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Regardless of which method or belief system about personal development that you subscribe to, the fact that your state of mind is the primary fuel for your success is a foregone conclusion.

However, knowing that fact and putting it into action are two different things. In order to maximize your personal development results, make this simple method a part of your conscious efforts.

For this exercise, we will use the example of weight loss, but you can do this exercise with anything in your life that you want to improve, including finances, relationships, etc.

Step 1 ' Think of someone who has what you consider to be a 'nice body'. Get a clear picture of that person in your head using as many details as possible.

Step 2 ' Now consider what you think that person has as a result of having that nice body.

Do they have a very attractive partner? Do they have more opportunities in life because they are more physically appealing? Do they have more friends? Do they command more respect? Are they going to live longer because of their level of health?

Step 3 ' Think of the top 3 benefits in life that you think that person has, but you don't. There are likely several things that you can think of, but for this exercise just think of the 3 things that you feel most strongly about.

Step 4 ' Recognizing 100% that this is not real and that it is just a mental fantasy, visualize what it would be like if you had the body this person has, and how those top 3 things would play out in your life.

If one of the items you chose was having an attractive mate, then picture yourself with someone you find so appealing that you can hardly keep your mind off of them.

If you think this other person has a lot of opportunities in life, then visualize yourself having those opportunities. Picture yourself using each of those opportunities to the fullest, and getting the most possible benefit out of them.

If one of your top three things was that this person has a lot of friends, then visualize yourself with that many friends, and more. Think of all of the activities that you and your friends will engage in, and how much fun you will have.

Step 5 ' How do you feel?

No, really. How do you feel?

Step 5 is actually not part of this process, but rather the reason for doing this exercise to begin with.

You see, it isn't the nice body that you are after. It is the way that having that nice body would make you feel that matters.

This is a common mistake that almost everyone makes when they are trying to maximize their personal development and self improvement efforts. They think that it is the attainment of a goal that is the driving force for their success, when in all actuality, the attainment of the goal is all but irrelevant.

It is the feeling that the attainment of the goal will evoke and sustain in the person setting the goal that matters.

Cars and houses do not make people happy. Maximum health and physical fitness do not make people happy. Massive financial success does not make people happy. Successful careers do not make people happy.

People become happy because of the way that each of those circumstances makes them feel. Focusing only on the attainment of a material possession, a state of wellness, a level of career success, or great wealth will not generate sufficient emotional fuel to keep you motivated long enough to attain your goals.

The thought of having things that you do not presently have is almost completely powerless unless it is backed up by having a very strong emotional attachment to attaining those things.

As Napoleon Hill says in the book 'Think and Grow Rich', weak desires bring weak results, just as a small fire brings a small amount of heat.

If you want to super-charge your personal development in order to attain incredible results, you must first create a burning desire to attain your goals by creating the feeling of what it will be like to realize them.

You can visualize your life as if all of your dreams have already come true, but if you cannot generate the emotional response that will be attached to actually living those dreams, you run the risk of running out of fuel long before you achieve success.