There's an old saying that goes: If you can dream it, you can achieve it. That's a good start, but I think that statement needs a qualifier. I would add a few words: If you can dream it, you can achieve it if you are truly determined.

Visualization is an important strategy for accomplishing dreams large or small. I believe it is an essential tool for maximizing your potential. But it needs to be workable.

For example, I can imagine myself competing in the Ryder Cup, the biennial men's golf competition between teams from Europe and the United States. I'm a pretty fair golfer, and I would love to represent America in winning style. Sadly, even though I was a competitive golfer back in high school and college, my glory days are long over. So I will be content to watch the competition and cheer on my countrymen.

And therein is the difference between fantasy and visualization.

I have used visualization throughout my life as a means of seeing my dreams realized. In business, I saw myself running a factory even though I had modest means and little experience. But I was willing to work myself to exhaustion and slog through the trenches to achieve my goal.

Part of the reason my visualization was effective was that I also foresaw some of the problems that I would encounter, which were abundant at the beginning. Foremost in my mind was how to work through challenges and still come out on top. I imagined what could go wrong, and how I could take charge of the situation.

I tried to prepare for every possible hurdle, because wrestling with a problem isn't always the best way to generate a creative solution. Step back and quietly visualize the answer you're looking for. These are the steps I follow:

-- Focus on what you want. This sounds easy, but keeping your mind free of obstacles and distractions can be difficult. Try to clear your thoughts of everything but the outcome you need. Don't fight negative thoughts -- just let them flow out of your brain so you can concentrate on the positive.

-- Make a movie in your mind. We tend to see things in pictures more strongly than we can visualize abstract concepts like numbers and theories. Think of your problem in visual terms and try looking at it and your solutions from different angles. Bring your senses into play: Imagine what your idea would feel like, sound like or even smell like.

-- Take your time. The solution may not come all at once. Give yourself time to get used to the process so you're not forcing ideas too hard. With practice, you'll learn how to quickly relax your mind and let it explore problems and situations without effort.

"Losers visualize the penalties of failure. Winners visualize the rewards of success," says sports psychologist Rob Gilbert.

Two-time Olympic pentathlete Marilyn King provides a very moving example of how powerful the conscious use of picturing what you want can be.

When King was preparing for the 1980 Olympic trials, she suffered a severe back injury and was confined to bed just months before the trials. She was determined not to let this injury keep her from performing, so she spent her time doing nothing but watching films of the best performers in the pentathlon events and visualizing herself going through the same events.

Amazingly, she placed second at the Olympic trials despite her lack of physical preparation. She credited her psychological state, not her physical condition, which resulted in her victory. She said, "If you can't imagine it, you can't ever do it. In my experience the image always precedes the reality."

I know several real estate developers. They have amazing powers of visualization. They can look at a piece of property and see skyscrapers, apartment buildings, schools and a host of other construction projects. They can see the placement of the roads, the style of the streetlamps, and the people who will populate the newly built space.

They can also see the issues they will face with city planners, construction delays and environmental assessments. But they are undaunted, because they have seen all this in their mind's eye. And they know that they can make it work.

As Thomas Edison said, "Good fortune often happens when opportunity meets with preparation." I'll take his word for it -- I suspect Edison's power of visualization was immense.

Mackay's Moral: Seeing is believing -- if you believe in yourself.

Lucy, the constant critic of Charlie Brown in the comic strip "Peanuts," is one of my favorite characters because she always says exactly what is on her mind.

Peeved at Charlie, she told him in one strip: "You are a foul ball in the line drive of life."

She is just as tough on her little brother Linus.

"Why are you always criticizing me?" Linus asks Lucy.

"Because I just think I have a knack for seeing other people's faults," Lucy says.

"What about your own faults?" replies Linus.

Without hesitation, Lucy answers right back, "I have a knack for overlooking them."

Criticism, even when offered as a helpful suggestion, is often unwelcome. It's hard to accept that your efforts are unappreciated or fail to meet expectations.

One of my favorite sayings is, "No one ever kicks a dead dog," which means you have to be doing something to get criticized. My point is not to take criticism personally. When a coach or a friend or a boss is criticizing you, it usually means they really care, and even though it may not feel like it, they want to help you.

According to an old saying, "Criticism is something you can avoid easily -- by saying nothing, doing nothing and being nothing."

Obviously, that isn't an option for anyone who wants to be successful in business or as a leader. Good leaders are active, and their actions frequently put them out front. Of course, that often draws criticism.

Even when it is meant to be constructive, criticism is sometimes difficult to deliver effectively. When you have to correct a mistake or improve an employee's performance, it is essential to get your message across without creating bigger problems.

Before you offer any criticism, think about what results or changes you need. Telling an employee, "You were totally ineffective," may be accurate, but it doesn't communicate what your expectations are. Your goal is to correct the problem, so you must think through what the employee needs to do differently.

Employees need to know exactly what they did wrong in order to improve. Explain the problem in precise terms: "You didn't bring the right equipment, which meant you took longer than necessary to complete the work."

Point out mistakes and problems, but don't dwell on them too long. Then start talking about how the employee can improve.

When an employee's performance improves, make a point of recognizing it. Reinforcing improvement will reduce the need for you to revisit the problem.

Ted Engstrom tells a story about a group of bright young men at the University of Wisconsin, who were aspiring poets, novelists and essayists. They met regularly to read and critique each other's work in sessions that became progressively more contentious. So merciless were their criticisms that the members of this exclusive club called themselves the "Stranglers."

The women of literary talent in the university started a club of their own, which they christened the "Wranglers." They also shared their work with each other, but the criticism was softer and more positive, even encouraging.

Twenty years later, an alumnus of the university did a study of the successes of the Stranglers as opposed to the Wranglers. None of the Stranglers could claim any significant literary accomplishment. The Wranglers boasted six or more successful writers including Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, who wrote "The Yearling."

The talent and education levels were comparable, so why the difference? As Ted concluded, the Stranglers strangled, while the Wranglers highlighted the best, not the worst.

Successful leaders know better than to strangle, because they understand that results reflect their management skills. Constantly belittling or blaming means that either the employee isn't a good fit, or that the criticism isn't being delivered effectively.

Instead, good leaders follow the example of the Wranglers. Positive results start with a positive environment in which employees know that they will be treated with respect even when they make mistakes.

Consider the advice from the late Mary Kay Ash, founder of Mary Kay cosmetics: "Never giving criticism without praise is a strict rule for me. No matter what you are criticizing, you must find something good to say ... Criticize the act, not the person."

Mackay's Moral: Constructive criticism should always build up, not tear down.

When a lesson can be summed up in a few well-chosen words, the message often stays with the student. A little tool to jog the memory, a clever saying to remind you what is truly important -- that's why "Mackay's Moral" appears at the end of each of my columns. All of my books also have aphorisms to sum up chapters, as I find it a great way to teach.

I file away helpful sayings and use them to drive home the point when the occasion presents itself. I know this method is effective, because my readers often cite these witticisms in their letters and emails to me. I love that they remember these little nuggets and find them so useful.

For today's column, I am pleased to offer up some of my favorite aphorisms not used in my columns or books. They are self-explanatory and can stand on their own without a longer explanation. If you prefer, think of it as 37 quick columns all in one.

-- Enjoy the little things in life, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things.

-- Goals are like stars; they may not be reached, but they can always be guides.

-- A mistake proves that someone at least tried.

-- If we are facing the right direction, all we have to do is keep on walking.

-- What you build easily will fall quickly.

-- When life gives you 100 reasons to cry, show life that you have 1,000 to smile.

-- A word and a stone once thrown away cannot be returned.

-- It isn't hard to make a mountain out of a molehill; just add a little dirt.

-- Of all the things you wear, your expression is the most important.

-- Friendship is like a bank account. You can't continue to draw on it without making deposits.

-- A positive attitude is a magnet for positive results.

-- The key to keeping your balance is knowing when you've lost it.

-- Remember: It's not what you have, it's what you do with what you have that makes all the difference.

-- Life is a continuous process of getting used to things we haven't expected.

-- There's only one endeavor in which you can start at the top, and that's digging a hole.

-- You have to take it as it happens, but you should try to make it happen the way you want to take it.

-- Today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday.

-- The trouble with self-made people is that they worship their creator.

-- If you always give, you will always have.

-- You can't get ahead when you're trying to get even.

-- The will to win is not nearly as important as the will to prepare to win.

-- No matter how much dirt you throw at someone else, you'll always be dirtier.

-- Judge other people's faults by their effect on the work, not by their effect on you.

-- The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails.

-- Too many people stop to think and forget to start again.

-- If you're not sure where you're going, you'll probably end up somewhere else.

-- Ten out of nine people don't realize they're weak in math.

-- Try not to become a person of success, but rather a person of value.

-- The grass isn't greener over there. It's greener where you water it.

-- Hire for character; train for skill.

-- You know you need a change when all you exercise is caution.

-- The person who makes no mistakes usually doesn't make anything.

-- Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing him- or herself.

-- Nursing a grudge is bad for your health.

-- Life is a bumpy road, and laughter is your best shock absorber.

-- Whether you think you can or think you can't, you're right.

-- We could learn a lot from crayons: Some are sharp, some are pretty, some are dull, some have weird names and all are different colors ... but they all exist very nicely in the same box.

Mackay's Moral: In the end, we only regret the chances we didn't take, the relationships we were afraid to have, and the decisions we waited too long to make.