Boxing legend Muhammad Ali, one of the greatest sporting figures the world has ever known died this past weekend at the age of 74.

Born Cassius Clay, he first tasted success in boxing by winning a gold medal at the 1960 Olympics. He went on to become the world heavyweight champion winning 56 of his 61 fights. He retired from boxing in 1981.

He was crowned “Sportsman of the Century” by Sports Illustrated and “Sports Personality of the Century” by the BBC. He was renowned for his pre- and post-fight talk and bold fight predictions just as much as his boxing skills inside the ring.

I remember as a child watching him being interviewed by Michael Parkinson and being inspired by his oratory. He said that “he floated like a butterfly and stung like a bee.” He also had the greatest affirmation of all “I am the greatest” before he was.

I remember smiling at his declaration that he was the greatest. He truly believed it and many people have described him that way subsequently. Perhaps this provides some evidence and validation of the importance of self-belief and how affirmations like this combined with practical action can help dreams become reality..

Many tributes have been paid about his achievements and talent. The BBC website in its coverage included a piece on how Ali himself wished to be remembered:

“I would like to be remembered as a man who won the heavyweight title three times, who was humorous and who treated everyone right. As a man who never looked down on those who looked up to him, who stood up for his beliefs, who tried to unite all humankind through faith and love. And if all that’s too much, then I guess I’d settle for being remembered only as a great boxer who became a leader and a champion of his people. And I wouldn’t even mind if folks forgot how pretty I was.”

He has been described as unique by the world media. They have recounted stories of not just his boxing skills but also his stand on civil rights and his refusal to join the military in protest at the US war in Vietnam.

One of the reasons for Ali’s success as a boxer was that he was a big exponent of visualisation.

He called this “future history.” It is a mental process that we can all use to programme our minds for success.

Ali used to mentally rehearse every fight he had in his mind many times before stepping into the ring. He would see himself at the end of a fight with his arms aloft with the referee declaring him the winner and the champion. He would imagine hearing the crowd chanting his name and celebrating his victory.

He paid much attention to detail with his visualisation and used to back this up with predictions pre fight. He would tell his opponent when he was going to win the fight, predicting which round he would be declared the winner. He was extremely well prepared when he stepped into the ring both physically and mentally. In his mind he had already won the fight, he would direct all his focus and energy on making this a reality. He would give his sub conscious mind an instruction to find ways to help him make his visions come true.

Muhammad Ali not only lived his life with a strong sense of vision but also with intention and this led to his success in his career. It could be that you could use the power of visualisation to picture yourself achieving a goal. Maybe it can be realising a successful outcome for a project you are involved with. You might imagine increasing your income, generating higher sales results, losing weight or improving your score at golf.

Alternatively you may like to see yourself running further and faster or improving your performance in a sport or hobby that you are involved with

If you would like to give future history a go here are a few tips on the steps to take:

  • Consider/think about a goal or outcome that you would like to achieve
  • Visualise achieving it and have total belief in this happening
  • Notice in your imagination the sounds you can hear, what you can feel and see around you
  • Repeat the above as many times as you like. You can make the image brighter the sounds louder and with more intense feeling

Once you have concluded your visualisation, you can switch the vision from your imagination and with clear intention and focus take practical action steps to make it a reality.

This week why not take a few moments to think and reflect on how visualisation could help you create a picture of positive outcomes for a goal you are pursuing or a project that you are involved in.

This week’s quotation:

“What the mind can conceive and believe it can achieve.” Napoleon Hill.

To arrange a free no obligation consultation, please contact Stephen Pauley via the contact form or by e mail: Stephen@befirstclass.co.uk