It’s difficult to work towards a goal when you’re unclear what it even looks like. Visualisation can help you figure out where you want to be and how to get there.
So, what’s next?” is a question you get asked a lot in life. It starts when you’re finishing school. Those who go on to study further or take a gap year will hear it then, too. And you keep on hearing it – at work, family gatherings or when hanging out with friends.
When you have a plan for your life all figured out, the ‘what’s next’ question is innocuous small talk. But when you don’t, it can be a source of anxiety and sadness. If you had an idea of what you thought your life might look like but have experienced a setback (like a break-up or losing your job), that little question can feel especially triggering. Visualisation can help get you on track.
You have to see it
Visualisation is forming a clear picture in your mind of what your desired outcome looks like. “You need to see it before you can do it; it’s as simple as that,” says Duncan Woods, executive coaching consultant for digital well-being platform soSerene. “Knowing what you want is probably the most helpful framing that you can provide for yourself, and visualisation then becomes important for sustaining that vision and making it real.”
The reason why visualisation is so powerful is because of how the brain works. “Studies have shown that the brain struggles to distinguish between visualised and actual experiences,” says Duncan. When you form a vivid picture in your mind of what you want to create for yourself, your brain experiences that vision as reality – making it easier for you to figure out how to make it come true.
Putting visualisation into practise
Duncan uses a technique called WOOP, developed by German psychologist Gabriele Oettingen. It comprises four steps:
- Wish: Define what it is that you want. This becomes the basis for your visualisation.
- Outcome: Connect with how it will feel and what it will mean to you if you could actually achieve your goal.
- Obstacle: Pragmatically address any doubts or actual barriers that exist.
- Plan: Build a plan that’s fuelled by a clearly defined wish, a strong connection with why it’s important and some frank troubleshooting around what is standing in the way.
Duncan recommends starting with WOOP because filtering your goal through the different steps with discipline and focus allows you to strengthen your visualisation and troubleshoot it so that it moves from a wish into a real possibility.
Write your story
Humans tend to make sense of the world through stories, and writing taps into your mind’s natural affinity for storytelling. If you struggle with visualisation, storytelling and writing could help.
“There is a lot of research that writing out goals results in a far higher success rate, so literally writing down your vision or even directing your day-to-day journalling towards that goal can be very helpful,” says Duncan.
Start at the end of the story: imagine you’ve reached your goal and then document the journey you walked to get to that point.
Write in the third person. It may feel strange, but one of the odd things about humans is that we seem to treat others with more care and respect than we do ourselves. Directing your self-talk as if you were encouraging someone else will feel more useful and more constructive than letting the chatter in your head go unfiltered,” says Duncan.
Keep at it. A once-a-week check-in on your picture of success will go a long way in focusing your mind and building a strong narrative.
You’ve got this!
“Visualisation is a really valuable skill to master, but it is something you are going to need to work at,” says Duncan.
To get it right, you need to learn how to remove yourself from the present – and all the thoughts and obstacles that might be holding you back – and insert yourself into an imaginary future where things have all worked out in the end.
Duncan recommends creating a quiet, undistracted environment (no digital devices!) and starting slowly. “Try to just focus on some big-picture images of what you are wanting and develop those as you go. It does take focus and some persistence to develop the visualisation habit, but at the very least it will certainly give you confidence in what you are doing and help keep you motivated to reach for your goals.”
Resources for better visualisation
Music:
- Visualization Focus on Spotify
- Meditation Music Zone on Deezer
Books:
- Do It For Yourself: A Motivational Journal by Tessa Forrest and Kara Cutruzzula
- The Energy Codes by Dr Sue Morter
- Becoming Supernatural: How Common People Are Doing the Uncommon by Dr Joe Dispenza
Podcasts:
- ‘Visualize Meditations’ by Sasha Patil (Apple Podcasts)
- The Jessie Williams Podcast: ‘The Power of Visualisation’
Text courtesy of Mantis Communications
Photo: Gallo/Getty Images
