Matthew 21:22 (New International Version)22If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer."

You must see your goals clearly and specifically before you can set out for them. Hold them in your mind until they become second nature. --Les Brown

Here we are at part III and the final Keep Life Simple article; Keep Your Vision Simple.

We have already discussed exercise and nutrition in Part I and II. The next step is visualization, which is going to conquer what most of us struggle with; motivation. Keeping your vision is what motivates you to stay the course-no matter what-and complete your fitness goals.

You might be thinking that you dont visualize very well. Maybe you just havent practiced visualization.or have you? When you read the stories in the Bible and heard them as a child did you ever see very clear pictures of Noah building an Arc, the slaves building the pyramids, the Red Sea closing over the guards and chariots, Jonah in the belly of the whale, Jesus dying on the cross? You clearly saw pictures of what was happening in your mind. That is visualizing.

If you need props to visualize try one or all of these ideas: Make up a visualization book. Go through your old magazines and find pictures that represent what you wish to visualize. I have my pictures in a binder in protective pages. I have different sections for each type of visual. I have pictures of gardens, homes, offices, clothing, and people that I consider mentors. You may think Ive completely gone off my rocker but, I even went as far as to cut out a picture of my face and stick it in the face of a runner that I liked. I chose someone with the same type of body that I have minus the pounds I wanted to lose. Someone that had already accomplished what I wanted to do.

You can make a bulletin board and stick up pictures of your goals. You can write vision statements and use them during visualization. You are visualizing your goals as if they are already completed. Have fun with this. If your goal is to drop 30 pounds your vision may go something like this:

I am shopping and I pass up the size 18 dresses and I go directly to size 10. Red has always been my favorite color. It makes me feel lively, full of energy and confident. I find the perfect dress; it a little flirty but tasteful. Its perfect and it looks great on me. My husband is taking me out tonight and I want to look great. fast forward to eveningI finish getting ready for our evening out, walk out of the bedroom with my new, red dress on and my husbands eyes pop. He tells me how gorgeous I look and how proud he is of me.

Thats just one example. The idea is to really get associated with how you feel, whats going on around you, what are the smells, the lighting, what does my hair look like, who else is there, everything. Get into it. When we have a goal like weight loss its not just about the weight loss. Its how you feel about that weight loss. What would it mean to you? Would you be more confident? Is your life more in balance? What is it for you?

When you are going through the visualization process what is the posture of your body? How do you feel? Im visualizing you with lots of energy, shoulders back, feeling great. When you accomplish your goals, even if its only in your visualization for now, theres a sense of power and confidence which anchors more power and confidence.

God has great plans and blessings for you. Hes just waiting for you to realize that. Speed up the process. Visualize and believe God for it.

You will get to the point that you can flip into your visualization pretty quickly. I like to add visualization to my workouts. Visualize what it is that I want my body to look like. Visualize running past people as you are nearing the finish line of a race. I reinforce my visualizations with affirmation statements and scripture. I speak them as a cadence. If you have trouble with writing out visualization statements or positive power statements, use your favorite ones from previous chapters of this book. One of my favorite positive power statements is:

Im lean, fit, healthy, strong. Im Gods Temple, YES!

I have two scriptures that have also gotten me through tough workouts that I didnt think I could complete or didnt want to complete. Jesus has gotten me through some pretty heavy lifts and some faster than normal runs.

Philippians 4:13 (New International Version) 13I can do everything through him who gives me strength.

Luke 1:37 (New Living Translation) 37For nothing is impossible with God."

The second scripture I changed slightly in words but not in context to make a cadence.

With God ALL things are possible, yes!

If you do want to anchor your visualization by using positive power statements (I suggest you do), be sure to speak them as if they have already happened. Speak them in the present tense. You may not feel that you are lean, fit, healthy or strong at this time but, if you speak it your mind starts to take on habits and make choices that will help you attain that goal. You can reinforce the positive power statement by writing it on an index card and speaking it over and over during the day.

Keep life Simple and never, ever give up!