What’s for dinner tonight?
They say we eat with our eyes first. Chefs spend hours perfecting the look of a dish before they present it to their guests. My niece spends time cutting vegetables and meat neatly before cooking them. It’s so that the end product looks good, she says visuals matter. Plus cutting everything in similar sizes helps with cooking them evenly.
I must admit when it comes to food, the visuals is not the main criteria for me. If it smells good and looks presentable, I will eat it. Of course, it should taste good too. But the effort taken by Michelin starred chefs on the presentation of a dish is lost on me, unfortunately.
BUT there is a visual that is important for me and that is what I visualise in my mind’s eye. When it comes to cooking a meal, my mind’s visual of my dish matters. How it looks, feels, and tastes should be fully formed in my mind. I know that when I don’t have a full picture of my dish, reality falls short too.
Thinking and Outcomes
And this does not just apply to cooking. It applies to other parts of us, our projects, or whatever deliverable or goal we need to accomplish.
Our outcomes follow our thoughts and I believe this is true for everything we do.
If we visualise a negative outcome, that tends to follow. If we see ourselves moving on from a setback, we usually find a way forward.
Back to my dish. If I think back to my dish, I know where there was a missing link in my visual. I felt something amiss in my mind and when I cooked it. Something did not feel right.
I find this fascinating. If we really ‘listen’ to ourselves we know where to focus our attention.
I decided to get some help. I called my sister and described my process and my missing link. She then told me what I needed to do differently.
And just like that everything fell into place. I now have a refined process and my visuals are clear without the missing links.
This applies to anything we do. If you have a deliverable you are working on, or you are starting a new project or launching a new service:
visualise it in your mind.
see yourself working through your process.
‘listen’ for feedback, your mind will tell you where attention may be needed.
focus on the area you are guided to.
if you can’t solve the problem yourself, get help.
And if it’s something I can help you with, contact me at yoga@yoganesadurai.com
I am off to visualise cleaning my home in record time!