Do you have a business bucket list?

Did you see the movie “The Bucket List?” Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson played men who didn’t have too long to live. They each wrote up a bucket list, a list of things they wanted to do or accomplish before they kicked the bucket (as we say in the South).

Why not apply the concept to your business? You can do this whether you have your own business or a job, although you have a bit more control when you’re the boss. What do you want to do before you retire or sell your business?

Here are some ideas:

1. Appear on TV or have your own show talking about your business.
2. Serve 100 customers (or maybe 1,000 or 10,000).
3. Have your own patent or trademark.
4. Do business in a foreign country.
5. Speak to an audience of 500 people about your business.
6. Write a book about your business.
7. Participate in a mastermind or hire a coach.
8. Win an award.
9. Sell your business for $1 million (or $10 million).
10. Run for office.
11. Hire your first (or tenth) employee.
12. Become a mentor for others.
13. Serve on a board of directors of a Fortune 500 company.
14. Learn to quantum leap your business.
15. Break six figures a year (or a month).

What does your business bucket list look like?

Secrets from the Olympians

Peter’s boss had quite a reputation of being hard to please. Peter’s co-worker, Molly, had just been yelled at and was developing a fear of him. She was assigned to develop a presentation for him and was scared.

Peter learned about motor imagery a few days before Molly was to present. He asked Molly to visualize every detail about the way she wanted the presentation to go: seeing how it would start, practicing what she would say, visualizing how she would gesture, crafting what the slides looked like, noticing the pleased look on the boss’s face, listening to his praise about how well she did during the presentation, answering questions well, and walking out with a smile on her face. She imagined this mental rehearsal in her mind over and over again the night before the presentation.

On the day of the presentation, Molly nailed it. Peter’s boss melted and felt Molly did an outstanding job, increasing his confidence in her and her credibility in his eyes. Molly felt competent and gained confidence as well. Peter was very pleased that the whole thing worked out so well for all.

What Peter showed Molly how to do is motor imagery, and it’s something you can learn too. Motor imagery (MI) is defined as a mental representation of movement without any body movementⁱ. It’s also called mental imagery and mental simulation of action. Motor imagery has been shown to be very effective in motor skill learning.

Here are a couple examples of how it’s been studied in the lab.

• One scientist had new piano players try this method. The imagining players were as accurate after two hours of practice as ones who actually practiced for five days.ⁱⁱ
• MI has been used to helped paralyzed individuals become more independent by designing machines that can read their thoughts.
• When one scientistⁱⁱⁱ had subjects imagine running on a treadmill at speeds of 5, 8, and 10 kilometers per hour, both heart rate and breathing rate went up relative to the imagined speed, powerful evidence that imagery alone can engage the autonomic nervous system.

Olympic gold medal winner Peter Vidmar spent years visualizing the same scenario every morning. He would imagine himself walking into the gymnasium, performing his routine, hearing the crowd cheer, seeing his judge’s score, and accepting the gold medal. It happened as he imagined it.

How can you apply motor imagery to your life for improved learning and performance when it counts?