Chapter 1: What is Visualization?
One of the worst kept secrets in the world is that the mind is a powerful “place” and what you feed it can affect you in a powerful way. Forget about the impressive wordplay; it’s the reality. Countless numbers of books have been written about how your state of mind affects your life. Visualization is one of the most effective “weapons” of the mind that is capable of setting you up for the glorious future you desire. The aim of this chapter is to help you know what visualization is all about by highlighting what it’s not.
One of the best ways to learn about something is to first identify what it’s not, and we will start this journey with this approach. Just like most popular concepts and phenomena, there are many descriptions and beliefs about visualization that are either blown out of proportion or totally false.
In order to ensure that you haven’t been a victim of some of the common overhypes and conjectures surrounding visualization, we will highlight them. Below are some common myths of visualization.
Myth #1: Wishing and Hoping Something Happens
It’s true that visualization involves creating a mental image of a target you intend to achieve. However, it’s delusional and misleading to assume that visualization is all about wishing and hoping that something happens. This ridiculously simplified view of this concept is the reason many people never achieve anything tangible with visualization. They assume that they are practicing and utilizing this phenomenon, but that’s not the case.
Rather, visualization involves using your thoughts to engineer a certain result and what you will need to do to achieve it. In other words, visualization doesn’t end with thinking about what you want to achieve. Instead, it also involves imagination regarding the steps you’ll need to take to accomplish the target. If all you do is imagining yourself achieving a target without thinking about how you will achieve it, you are in the realm of fantasies.
Myth #2: Visualization isn’t Scientific
In the bid to discredit visualization, some people would say that the practice isn’t scientific. However, this claim is far from the truth. Scientists have proven that visualization affects our brains in certain ways that promote the achievement of our goals. Therefore, it’s in your best interest to verify any assertion before you believe it.
The modern world offers us endless resources on the internet to evaluate the veracity of any claim. So, you’ll be doing yourself a lot of good by checking your facts before you agree with any popular opinion. In the subsequent chapters, we will explore the scientific evidence that validates the effectiveness of visualization.
Myth #3: Visualization is for Lazy Dreamers
This claim comes from the assumption that visualization is all about sitting on a couch dreaming about buying up Microsoft. Nonetheless, as mentioned earlier, this is far from the truth. World-beaters such as Jim Carey, Oprah Winfrey, and Will Smith have openly discussed how they were able to achieve their dreams by leveraging visualization.
If you know these people, you’ll know that they aren’t lazy people. Rather, their thought process fueled their desire to move from where they were to where they are. So, visualization isn’t for lazy people who live in the realm of fantasy. Instead, it’s for people who are deliberate about what they want in life and will go all out to accomplish it.
Myth #4: Visualization is Only Effective for Long-Term Targets
What you intend to accomplish doesn’t have to be in fifteen or twenty years before you can employ visualization. As long as the target you intend to achieve is in the future, you can leverage this practice. Therefore, even if your target is something that can be achieved within a week or a month, visualization remains relevant.
In fact, it’s more likely you achieve success with visualization when working on a short-term goal than a long-term one. A lot of things happen when you have long-term targets that can make you distracted. In some cases, you stop seeing the goal as important as when you first thought about it. So, you might abandon a long-term target along the line.
One of the questions people ask is whether they should choose visualization over meditation. This question ought not to be perplexing or complicated. Just like visualization, many studies have established the benefits of practicing meditation. These two techniques are interwoven, and they share some similarities. However, they aren’t the same.
Visualization focuses on the mind more, while meditation involves both the mind and body. Meditation is broader and more complex than visualization and offers more benefits. So, choosing between the two depends on what you want. If all you want to do is set your mind right and keep yourself motivated to achieve your dream, visualization is what you need.
However, if you desire to achieve inner peace by shutting down the noise in your head and drown the voice of your inner critic, you need meditation. The beautiful thing about this choice is that you don’t have to choose one. You can practice both meditation and visualization without any issue. In fact, you can incorporate visualization during your mediation.
So, while practicing your breathing techniques, you can take advantage of that period to think about your dreams and how you can achieve them. So, instead of using a mantra or object as your focal point, you can focus on your targets and your action plan to achieve them. The inner tranquility that meditation brings can make your visualization more effective.
Visualization in the Modern World
Elite athletes are known for employing visualization-based techniques such as guided imagery and scripting in their training. They use these methods to overcome fear and stimulate practice. They even leverage these techniques to recover from injuries. Sports and medical experts understand that the fact that two people are suffering from the same type of injury doesn’t mean that they will recover at the same time.
There have situations where a particular athlete is expected to return to action in six months. However, to the surprise of the coaches and medical team, the person will recover in four months! Many people would claim that the differences in immune systems are the reason for it. Indeed, we cannot rule that out. Nonetheless, it’s not that simple.
Scientists have discovered that mind-based practices such as meditation and visualization affect our immune system. Studies have been able to establish a link between these practices and the functioning of the body’s defense system. These techniques boost the immune system. Therefore, it makes perfect sense that people who leverage visualization recover faster than people who don’t.
In a report published by New York Times, Olympic freestyle skier, Emily Cook, detailed her experience after practicing visualization. According to her, she was able to recover after two years of missing in action due to injuries. In her own words,
“I would say into the recorder: ‘I’m standing on the top of the hill. I can feel the wind on the back of my neck. I can hear the crowd…”
She also explained that she takes advantage of this practice to develop a new trick. According to her, visualization has played a key role in her success and journey as an athlete. Note that you don’t have to be an athlete to enjoy the benefits of practicing this technique. You can leverage this practice in any field to reach the apex of your career.