but it is so helpful. I'll give you another example, not really related to reports, but maybe this will help illustrate. I'm going to throw in a personal, like a, you know, personal life example. At the end of the day, for me, Okay, when it is the end of the day before I go to bed and it is time for me to do the bedtime routine for myself, you know, fill up my water, sleep with water next to my bed, fill up my water, um, uh, get, find my, my phone, my headphones.

And usually my iPad, I bring those up to [00:16:00] charge, um, you know, run the dishwasher, lock up, go upstairs, get into my pajamas. Wash my face, brush my teeth, put on lotion, you know, whatever those little tasks are Between me and bedtime. Oh another one taking off my necklaces at night If I wear jewelry and have to take off necklaces, take off my rings, take off my Apple watch to charge Right, so all those little little steps.

I at the end of the day it can take me Two, three times as much, as long when I just try to do it without thinking about what I'm doing. And it sounds counterintuitive because it is a habit that I do every night. I mean, it is a routine that I do every night. It doesn't look all that different from night to night, yet it can feel really hard.

At the end of the day, probably because I've got very little bandwidth [00:17:00] left. I'm exhausted, right? My brain is tired. I'm also then thinking about everything on my, you know, lists or radar for the next day. So I'm not being very present in what I'm doing in the moment. I'm thinking either Back on something that happened during the day or I'm thinking ahead to something that's going to happen and it can feel really Frustrating to try and do all of those things it can feel Dysregulating I can feel I can sort of lose track of where I am and what I have left to do like I'll you know Get into bed and then realize I didn't brush my teeth or I'll put on lotion and then realize I still have to take off my necklaces and Now my hands are all, you know, lotioned up and now I can't get my necklace off.

You know what I mean? It sounds so silly, but that's. That's the truth. That's how difficult it can be, but the skill of or the strategy and skill of visualization [00:18:00] because it is a skill to develop is helpful. It helps me to know what's coming next. Where am I right now? What's coming next? Where do I have to go for that?

Talk it out loud to myself and that way I'm anchoring in into the moment. I'm more present. I'm more aware. I'm activating more senses. Right? I'm making it multimodal. So it becomes more smooth and efficient and it requires less bandwidth, if you will. Okay. So many times we think that we just have to start and just do it.

And that, while that can be a really helpful approach in many different scenarios and for different people, it's not always the best approach. So just pausing. Planning in your mind and visualizing what that's going to look like, how you're going to get there can make a world of a [00:19:00] difference. Try it out this week.

Try it with personal tasks or goals or habits. Try it with professional tasks, goals, or habits. You can try this with absolutely anything. Absolutely anything. And I would love to know how it goes. Pop into the SLP support group, share your feedback, and feel free to ask any questions. I'm always there to help.

Alright, that's it for today. I'll talk to you all next week. Bye!