1. Visualize what you would like to create.
See things just as
you would like them to be. Place yourself inside the picture
and see things through your eyes. If you want a car, see the
world from in- side the car as you are driving it.
2. Hear the sounds you would be hearing if you had already
achieved your vision.
3. Feel the feeling you want to feel when you have created what
you want.
4. Describe what you are experiencing in a brief statement,
including what you are feeling.
5. If necessary, edit your affirmation to make it meet all of the
above guidelines.
1. Close your eyes and visualize yourself as the affirmation
describes. See it as if you were looking out at the scene from
inside of your- self. In other words, don’t see yourself
standing out there in the scene; see the scene as if you were
actually living it.
2. Hear any sounds you might hear when you successfully
achieve what your affirmation describes—the sound of the
surf, the roar of the crowd, the playing of the national
anthem. Include other im- portant people in your life
congratulating you and telling you how pleased they are with
your success.
3. Feel the feelings that you will feel when you achieve that
success. The stronger the feelings, the more powerful the
process. (If you have dif- ficulty creating the feelings, you
can affirm “I am enjoying easily cre- ating powerful feelings
in my effective work with affirmations.”)
4. Say your affirmation again, and then repeat this process with
the next affirmation.
Envision the future. To begin, close your eyes and formulate a visual
image of your new thought.
Use as many details as possible to envision what it would look
like if your thought were already a present reality.
You can create an image of almost any future experience, as
long as you’ve followed the guidelines in the section on initiating new
thoughts.
Even if your new thought is about a feeling you want to have,
such as I feel calm, you can still create a visual image for yourself of
what it would be like if you were feeling calm.
Perhaps you would see yourself sitting quietly in a peaceful
setting.
Changing what we anticipate. Changing what we anticipate starts
with what we think.
However, our language-based thinking makes up only a small
part of the mind’s processing ability.
To really harness the power of your mind to change expectation,
you need to use sensory-based images as well in order to activate
deeper, faster, and more automatic levels of processing.
Your first visualization of something is like a light switch in
your brain — when it is turned on, it triggers the brain to generate a
solution or the way to obtain what you are expecting.
Think about the presence of what you want. This is why it is so
vital to think about the presence of what you want as opposed to the
absence of what you don’t.
When you think of the presence of what you want, your brain
automatically starts to create that first visual image that flips the
switch and turns on your mind’s solution-generating process.
Repetition. As you play these visualizations over and over in your
mind, they will seem more believable, which increases the
likelihood that you will take congruent actions.
Increase the detail. One way to make this process even more
effective is to increase the detail in your imagery.
The things we see around us possess a great deal of detail that
we may not even be attending to; however, our brain takes it in, and it
gets stored as sensory-image data.
If we want our future visualizations to be as vivid as what we
see in our environment, then we need to imagine them in such detail
that they seem just as real.
Creating more details. The act of creating more details around an
image of something you want forces you to generate more mental
activity, which increases drive or motivation to obtain it.
For example, if you think about wanting a piece of chocolate
cake but then immediately dismiss the thought, you may quickly
forget about it.
However, if you think about a piece of chocolate cake, close
your eyes and spend a few minutes really imagining the details, the
creamy frosting, the warm, moist cake, how great it would taste,
savoring the image until your mouth starts to water, your drive to get
a piece of cake will increase dramatically.
At this point your brain’s natural problem-solving process will
go to work helping you develop a plan for how to obtain what you
want.
You might start to think about stopping at your favorite bakery
on the way home from work.
Using all senses. The best way to create detail and grow more
thoughts around your simulation is to picture and describe it using all
your senses.
The goal is to experience what you are visualizing as if you are
actually living the experience.
Immerse yourself. Close your eyes and immerse yourself in the
sensory imagery.
Picture an apple. Picture an apple.
What color is the apple?
How big is the apple?
Does the apple have any markings on it?
Does it have a stem and leaves?
Is the apple shiny or dull?
Feel the apple. Pick up the apple and touch it with both hands.
What does the apple feel like?
Smell the apple. Put the apple to your nose. What does it smell like?
Taste the apple. Take a bite of the apple.
Can you hear the crunch?
Can you hear yourself chewing?
Can you feel the apple in your mouth?
What does the apple taste like?
Can you feel yourself swallowing the bite of apple?
Full sensations of eating an apple. You want to be able to
experience the full sensation of eating an apple as if you were actually
doing it.
If you couldn’t actually taste the apple, try the exercise again
until you can.
All the sensory details are what make the simulation come to life
and seem real.
Start small. Some people struggle initially with visualizing an image
in their heads.
Start small, focus on whatever image comes to mind, even if it is
fuzzy, and work on adding in one detail at a time.
Visualize regularly. When using visualization to achieve a goal, you
will want to re-create your simulation regularly to anchor it in your
awareness.
Write down the details. If you are working with a complex goal, it’s
a good idea to write down a list of all the details to help yourself
recall each one.
However, you must actually visualize the details.
Simply writing them down and reading the list primarily
activates the language-based side of your thinking; it isn’t sufficient
to generate the sensory representation you are trying to achieve.
Emotion. Emotion is another kind of sensory-based representation.
Because we know that emotion is preceded by thought, when
you feel something deeply, you have achieved enough belief in the
subject to make taking action more likely.
Feel the experience. The goal is to make your visual simulation seem
so real that you can actually feel yourself experiencing it.
Remember, feelings are the indicator.
If you don’t feel the experience of the simulation, you have
more work to do.
When you begin to feel it, you have crossed the threshold
leading to action.
Start with outcome simulation. You should always start with an
outcome simulation, since this is what drives the motivation for
generating process simulations.
For example, if you would like to own a new house, and you
create a visual image of your new home and then incorporate other
senses to evoke what it would feel like to live there, you will start to
get excited about the possibility of this experience.
Perspective. The perspective you take when creating a simulation is
quite important.
You can create a simulation from the perspective of either an
observer or a participant.
Observer. When you take the perspective of the observer, you
see yourself achieving a goal as if you were watching a movie
and seeing the future simulation you are creating on the screen.
Participant. When you create a simulation from the participant
perspective, you see the events happening as if you were really
taking part in them — you see them happening to you through
your own eyes.
Take the participant perspective. The research on visualization
indicates that taking the perspective of the participant can be a more
engaging and powerful method, leading to better outcomes.
Pair visualization with language. Visual simulations are most
effective when paired with language- based thinking.
Make a statement about what you want. The first step is to make a
statement about what you want as if you already have it.
For example, I have a fantastic job that brings me personal
satisfaction.
Form a strong visual image. The second step is to form a strong
visual image in your mind of what this statement looks like.
Add details. The third step is to add as much detail to the mental
picture and incorporate as many physical senses into your image as
possible.
Repetition. Repetition is essential.
When you do this regularly, you strengthen your neural
networks, which makes the goal seem more real and therefore
something you are more likely to take steps toward achieving.
Add details. When creating a simulation, use as much detail and as
many of your senses as possible.
This helps to activate mental energy and neural activity.
A useful way to add detail to any simulation is to picture and
describe.
Participant perspective. To get the best results from an outcome or
process simulation, use the participant perspective.
Emotional intensity. See if you can generate the emotional
experience you would have in living it.
