Seeing is truly believing. I know visualization seems like a wishy-washy topic, but it truly is powerful. Let’s start off with a quiz.
Which one of the following athletes ended up being the most successful at the end of a six-week time period?
a. The one who practiced his free throws for 6 weeks
b. The one who visualized himself making the free throw every single time for 6 weeks
c. The one that didn’t practice at all for 6 weeks
You guessed it; b is correct! It is scientifically proven that if one person does something and another person visualizes doing the same thing, the same areas of the brain are activated in both of them. Additionally, if they keep doing the thing or imagining doing the thing, their brain regions undergo actual physical change called neuroplasticity.
A study conducted by Penn State researchers proved that simply anticipating stress can set us up to have a stressful day, solely because that’s what we are focusing our mind on. What you focus your mind on tends to be what ends up happening to you. What you consume your mind with is what becomes your reality. I know we’ve heard this many times, but how many times is it going to take for us to accept that we create our realities with our minds. You are so much more in control of yourself and your life then you think. The more I learn about my brain, the more empowered I feel. The more I realize the thoughts that appear from fear, or what I’m making up in my head without any evidence to support it. Let’s start visualizing the bright futures we deserve to manifest.
For some of us, visualization feels forced and inauthentic. That may be because you haven’t found a method that works right for you. Here are some ways to implement visualization into your life.
1. Daydream
Yes, just like when you used to imagine scenarios as a kid, daydream. Imagine yourself in your dream career and home. What does it look like? How do you feel? Who else is there? How does it smell? The more details, the more real it will feel. After you’ve stopped daydreaming in your head, write it down. Describe what you saw in your journal.
2. Create a vision board
I did my first vision board this year and y’all there’s so many things that have come true on the board already! I’m actually going to share everything that comes true off my vision board at the end of the year so stay tuned. This doesn’t only have to be done at the beginning of the year, you can make a vision board whenever you want. I suggest buying a poster and either cutting out pictures of magazines or print pictures that depict what you want to accomplish. For instance, I was very intentional with my board and wrote out my main goals beforehand. Then I picked a picture that aligned with each of my goals. It was a bit scary because I have big dreams, but I knew I had to get comfortable with them to make them a reality and truly manifest my greatness.
3. Do a guided meditation
Being still with your thoughts brings a lot of clarity to you. As you meditate imagine yourself 10 years from now. Ask yourself, who are you with? What inspires you in this space? Where are you? What are you doing with your time? How does your future look? Visualize this space as you deeply breathe in and out. Practice this regularly to start feeling closer to your best self.
Our brain sees in imagery and pictures, not letters or groups of words. These three methods will help our right brain (the creative side) to dream, be creative, and steep itself in possibility. Our left brain (the logical side) can then internalize the imagery and analyze how to place it into achievable steps and goals. Choose to align your daily actions, thoughts, and words with the future you visualize. Your actions should embody what you’ve written in your notebook, pasted to your vision board, or imagined each day. That way you’ll start to design the life you want. No matter what society tells you, you have the power to shape your future. Believe it, see it and it will happen.
If visualization has worked for you or if you want to chat about it more, comment below!