Unlocking Possible: The Power of Visualization

From time to time, conversations about the topic of visualization come up. Here’s something that often accompanies those conversations…

“I’m not someone who visualizes. Way too woo-woo for me. Can’t do it. ”

Can’t do it? I hate to break it to you. You’re already doing it.

You’ve already mastered visualization.

When you looked at your calendar this morning, there was probably a meeting or a call on your schedule. Hours beforehand, you already started thinking about how that conversation would go. “What if they say this? How will I respond? Will they be in a good mood? If not, how will I react? Am I prepared to talk about this? What if they ask me something I’m not prepared for?”

Like I said, you’re already a master of visualization – a freakin’ pro. You’re visualizing all day long in your subconscious. The problem isn’t that you can’t visualize – you’re just not investing any time or energy to do it intentionally. You possess the skill, and because you’re not using it to visualize positive outcomes or achieve your goals, it’s creating barriers between you and what you actually want.

Athletes have been using visualization for decades. Simone Biles has performed every move in her routine hundreds of times before she competes. Michael Phelps spends hours visualizing his time in the pool before he ever gets wet. When NFL receiver Jerry Rice caught touchdown passes in the endzone, he had already been there in his mind a thousand times. Watch closely, and you can see Lindsey Vonn’s eyes closed and head moving before each ski race, visualizing the slopes, turns, and gates.

I know what you’re thinking. “Yeah, I get it. This visualization thing works for them, but I’m no elite athlete.”

That may be true, but here’s what I know… You have something you’d like to achieve in your life, at work or home. There’s a goal you’ve had in mind for a while or something you’ve been working on. There are areas where you’d like to improve or show up better, or you’d like to grow. We all have our thing.

The challenge is this.

Take that area where you’d like to perform really well and start to visualize what success looks like. Tap back into your imagination, that thing you were so good at using when you were eight or nine, and fire it up today. What would success look like? Better yet, and more important, how would it feel? Give yourself this gift – spend just a few minutes to start, and fill in as many details as possible.

It costs nothing and takes just a few moments a day… “I don’t have time” is not a good excuse for not testing this out.

By doing this, you’ll start to reprogram your subconscious thinking, which can’t tell the difference between what you’re imagining and reality. The result? Your creativity will get fired up, and you’ll start to see new opportunities… opportunities that were always there but you weren’t aware of before. At the same time, you’ll also be preparing yourself to take advantage of those opportunities because you’ve already done it over and over again in your head.

Call-to-Action

Give this a shot. Even if it’s uncomfortable and feels a little woo-woo, spend just a little time engaging your imagination again. Visualize what success will look and feel like, and accelerate your path to achieving your goals.