Want to succeed more often? Develop this filmic precall technique. Mental rehearsal is not new. It’s been the distinguishing trait of human supremacy. Beyond the use of tools, mental rehearsal distinguishes us from the animal kingdom. The ability to set a goal and go about achieving it is what makes us strategic thinkers and an evolved species.

Enter the world of video and humans are increasingly familiar with visual presentations. Today visuals are the prime currency for communication. The plus side of this is an increasing mental skill in working with images and constructing images in one’s mind.

Creating mental images is especially useful for rehearsing meetings and performances where you want to excel. The night before an important meeting, you might visualise the meeting in all its detail, and see the actors agreeing to your ideas and proposals. Or you may see yourself in a sporting or performance setting- excelling at whatever you are doing.

NLP has been around for 70 years, and with varying degrees delivers performance improvements through these methods. The subconscious cannot tell the difference between an imaged experience, and a real one. So vividly visualised experiences can build one’s self-esteem, confidence and expectations of future performance.

So now to the method I have developed. It’s a role-playing technique of becoming a director in the movie of your life. You can get into this frame of mind by holding your fingers together and forming a video screen to frame your view. Famous directors have used this finger technique to shift gears and consider compositions and filmic proportions.

You may choose closed eye to start with and try open eye visualisations when you get good at it.

Use the finger frame to get mentally set for the (precall) visualisation. Imagine yourself in a scene with those familiar players in your life. Partners, children, parents, bosses, colleagues and friend. See them interacting with you. Now make sure they see you in the best light. Call in makeup, wardrobe and special effects teams if you want to. See the cast of those in your life responding well to you, reacting positively and praising your work. You seem to be popular and loved. You’re delivering great work and positive outcomes.

Every day return to some of the key scenes you’ve created in your mind. Seek the advice of experts and see even better portrayals of your performance and even better outcomes. The more you can experience this success, the more it conditions your mind to expect this in real life.

Instead of recalling past performances, you are recalling in advance the new experiences, hence the name Precall Technique.