Visualization Is A Powerful Tool

Have you ever heard the phrase, “I’ll believe it when I see it”? If you use this phrase it means you are skeptical of something. You are not sure it will happen so you sit back and wait for evidence to appear that will help you believe it. While this may be a good way of thinking if someone has made empty promises to you in the past so that you don’t get your hopes up, in general, this is not a good way of thinking when you are talking about your goals or what you want in your future. When thinking about these things, you should flip this phrase upside down and tell yourself, “I’ll see it when I believe it”.

Visualization, also known as mental imagery, can be a powerful tool for achieving success in all areas of your life. Whether you have personal, professional, or academic goals, creating a mental image of achieving your desired outcome and imagining yourself performing the steps that will get you there will help pull you forward towards your goal. 

When you visualize your success ahead of time, you will become more focused, more determined and motivated, and more confident in your ability to achieve what it is you are working towards. When you see it happening in your mind by creating vivid mental images of achieving your desired outcome, you will be more willing to put in the effort required because you’ll believe it will be worth it. This is the opposite of imagining all of the ways that something won’t work out. If you convince yourself that something will not work out, you will hold yourself back from giving it your all because you will have already decided that you will fail. 

You have probably heard talk about vision boards, which can support you with visualization. Creating a vision board is a process where you cut words, phrases, and pictures out of magazines and attach them to a board or large piece of paper, so that you can look at them and visualize them happening on a regular basis. You can also create a vision board on the computer putting together images, words, and phrases of things that inspire you and remind you of what you want to achieve. The important thing with a vision board is that you spend time regularly looking at it, thinking about what you want to achieve, how you will feel when you achieve it, and reminding yourself why it is important to you. 

Journaling is another way that you can visualize achieving something ahead of time. Instead of cutting out words, pictures, and phrases, when you journal you write out what it will be like when you achieve your goal. You visualize yourself having achieved your goal and then you write in as much detail as possible including what it feels like, what your life looks like, and how it will impact others in your life. Of course, you can just think about it as well, however, having a vision board or journaling about having achieved your goal makes the visualization stronger.

When you visualize something happening, as well as the steps required to achieve your desired outcome, you will activate the same neural pathways in your brain that are activated when you are actually taking the steps towards your goal. Your brain will respond the same way whether you are actually taking action, or imagining yourself taking action.

This is where the phrase “I’ll see it when I believe it” comes in. This is not a “woo woo, if I think about it, it will magically appear" process. When you visualize what you want in your future, you will get excited about it, be motivated by it, believe that it is possible, and when you feel this way, you will take action that will help move you closer to it. 

Consistency matters with visualization. Ideally you should be visualizing your desired outcome daily, if not a couple of times during the day for about three to five minutes. This will result in your brain firing in a certain way and the more things fire together in your brain, the more they wire together in your brain. This, in turn, strengthens neural pathways that create a positive mindset about your goal, the effort required to achieve your goal, and your confidence in your abilities to make it happen. To strengthen your visualization process even more, have a positive affirmation or mantra that you repeat to reinforce your confidence or determination to achieve your goal. If you are not sure about what kind of affirmation may work for you, check out my Instagram stories for daily affirmation inspiration.

Live your best life! 

~ Karen 

Karen Vincent Solutions 

If you are interested in more information about how to manage unhelpful thinking patterns, you can grab my free 5 Common Thought Distortions Guide HERE. 

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