The Power of Visualization

What is Visualization?

It is the act of picturing something in your mind, like a specific task or goal, in order to positively influence your mind to help yourself accomplish it.

Why is It Important?

Top athletes, successful business people, and other extraordinary individuals use visualization to motivate them before an event, to anticipate possible outcomes, or to brainstorm future possibilities. Your brain can barely tell the difference between what your imaging and your reality. This is because of cells in your brain called mirror neurons. When you imagine something, they become active in a similar way that they would if you were actually doing the action. This is powerful because it means that you can train the most powerful muscle in the body to do anything without actually doing it. In other words, you can go sky diving, ace your test, or talk to anyone in the world all without actually doing it. The connections your brain makes as a result of these visualizations can make it easier to perform them in real life. That is why they can be so important. People like Michael Phelps, Michael Jordan, Will Smith, Albert Einstein, and Oprey Winfrey have all used visualization to help them accomplish their goals, and so can you.

What can it do for you?

Among other things, using visualization can help motivate you to achieve a goal, plan for the future, or explore ideas and other thought experiments. As a result, the new connections formed in your brain, called synapses, may eventually help you accomplish those goals by supplying the pathways needed the do them.

How can you Practice Visualization?

You can start by taking just 5-10 minutes a day to visualize yourself accomplishing a specific goal or task. It could be something as simple as doing well on a test or even achieving your dreams. Regardless, a few minutes a day spent visualizing your goals no doubt would help you accomplish them.

Another suggestion is to also record your visualizations in a journal so that you can keep track of you what thinking about, perhaps, better allowing you to visualize other things in the future.

Finally, creating a vision board is another great way to imagine your goals by pasting pictures that remind you of them on a piece of paper or poster. Seeing this everyday can inspire you to achieve your goals.

Further Reading:

• https://www.forbes.com/sites/lidijaglobokar/2020/03/05/the-power-of-visualization-and-how-to-use-it/?sh=34278cda6497