Without our even knowing, our subconscious mind is processing things at an astronomical rate. So how can we harness this power and use it to our advantage? By imagining what it would look and feel like to live out our goals, we can also light up the neuromuscular pathways1 that connect our brain to our muscles. Doing so can help our brains start to consider what it would feel like to have already achieved that goal. When done regularly as a daily practice, visualization becomes second-nature and it gets easier to craft effective visual representations. Whether it’s a tingling feeling like champagne bubbles in your stomach or the hairs on your arms stand up a bit—try taking notice of how different images trigger you physiologically when you visualize your goals. For example, my business partner and I want to write a best-selling book. So I tried to visualize our book at the top of The New York Times bestseller list, but that image didn’t seem quite right. I didn’t feel any sensations of excitement in my body. Instead, I started to imagine that I already had a best-selling book. I visualized the situations that could come with this scenario that made me feel excited. This was the scenario that came to my mind: I’m walking through the airport, traveling for business. I’m running a bit late (as I often do), frantically looking up at the monitor and searching for my gate, when out of the corner of my eye, I see my own face looking back at me from the airport bookstore. It’s very surreal, completely unexpected and a bit unsettling. Then I realize it’s my bestselling book and a huge smile spreads across my face! As bizarre as it may sound to you, it was this series of images that created a happy, tingling and excited feeling in my body. Another woman I know experienced similar success through her own visualizations. She was single and wanted to find her soul mate. She said that she could picture clearly, the toasts at her wedding—tears would fill her eyes. And just less than three months later, she met this wonderful man. They just decided to move in together and while she isn’t engaged yet, she’s incredibly happy and feels confident that the relationship is here to stay. When you imagine your future success, your subconscious mind will draw in people and opportunities to make that future success a reality. So give visualization a try and create the future of your dreams!
