Getting Started

Almost everything you will need to complete this course is included in this workbook. However, there are a few additional things you need to have handy before you begin:

¨ a pencil or pen;

¨ relaxing music and a portable cassette or CD player;

¨ drawing paper and drawing materials such as crayons and magic markers; and

¨ time set aside on a regular basis to spend working on the course.

You will need several hours each week for reading and doing the recommended exercises if you want to complete the course in a six-week period. You can, of course, take as much time as you like and complete the course at your own pace. I don’t recommend a shorter time than six weeks for completing all of the exercises, however, because there are two areas involved which benefit from the extended time: skill building and “percolating.” Percolating is thinking about and playing with new ideas in your head. It’s not something you deliberately do; it just naturally happens as you go about your daily life.

The pencil or pen, music and drawing materials will be relatively easy for you to acquire if you don’t already have them. However, the time set aside on a regular basis to work on the course might be a bit more challenging for you to arrange. Do what you need to do to create this time for yourself! Be sure that it is private time, and that you can work undisturbed by family, phone or other distractions.

Each unit covers a specific concept or idea that is a part of the creative visualization process. It is important that you complete the units in the order given and not skip around, because each unit builds upon the information given in previous units. Most units include activities or exercises for you to complete. Be sure to do these as instructed. They will help you to better understand what you are doing, why you are doing it and how it all fits together.

To complete the course in a six-week time period, I suggest completing the units as follows:

By the end of

Ø week 1, complete Units 1-3;

Ø week 2, complete Units 4 & 5;

Ø week 3, complete Unit 6 (and re-read Unit 1 as suggested);

Ø week 4, complete Unit 7;

Ø week 5, complete Unit 8; and

Ø week 6, compete Units 9 & 10.

I have written this workbook for this format. If you work through the material more slowly, that’s fine. Simply make adjustments as they seem appropriate to you.

Unit 1 is primarily a foundation-laying unit. I like to tell my classes that this is the “left-brained” part of the course. It’s the part where the left brain—the hemisphere of the brain which predominately uses the rational, logical, fact-finding and data processing modes of thinking—gets fed the information it needs to make some sense out of this new approach to accomplishing goals. Subsequent units will be more “right-brained,” working with the hemisphere of the brain which predominately uses the intuitive, creative, feeling and nurturing modes of thinking.

Before you begin Unit 1, I’d like for you to do the exercise below. It will help you to clarify some of your goals for this course so you can get the most out of the time you spend on it.

Identifying Your Goals for the Course

On the lines below write down the three main reasons you have chosen to take this course. In other words, what do you hope to get out of it?

1. _______________________________________________________________________

2. _______________________________________________________________________

3. _______________________________________________________________________

The reasons most commonly given by participants in my classes for wanting to take this course are

¨ to feel in greater control of their lives;

¨ to learn something new and different;

¨ because others have told them that creative visualization was a very effective technique for getting what they wanted;

¨ to experience greater spiritual and/or personal growth; and

¨ because they want a structure that will assist them in accomplishing goals they’ve already decided upon.

I’d bet that at least some of these reasons are very similar to your reasons for taking this course. But even if they’re not, knowing ahead of time what you want out of something will help you to get it as you go along. So please use this material to your best benefit, taking what feels valuable to you and leaving what doesn’t. Perhaps at a later time some things may make more sense to you or be of greater interest than they are now. That’s perfectly fine!

Go to Unit One