The power of visualization

Visualize what you want and go for it

By: Raquel Van Ry

Visualization is the key to manifesting what you want in your life. If there’s something you wholly want to occur, then you need to picture it in your mind and break down how you can make it happen. To quote a totally legitimate source (an elf from The Santa Claus), “seeing isn’t believing, believing is seeing”. In fact, visualizing yourself doing something can be nearly as effective as you physically doing the act; in one study, two groups were assessed: one group who physically exercised, and one that simply imagined themselves exercising – the result was that both groups improved their strength by 53% and 35% respectively, only an 18% difference! No matter how great or small your goals, find a sense of calmness through visualization, and know that visualizing your goals is the first step to accomplishing them.

While visualizing may sound simple and straightforward, it can be really challenging to succeed, especially when your environment isn’t conducive to your practice. For example, if you don’t allocate time for your practice and simply try to fit it into your morning drive to work, the many distractions you encounter on the way will disrupt and diminish your focus. So really, the first step in accomplishing your goals is not to visualize, but rather to set the stage so you can succeed in doing so. Here’s a few tips to help you visualize:

Prepare

Just like laying your workout clothes out the night before makes it easier to exercise, prepping a space for yourself where you can focus and relax is crucial to your practice of visualization. The key words being ‘focus’ and ‘relax’. Find a quiet space where you can be alone without distractions. Set up a diffuser and add a few drops of lemon essential oil to clear away brain fog and help your mind to focus. Better yet, mix lemon with lavender essential oil for focus and calmness, these scents will relax your body and prep your mind for visualizing. If you don’t have a diffuser, take a little pre-visualization shower or bath with lemon and lavender.

Set aside 10 minutes

Once you’re in the right frame of mind, ensure that you have at least 10 minutes to focus on visualizing. Whether you have to physically schedule it into your agenda or set a reminder on your phone, ensure that you prioritize your practice – your future self will thank you.

Determine your goals

It’s easy enough to think of all of the things you’d like in your life – a new car, healthier hair, a faster metabolism, but if you try to manifest your every desire, you’ll most likely fail. Instead, try to determine your core objectives. Determine what’s at the root of your desires and see if you can find a common denominator. For example, maybe what you want is not necessarily a new car, better hair and a speedy metabolism, perhaps the consistency within all of those desires is simply just the need to be seen, or even the yearning to feel successful. By focusing primarily on your core objectives and not your extraneous lusts, you’ll face a much higher chance of obtaining what you truly desire.

Visualization is important in reaching your goals, and the best part is, it costs nothing. Find more ways to visualize here.