We made it! In reviewing the exercise for Week Five of The Master Key System -- "The Creative Mind" -- we've reached the fiftieth episode of these teleseminars. Exciting stuff!

With this exercise, we move beyond the "foundation" laid out in the first four exercises. Now, we have our first "taste" of visualization.

While it is not visualization proper, it is an exercise in focusing, concentrating, and creating mental pictures.

I have found -- and my Master Key Coaching clients have found -- this exercise to be fun and helpful. I think you will, too. So, let's get on with it!The Exercise in Week Five of The Master Key System29. Now, go to your room, take the same seat, the same position as heretofore, and mentally select a place which has pleasant associations. Make a complete mental picture of it — see the buildings, the grounds, the trees, friends, associations, everything complete. At first, you will find yourself thinking of everything under the sun, except the ideal upon which you desire to concentrate. But do not let that discourage you. Persistence will win, but persistence requires that you practice these exercises every day without fail.The Exercise for Week Five ExplainedCharles F. Haanel organised the exercises in The Master Key System perfectly. You will come to realize that as you explore them.

The first four are what we have come to call the "foundation" exercises. They built the foundation upon which all of the subsequent exercises will be laid. These exercises are essential for getting you into the "state" so that you can easily do the remaining exercises and so that you will be receptive to the results that you are seeking.

So, with the first four exercises mastered, we have this exercise for Week Five.

As usual, you are to take your regular seat and assume the position that you have been mastering since Week One: sitting with your feet on the floor, your hands on your thighs, your back erect, your eyes closed. Once you are there, you are now to make a "complete mental picture" of a "place that has pleasant associations."

That "place" can be anything you wish! Your childhood home. A farm you visited. A beach. A city. An office. Any place!

The key is to make your mental picture "complete." You want the picture to be very detailed, very lush, and very realistic. You are aiming to such a detailed picture that it is almost a "virtual reality."

Within this exercises, Haanel anticipates that it may be difficult for some people. Those people may not be very "visual" people. He does ask that we persevere, though. And we should!

Haanel is building within you the ability to picture anything you wish in your mind. As we'll see, those pictures will be  very important. That's why for this exercise, Haanel is starting us with something simple: visualizing a place that we enjoy. That makes it an exercise that we will want to do! After all, it is fun to reminisce or fantasize about a pleasant place. The difference is that we are not doing either: we are visualizing and aiming to make the picture complete and detailed, to "see the buildings, the grounds, the trees, friends, associations, everything complete."

Do your best and make your vision as complete as you can. With practice, you will be able to see it perfectly!The Benefits of the Exercise for Week FiveMuch like going to a gym will increase your ability to run longer or lift heavier items, this exercise will begin to awaken or it will strengthen your ability to create mental pictures. You will be able to almost lose yourself in the details of your mental images.

That can be and will be a very powerful tool for you.

This exercise will also begin to fire parts of your brain you may not have been "using" prior to this.

Also, this exercise, when fully perfected, will just make you feel good. Seriously. I have heard time and time again from folks who do this exercises and actually feel themselves at the beach or on the farm. It's amazing!