What Is Your Stragegy?

(This blog was originally posted on April 11, 2014)

Photo courtesy of Sara Fogan

I stopped at a local Starbucks® on my way home from the barn today. It was a hot afternoon so I thought an iced beverage would be a good choice: but, which one? Sweetened iced tea? Iced coffee?  Iced tea or tea with lemonade would be refreshing, but I would probably drink it very fast and need something more to completely quench my thirst. Iced coffee was a possibility. Then again, an iced hazelnut latte or an iced caramel macchiato was appealing, but the milk and syrups would make the drinks seem too heavy and less likely to quench my thirst. The line was long enough that I had several minutes to ponder my options. Even though I was going to use a gift card to pay for the drink I still had to consider the cost: iced tea costs less than a latte, a latte is less expensive than the macchiato…what did I want to drink, and did I have enough on the card to pay for a more expensive beverage? (I thought so.)

I still hadn’t completely made up my mind when the barista asked me what I would like to order. Ultimately, I settled on none of the drinks that I and I had previously considered and ordered a Starbucks double shot over ice. On the one hand, I wasn’t really surprised about my ultimate choice because it is my favorite, go-to beverage on a hot day. Its strong flavor and the image of milk swirling and drifting to the bottom of the plastic cup are so aesthetically appealing to me as to be temporarily mesmerizing. Also, since I used to prepare this drink at a local Barnes and Noble Café, its sight, smell and taste have become “knowns” in my subconscious mind. So, why did it take so long for me to make up my mind that I wanted this beverage before I ordered it? It’s not like this was a major purchase or anything…

On the other hand, when I really want to do something—when something is very important to me—I just do it. I don’t do too much strategizing about how to attain that specific goal, either. I basically just visualize, imagine, picture and pretend that I have already achieved it and then carry on as if success is a foregone conclusion. When I decided to pursue my postgraduate degree in London, England, I worked hard to earn the requisite grade-point average that would qualify me for a spot on the course; then I just sent in the application and waited for my acceptance letter. Similarly, when I decided that I wanted to fulfill one of my lifelong dreams to own a horse, I simply pitched a couple of offers to my then-trainer, Jim O’Leary, to buy one of his schooling horses that I liked. When Jim and his wife, Connie, accepted my second bid, I bought the horse. (They even let me write the purchase agreement.)

One of the classes in my Neurolinguistic Programming certification course at the Hypnosis Motivation Institute addressed strategies for achieving a goal. It wasn’t until I volunteered to allow one of the instructors, Joe Leeway, C.Ht., and my classmates analyze my horse-purchasing strategy that I realized a lot more thought and planning typically goes into accomplishing a major goal or task. My process seemed to be overly simplistic, similar to the motto I once saw on a Cowgirls Unlimited T-shirt that read: “Cowgirls (Saw it, Wanted it, Had a Fit) Got It.” Surely, there had to be more to my story then just seeing the horse, wanting and then buying him? Didn’t I have to readjust my goal? Did I ever need to recruit help or activate other resources or strategies to attain it? Joe and the other students asked over and over.

Actually, no: Before I actually met or even rode my future (first) horse, I saw his name on a stall door: Jeeves. That was on the day of my first riding lesson in about 20 years. I remember saying to myself, “I have to meet this horse.” I had lived in England for seven years and was a fan of the Jeeves and Wooster novels by P.G. Wodehouse. I had even met and had a photo taken with actor Stephen Frye, the actor that portrays “Jeeves.” As far as I was concerned, this horse was destined to be in my life, end of story. I just sent a picture of myself owning the horse out to the universe, and then waited a few months for that dream to become manifest—no strategizing required, just patience.

And he was worth the wait.

Sara R. Fogan, C.Ht. is a certified hypnotherapist based in Southern California. She graduated with honors from the Hypnosis Motivation Institute in 2005. For more information about Calminsense Hypnotherapy® and to set up an appointment, please visit http://www.calminsensehypnotherapy.com/.

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