Creating Goal Movies: A 12 Step Guide

Note: This article is perhaps my longest, but the principles contained herein stand to be of real help. In this spirit, I’m willing to offer technical support to anyone who needs it. I’ll try to answer as many questions as possible via the comments, but if worse comes to worst I’m willing to offer phone support. I might also try and post a video demonstration/tutorial if there is a need. Just let me know.

Introduction

Goal movies are Steven Covey’s concept of “beginning with the end in mind” on steroids. The essential idea is that images can be used and manipulated to help your subconscious believe you can attain things previously thought impossible.  Getting your subconscious to buy into a goal radically empowers you to materialize the goal in real life. The video to the right is an excellent example of a goal movie that I found just today (click here to see it if you’re reading this from an RSS feed).

This goal movie was created using a free program called Memories on Web. And for $37, MindMovies will show you how to produce similar mini-films (they’ve produced good how-to videos). Much of what I’m about to share with you was learned via my Mind Movies experience, but rather than sending you to the MindMoives website via an affiliate link, I’ll show you how to do it yourself.

I’ll be showing you my preferred method (the method used to create this move), but be aware that there are limitless ways to create a goal movie.

Who Stands to Benefit From Goal Movies?

The answer, of course, is everyone. I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that 90% of people reading this guide tend to lose track — on a day-to-day basis — of their true desires and wants. The treadmill of modern life is very good at obscuring our goals and helping us lose sight of them.

What Goal Movies do that Textual Goals Cannot

As demonstrated in the above clip, a good goal movie can make the not-yet-attained seem real. And one outcome of this perceived “realness” may be the realization that you don’t actually want what you thought you wanted. For example, in a recent goal movie I included an affirmation that said: “I get up each morning at 4:30 and write.” I even took a picture of myself writing at 4:30am and paired this picture with the affirmation. Eventually, this affirmation stood out as one that did not resonate with me (the rest of the goal movie did) and I ended up dropping it.

A second outcome is visualizing your affirmation will lead to radical alignment with the goal. Indeed, goal movie goals galvanize your psyche by presenting you with images that often contradict your mind’s limiting beliefs.

As if this weren’t enough, we can increase the realism of these movies by . . .

Photoshopping Our Goals

Photoshopping a goal involves digitally manipulating  images to represent your goals as if they already existed. An example would be adding a couple of zeros to a PDF version of your bank statement. A low tech (i.e. non-photoshop) implementation might involving having a picture taken of you in your dream car (even if it doesn’t belong to you), and then meditating on the resulting picture while holding thoughts of ownership. This practice radically empowers you to manifest the goal. Some call it self-deception, others call it the law of attraction.

What A Good Goal Movie Includes

As the video illustrates, there is more or less a formula for a good goal movie. A good goal movie = authentic affirmations + powerful pictures + activating and inspiring music that makes you feel good. Later in this tutorial, we’ll be addressing how to create all of these elements. Let’s get started . . .

Tutorial

Step 1: Download Affirmation Template

Download this PowerPoint Slide Template

Step 2: Brainstorm Affirmations

This is the most difficult step in this tutorial. But out pen and paper — or perhaps your word processor — and start envisioning your idea life. Pretend that money and time are no object, but be sure to remain authentic to yourself. If you believe your authentic self really wants 7 vacations homes or 10 billion dollars then write it down, but I’m willing to bet that these aren’t your top priorities.

It’s important to note that affirmations frame not-yet-attained goals as if they’ve already been fulfilled. So instead of writing “I will have a flat stomach,” you’ll want to write “my stomach” (this affirmation will be paired with a picture of a flat stomach in a future step). The idea behind this future-as-present formulation is that time doesn’t exist from a quantum physics perspective (I don’t know whether or not this idea is true, but it can be a useful tool). Here’s Robert Collier’s position:

See the things that you want as already yours. Know that they will come to you at need. Then let them come. Don’t fret and worry about them. Don’t think about your lack of them. Think of them as yours, as belonging to you, as already in your possession.
-Robert Collier

You might want to write affirmations around the following areas of your life:

• Heath & Energy: What does your body look like? How to do you feel each day? What do you diligently do to maintain your health? You get the idea.
• Contributions: How do you contribute to society and improve others’ lives? How are you uniquely able to help others? In what ways to you add to others’ lives?
• Home: What is your ideal home? Where is it and how is it organized? How does it make you feel?
• Perks: Does your ideal life include a weekly massage? A new Toyota Prius? A cook who comes on Mondays to prepare healthy lunches for the week?
• Job: What’s your ideal job? Where do you work, and for how many hours per week? How is the pay? Do you work from home or in an office? Do you work for someone or for yourself? What value do you deliver as an employee?
• Money: How much money do you have in savings? What is your yearly income? How much do you “pay yourself” each week? How is your money invested?
• Life Partner: Who is your life partner? What is your relationship like? What is their personality like? What do they look like? Why are you attracted to them? What do you like about them and what do they like about you? How do you complement each other?
• Lifestyle: What are your ideal hobbies and skills?
• People in Your Life: What is your circle of friends like? What do you do together? How do you help each other?
• Gratitude: For what do you thankful? What are the little things in life that brighten your day? What are your blessings?

These are good starting points.

What quantum physicists and Einstein tell us is that everything is happening simultaneously. If you can understand that there is no time, and accept that concept, then you will see that whatever you want in the future already exists.
-Rhonda Byrne

Step 3: Write Your Affirmations

Using the brainstorming session as a jumping off point, write no more than 35 affirmations. Affirmations should be 5 words or less and should fit on one line of the in the given PowerPoint template without having to change the font. Don’t include information in the affirmation that can be included in an image. Your mantra here should be “show, not tell.”

After the affirmations have been written down, enter them into the PowerPoint template as indicated above. One affirmation per slide, and these slides should only include text (no images). After the affirmations have been entered in PowerPoint, go to “File –> Save As” and save the presentation in GIF format. One GIF file will be created per slide.

Step 4: Find Pictures

The best place to find pictures is Flickr (I recommend using the advanced search and looking for images protected under a Creative Commons license). Y
ou’ll want to find pictures that elicit happiness and positivity. I’ve found that two photos for each affirmation is a good number. And again, the mantra is show not tell: if you want to get more done in your day, don’t use a picture of man holding David Allen’s Getting Things Done, but instead find a picture of someone actually getting things done. It might take a while to find pictures that you’re happy with (sometimes up to 5 minutes per picture). Remember that the best pictures are often ones that you’ve created, whether they’re photoshopped goals (alluded to earlier), or pictures of you that are congruent with your affirmations. A picture of you smiling so hard you can’t stand it would go will with the affirmation “I am happy.” The affirmation is driven deeper because you’re the one in the picture, not someone else. If you want a car, have a picture taken of you in the car.

Step 5: Download Memories on Web

Memories on Web is a freeware application and only available for the PC. If you have a Macintosh computer, iPhoto will also do the trick. Click here to download MemoriesOnWeb.

Step 6: Arrange Your Slides

Import all GIF slide images and Flickr images into MemoriesOnWeb and drag and drop them to be arranged in the desired order. Each black and white affirmation slide should come before its accompanying Flickr picture(s).

Step 7: Chose Your Music

I recommend choosing an mp3 file of an upbeat and positive song that makes you feel like a million bucks. The objective is to use energetic and uplifting music to drive the affirmations and images deeper into your psyche. Good music makes you feel as if anything is possible, and we want to leverage this to help us believe in our goals.

Step 8: Add the Music

To add music, click on the music tab and then click on “+” sign to add a song. I advise checking the “fade out” option on the music tab so that the music doesn’t end abruptly when your goal movie is over.

If you want to have the music for your goal movie begin part-way into your selected song, then double click on the song title and enter a starting time in the “Trim Music” dialog box and enter a different starting time.

Step 9: Set Transition Times and Add Transitions

Select the transitions tab and set both the “Picture Delay” and the “Transition Delay” to “.95”  Click on the associated “apply” buttons and then click “apply all.” Set the picture effect to “pan/zoom/rotate” and then click “Apply–>Apply to Selected Slides.” You may want to adjust these settings later, but this is a good place to start.

Step 10: Preview your Goal Movie

Hit the purple preview button to get a first glimpse of your goal movie. It just might blow you away.

Step 11: Make Final Adjustments

During the preview, you’ll notice the need for adjustments. Some words may be flying off the screen, items may not be positioned correctly, etc. To fix these issues for a particular slide, double click on a MemoriesOnWeb slide that needs adjustment and then click on the Pan/Zoom tab. It takes some tinkering to figure out how to use this screen, but with a little trial and error I’m sure you’ll figure out how to tweak the effects in just the right way.

One noteworthy point is that you don’t want to zoom out on affirmations or their associated images. This can create the psychological impression that you’re moving away from your goals. I’d recommend that each slide transition include zooming (in), to create the impression that your dreams are moving towards you.

Continue to preview and adjust until you’ve arranged the slides, transitions, and effects to your liking.

Step 12: Export

Go back to MemoriesOnWeb’s main screen, click on the “Publish” tab, select “Generate new video” and then hit start.  Your goal movie has been created.

Final Note

I’m considering this tutorial a work in progress. If you have any questions or if you feel this tutorial has gaps, please let me know and I’ll update as necessary. Please post all questions in the comments so that I may answer them publicly. If a video tutorial is needed, I will add one. I’ll also work on adding print formatting.