Mindet - Visualization

The principle behind visualization is that when you imagine something good happening, the act of putting the thought into the universe magically makes it happen in real life.

Isn’t that incredible?

    Well… it’s also untrue.

You might have a negative impression of the word visualization because there is a trendy and unscientific fad called “manifesting” being propagated throughout Tik Tok, Instagram, and Facebook. Proponents of manifesting state that if you imagine something happening, it will happen. Social media and the blogosphere are littered with videos of people saying things like, “if you imagine your crush texting you, they will” or “if you imagine yourself driving a Lamborghini, you will have a Lamborghini!”

This is not true, and this is not visualization.

Here’s how visualization really works: 

There are numerous neuroscience studies examining what happens in the brain when we imagine doing something. This research was conducted because scientists wanted to answer questions like:

-        Can a stroke patient who needs to re-learn to walk – but is too physically weak to walk right now practice walking just by imagining doing it?

-        Can an athlete or musician who is injured get better at performing their movement or piece just by mentally – instead of physically – rehearsing it?

The bottom line is, researchers repeatedly found that a person’s brain activity is essentially identical whether they are doing something or just imagining doing that thing (whether playing the flute, shooting, or walking).

This led neuroscientists to two rather astonishing conclusions:

1.     The brain can hardly tell the difference between doing something and imagining doing something.

2.     Imagining doing something causes very real changes in our brains and bodies.

Here’s an introduction to visualization: future-state visualization.

We all have goals that are deeply important to us. For example: maybe you just had your first chil, and your goal is to lose weight because you want to have the energy to run around with them, live a long life, and be as positive a role model as possible.

The challenge is that our minds are extremely short-sighted. Our brains usually only think about what is right in front of us. That’s why it’s so hard to resist when your coworker brings in donuts. Even though your reasons for wanting to lose weight are so much more powerful than your reason for wanting the donut (simply that it tastes good), we often go for the donut because our minds only weigh the immediate options – eat something delicious or miss out on something delicious.

Visualization is how we fix this. When you see the donut box and feel tempted to cheat on your nutrition plan, visualize the future state you want to accomplish:

-        Picture yourself running through your backyard with your daughter.

-        See your daughter’s smiling face and hear her laughter.

-        See yourself at your ideal weight, looking great and feeling full of energy.

-        Feel the immense pride that you’ve accomplished your goal and become the person you wanted to be.

Visualizing the desired future state causes two powerful effects:

1.     Your brain largely makes decisions based on what is immediately in front of it. Visualizing accomplishing your goal places the goal at the forefront of your mind and forces your brain to remember, “oh yeah, the decision isn’t between having a donut or becoming the best version of myself and the role model I want to be for my daughter.” That’s an easy, obvious decision, so your brain will provide the drive to turn down the donut.

Holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl pointed out one of the most important aspects of human psychology when he said, “a person who has a why can conquer any how.” (Which he was paraphrasing Friedrich Nietzsche). If you have a really powerful, important reason for pursuing something, your brain wil allow you to overcome far more adversity to accomplish that goal than if you didn’t have a meaningful reason fueling you.

In the heat of adversity – when your brain is naturally only thinking about immediate comfort – future-state visualization is the way to remind your brain of the bigger picture and meaningful reason. It is the most powerful strategy for reminding yourself why the sacrifice is worth it, and that what you want most (accomplishing your dreams) is more important than what you want right now (comfort and ease).

2.     When we visualize achieving a goal, our brain releases significant amounts of the neurotransmitter dopamine. Dopamine makes us feel dramatically more motivated to achieve that goal we’re imagining.

When you are in the midst of a challenge that makes you want to give up, take the easy road, or take an action you won’t e proud of, visualize yourself achieving the goal you’re working towards. This will make you remember the powerful why you’re pursuing and will fuel you with inspiration, drive, and dopamine that help you get there.

You can use this is so many ways:

-        When you feel like slacking off instead of working, visualize what it will feel like to get that promotion or raise or have your business be a success.

-        When you feel like wasting money on something you shouldn’t, visualize how great it will feel to accomplish the thing you’re saving for – buying your dream home, taking a vacation, or paying off your student loans.

The studies on visualization show there are six principles you should employ to make your futures-state visualizations optimally effective:

1.     Make the image as vivid as possible. You want your mental image to look like a movie – not an impressionist painting in which the details are hazy.

2.     Include all your senses. What do you see, hear, and feel (add taste and smell, too, when applicable)?

3.     Focus on the emotion you feel. This is the most important part of the visualization. Focus on feeling the pride, joy, love, satisfaction, gratitude, etc. you’ll have when you achieve your goal.

4.     Find the right fit. When you start visualizing achieving one of your important goals, try changing different variables in your mental image. Change who is there, where you are, what’s going on around you, etc. you’ll eventually find one version of your visualization that causes the most profound reaction.

5.     Be specific. Visualization helps you realize if your goal is sufficiently specific (which it always should be). If your goal is to just make more money this year, it’s tough to visualize accomplishing that. If your goal is to save enough money to buy your dream home, you can visualize having a glass of champagne with your spouse after you’ve signed the papers to buy the home.

6.     Importance. Obviously, future-state visualization only works when achieving the goal is important to you. Visualizing completing your trip to the grocery store won’t produce a helpful neural and emotional response because the goal doesn’t matter to you.

As for timing, your visualization can be as short or long as you’d like. Usually just a few seconds does the trick. It’s enough time to vividly picture and feel the scene, and it’s short enough to seamlessly incorporate into any activity without having to stop what you’re doing.

When you feel like quitting or taking the easy road, picture the future state you’re trying to achieve. This will put you in the mental state to take actions you need to take to make that dream a reality. There are a few feelings more profound in life than when you finally see the dream you’ve imagining in your mind play out, for real, right in front of you.