In the 1971 film Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, young Charlie Buckets hopes for a rare golden ticket as he opens his chocolate bar. He says, “I’ve got the same chance as anybody else, haven’t I?” Grandpa Joe responds with something that irks me. He says, “You’ve got more, Charlie, because you want it more.”
Where’s the logic in that?
As we sit on the border between two calendar years, it’s customary to set goals for the near future. But our culture lately seems to be placing more value on simply visualizing what you want. The emphasis seems to be on the dream and the desire, as if Grandpa Joe were correct and that your chances of success were better just because you want it more.
I don’t want to take this too far, though. Visualizing – in detail – how you want things to be certainly has value. It can be part of a process to help you overcome some of the internal barriers that keep you from doing the work to reach those goals. But that work is still necessary.
In her book The Gifts of Imperfection, Brené Brown gives this distinction: “Entitlement is very different than agency. Entitlement is ‘I deserve this just because I want it’ and agency is ‘I know I can do this.’”
So as you look ahead to the things you want to complete, yes, take time to imagine, with as much detail as you can, what the experience of accomplishment will be like. But don’t stop there. Let the energy from that exercise fuel your creativity to prepare, with just as much detail, the work you will put in to reach that goal.
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