A class member in one of our jail classes (Let’s call him Joe) asked me this question: “I have been back in jail four times; when I get out this time, how do I stop doing the things which keep me coming back?”  We could tell he was seriously asking.  He had made the decision many times in the past, but said he just didn’t know how to do it.  This is the case, by the way, for most of the guys who come to our classes.

We were covering Vision that week.  I started out by teaching the concept of ‘substitution’.  You can’t just stop doing something which is a habit for you–and you can’t tell someone else, “just stop doing that”!  It doesn’t work.  It is like taking something away from a baby who is enjoying playing with it.  The baby will reach out and cry for it back.  If you don’t want her to play with it, give her something else in its place you know she will enjoy as much or more.  This is the concept of substitution.  If you want to stop doing something, substitute a behavior you do want in place of the behavior you don’t want.

Next we covered the power of Vision.  We shared many examples of how Vision has made amazing differences in a person’s performance and outcomes. Then, taught what a Vision is and isn’t and gave them the process of creating their own Visions and how to make them real.

I asked Joe if he wanted to try something–he said yes.  I asked him what was the most important thing to him which would inspire a new way of thinking and acting.  He said his family–wife and two boys.  I asked him to close his eyes and picture a day in the life of his family–a perfect day, then asked him to share his picture.  At first he started to talk about the picture he saw. Sometimes he would use the past tense, sometimes future tense.  I stopped him and reminded him that this picture, for it to be real, needed to be in the present tense–as if it were happening right now. We need to be IN it, not talk about it.  He started again.  This time was different.  Amazingly different.

He painted a picture so real, we all felt like we were there with them.  By the time he was finished there wasn’t a dry eye in the place.  When we looked at him, he was different.  It was like he was transformed into a different person.  His face was bright, his eyes were sparkling, he sat taller in his chair and had a great big smile on his face.  That picture was real to him.

I told him if he painted that picture for himself every day just like he did–made it that real every time, we would never see him in here again.  For the next six weeks he came to class he was the same different guy.  Everyone commented and those who were in the same pod as he said they hardly recognized him.

i believe that Vision, combined with the other skills and tools he learned, has changed Joe forever.  It will do the same for you and me.  Paint yourself a picture of what you want–in the present tense, as if it is happening right now, and the power of that reality will work for you.  When you can paint that clear and present a picture of a future you desire [with you IN it], you will have it.  Do it and let us know the results.

To Your Intentional Success!