Visualization — or the act of creating compelling and vivid pictures in your mind — may be the most underutilized success tool you possess because it greatly accelerates the achievement of any success in three powerful ways.
- Visualization activates the creative powers of your subconscious mind.
- Visualization focuses your brain by programming its reticular activating system (RAS) to notice available resources that were always there but were previously unnoticed.
- Visualization magnetizes and attracts to you the people, resources, and opportunities you need to achieve your goal.
When you perform any task in real life, researchers have found, your brain uses the same identical processes it would use if you were only vividly visualizing that activity. In other words, your brain sees no difference whatsoever between visualizing something and actually doing it.
The process for visualizing your future
The process of visualizing for success is really quite simple. All you have to do is close your eyes and see your goals as already complete.
Make the images as clear and bright as possible. This goes for any goal you make — whether it’s in the area of work, play, family, personal finances, relationships, or philanthropy. Write down each of your goals and objectives, then review them, affirm them, and visualize them every day.
Then, each morning when you awake and each night before you go to bed, read through the list of goals out loud, pausing after each one to close your eyes and re-create the visual image of that completed goal in your mind. Continue through the list until you have visualized each goal as complete and fulfilled.
* Source: The Success Principles by Jack Canfield