Did you know that to gain full control of your life it’s essential to manage the way you think? Countless experiences in our lives let us believe that we are subject to destiny; that we have no control over our own lives. However, by harnessing the visualization potential of our mind we can reframe our minds and create a new source of mental energy towards wellbeing and success.
Visualization and Manifestation
Visualization is simply creating images in your mind of what you want in your life. Manifestation consists of attaching an emotion to your visual representations, projecting your desired future into the present state of your mind. Many of us are often stuck in negative, circular and repetitive thoughts and emotions. By mastering the mental practice of visualization, you can prepare your mind to attain your desired goals and ensure that your thoughts and actions are focused on the present and future objectives, regulating the undesirable effect of many past experiences, such as traumas, omissions and regrets.
How does this work? Your brain actually can’t tell the difference between a memory and a future vision. In fact, brain imaging shows that there is an overlap in brain activity between remembering past events and imagining or simulating future events. As a result, when you visualize what you want for the future, you actually lock in an image that you can use for inspiration until you’re able to make your vision a reality.
Visualization has long been used by successful people including elite athletes and successful entrepreneurs, because it boosts:
Confidence
When you visualize your future, it helps you feel empowered. This in turn enables you to relax and focus on what you need to do now to attain your goals. Instead of wasting your energy on bad memories or potential problems, you focus on the present moment, your sensations, experiences and thoughts.
Visualizing your future alters your mind for the better. For instance, in a study on job seekers, almost 70% of those who received visualization training in addition to traditional career counselling could find new jobs within 2 months, compared to only 21% of those who only received career counselling. By visualizing they already had the job, their confidence increased, improving their mental preparation for the interview.
Focus
With the constant busyness of everyday life, it’s easy to become distracted from our goals. By practicing visualization regularly, you keep your focus on your goals and you’re more likely to spot opportunities or gain insights as to what can help you to be more successful.
When New Year arrives, many of us have intentions to optimize our health, whether it be by losing weight, quitting smoking, etc. But come February, our good intentions have waned. By visualizing, you can focus on your intentions. Research has shown that participants who received an educational health message about eating more fruits along with visualization achieved a significantly better outcome than those who only received the educational health message.
Creativity
To unleash our creativity, our minds need something more than external distractions from daily work and chores. Just a few minutes of visualization can create in our mind the right framework to capture new ideas and for ideas and discoveries to pop up. This is the way we can activate our subconscious creativity.
Mindful framing
Once you find time and commit regularly to a visualization practice, incorporate into your daily routine. This is the key premise for any visualization practice. Mindful framing is a mindfulness practice that helps you design and adopt your ideal lifestyle. When practicing visualization through mindful framing, you learn and see with your mind’s eye five mental scenes. First you visualize your anxiety triggers, next you engage your five senses, connect with nature, regulate your emotions and finally invigorate your organism.
Any of these visual scenes or combination of them will help you frame your mind. Let’s say you want to prepare for an important meeting. First you want to make sure your mind is clear of anxious thoughts, next you want to ensure you are going to be fully present, with your senses: What do you feel? What do you hear? What do you see? And then learn how to send energy throughout your entire body and emotional state. When you visualize, you win!
The more details you can visualize, the more real it will appear. In turn, this will help your brain establish neural connections, increasing the so-called neuroplasticity. You will increase your motivation, helping you take the actions necessary to reach your goal.
Creating goal pictures
Another great way to visualize is to make a mental picture of yourself as if you have already reached your goal. For instance, if one of your goals is to buy your dream house, imagine your dream house, and see yourself inside your dream house. Think about it regularly, intensely.
Practicing affirmations
An affirmation is a statement of your ideal future that you repeat to yourself. For instance, let’s say, that your goal is to work more efficiently in less time, your affirmation could be this:
“I will increase my productivity getting my daily work done in 6 hours per day.”
By repeating this affirmation often during the day, it helps you stay focused on your goal and boosts your intentions. It also helps your subconscious brain do what it needs to do to make your goal materialize.
When practicing an affirmation, there are a few guidelines to follow. You want them to affirm the positive, keep your affirmations short, and not force yourself to believe your affirmation. Simply repeat it, regularly.
You can use visualization to reach the untapped potential of your mind and create your dream destiny. In as little as a few minutes per day, you can regain control of your life, forever.
