Visualization is a science-based tool
As Disney said, “if you can dream it, you can do it.”
The notion of visualization can be a little nebulous to many people. The word is associated with manifestation and things we desire magically appearing. I became fascinated with how the brain works to combine the power of imagination and vision to enable creativity, turning intangible ideas into reality. Most things we see around us were once a thought or a visualization in someone’s mind that was then created and became a physical manifestation.
Visualization is a cognitive tool accessing imagination to realize all aspects of an object, action, or outcome. This may include recreating a mental sensory experience of sound, sight, smell, taste, and touch. There is plenty of evidence to prove that visualization is routed in neuroscience and how the brain works.
According to this interesting article in Huffpost, it has been used in the treatment of people suffering from paralysis. Getting them to visualize the movement of their limbs improved their mobility. Athletes use it to increase focus and drive to achieve their time or distance goals. It is also used in psychology in the treatment of anxiety and depression. A study of building muscle mass involving two groups, the first participating in actual physical exercise, saw a 30% increase in muscle. The second group visualized performing exercises in their minds only and showed a 13.5% increase in muscle mass. This increase persisted even three months after the visualization training. This is concrete scientific evidence of the power of visualization.
Even celebrities and successful personalities like Oprah Winfrey, Steve Harvey, Katy Perry, Beyonce and Jim Carey to name a few have used visualization to become successful. No reason why it can’t work for you. Muhammad Ali’s famous quote “If my mind can conceive it and my heart can believe it – then I can achieve it” shows that he truly believed in the power of visualization.
I felt burnt out a couple of years ago and this was one of the things I did to get back on track.
Create a vision board
This is a really fun, creative exercise and you can change or update it over time to reflect new ambitions and goals you set for yourself. You can do a digital or a physical board. Some people prefer to have a physical hand crafted one that they’ve made from images cut out of magazines as this makes it more tactile and feels more tangible. I have a digital one that I have created in PowerPoint and is a series of slides that are statements of my goals followed by visuals of each of the goals, the last slide being a montage of all of them together in one slide I have tried to include as many specific details as possible without it turning into an epic saga. I also like including intentions or goals in text form and reading them every day.
It sits on my desktop and I look at it every morning before I start work to remind myself of my goals and what I want my future life to look like. I love to look at it a few times through the day especially when I’m losing focus or finding it hard to concentrate or push forward on some work I need to complete. It is quite a powerful motivational tool and helps me focus my thoughts on the progress I need to make through the day. It makes me feel positive, happy and excited and invariably I get straight back to work.
You must start thinking differently about your current situation and consciously shift your thoughts to a more pleasant state of being. Visualizing that, sets you on a path towards achieving it. Below are six buckets into which I organized my vision board and some things you might want to include. It certainly does not have to be limited to these and remember to be as specific as possible.
Health and fitness
Career and finance
Material
Mental health
Emotional
Spiritual
#1 Health and fitness goals
This could be changes you want to make to your diet and exercise routines to improve your overall health. Identify what lifestyle changes do you need to make. Add in a goal weight or any other measure of health and fitness as you see fit. Also include a time frame within which you want to achieve the goal and of course images that will inspire you on that journey such as pictures of your younger fitter self, healthy food, fit bodies, gyms, people running etc.
#2 Career and financial goals
Specify the monthly/yearly income you want to earn, the job or promotion you want to get, the business you want to start, the skills you need to learn. Do you want to grow your wealth through multiple sources of income. Specify what those might be. Add images of money, a beautiful office, logos of brands you might want to work for or other visual representations of your goal.
#3 Material goals
If there are certain material assets you wish to acquire - perhaps a house, a car, a vacation, a new watch, jewelry - anything you may deem a necessity or a luxury – whatever that means for you. Visualize these things in as much specific detail as possible with imagery that makes it real for you.
#4 Mental health goals
This could be how much time you set aside for yourself each day to improve your mental state and give your focus and drive to perform and achieve your goals. That may involve increasing your cognitive performance, expanding knowledge, reading books, learning new skills, taking up a special interest activity that is mentally challenging or including yoga and meditative practices into your routine. All these sorts of activities will increase positive mood, motivation and help with keeping your mind focused and gainfully occupied with things that will improve your life. Imagery of all this is so easy to source.
#5 Emotional and happiness goals
Social contact with family, friends, colleagues is super important. Focus on relationships and activities that give you emotional satisfaction, enjoyment, fun and a general feeling of wellbeing. You may be looking to spend more quality time with family or expand your circle of friends, looking for a partner, taking up a new hobby or travelling to a new destination. This is always easy and fun to visualize and describe.
#6 Spiritual goals
This is not for everyone but many people derive a great feeling of peace, calm, stability and security from the knowledge that they are not alone and that there is a higher power at play that in some way has profound influence over their lives. For some it takes the form of religion or faith and related practices while for others it is a more to do with developing a better understanding of human nature and improving their connection with and consciousness of their interior and exterior world. If this is part of your daily life you can incorporate into your vision board with relevant imagery.
A vision board is a strategic tool for personal growth
Visualization is a strategy to shift your mindset and achieve your goals. It is routed in neuroscience and it works. I tweak my vision board every now and again but generally stick to the game plan and take concrete steps to achieve the goals I’ve set but the timeframes. At the end of the year it’s great to tick off some of the goals, celebrate progress on others, carry them over and set new ones.
If you are still reading, it’s probably not something you already so go ahead and create a vision board for yourself. If you found this post useful, leave your thoughts and comments, share it with your friends, family and colleagues. For more posts like this every weekend, follow me on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, Medium and Twitter where I will be posting regularly.
If you are an aspiring solopreneur looking to set new personal goals or an entrepreneur in need of strategic brand advice or even an intrapreneur who want to catalyze change within your organization, visit brandcrib.com join the community and receive updates direct to your inbox every time I drop a post. Alternatively email me on georgette.kolkman@brandcrib.com. I’d be happy to help.
I hope this year brings you success, prosperity, personal growth and positive change.
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