How to visualize to achieve anything

Visualization is one of the best techniques to be successful of maybe the best technique, mastering it must result in massive success in any area you want. Scientists believe that we may experience real-world and imaginary actions in similar ways. Mental workouts also stimulate the sympathetic nervous system, which governs our fight-or-flight response and causes increases in heart rate, breathing, and blood pressure. So simply envisioning a movement elicits nervous-system responses comparable to those recorded during physical execution of the same action (Guillot). Although it may sound like hocus-pocus, some research suggests that imagining could help you get results even when you don't move a muscle. In one notable study that appeared in the North American Journal of Psychology in 2007, athletes who mentally practiced a hip-flexor exercise had strength gains that were almost as significant as those in people who actually did the exercise (five times a week for 15 minutes) on a weight machine.

Use all your senses

Mental imagery is often referred to as visualization, but it's not limited to the visual. "The most effective imagery involves all five senses," says Michael Gervais, Ph.D., a performance psychologist in Los Angeles who has worked with numerous professional athletes and teams. What are you smelling, hearing, feeling? "You should be so immersed in a mental image that it seems as if it is actually happening," he says.

Visualize with optimistic, positive thoughts

Nothing is going to improve when you feel lousy about yourself and your chances in life. So, instead of thinking, "I'm terrible at basketball; there's no way I'll improve," think something like, "I'm not great now, but I'll be much better in 6 months." Then visualize yourself sinking some 3-point shots or dunking on the competition. Remember that life is just as much about the journey you take to reach your goals as it is about the destination you have in mind. Visualization can make the process of reaching your goal more enjoyable by keeping you focused and motivated, making it a positive addition to your life.

Use affirmative phrases to motivate yourself

Pictures are great, but words work well, too. If you see a healthier, fitter you, lounging around in the branch manager office at your job, say to yourself, "I have the body I dream of. I am getting healthier and it feels great." If you want to get better at baseball, tell yourself something like, "I see the ball. I hit it with such force that it's knocked out of the park." You can repeat this kind of phrase to yourself as many times as you need. Just make sure you believe it!

Visualize while you're calm, focused, and comfortable

Visualization only works when you are calm, at ease, and willing to give yourself time to focus in peace, free from immediate worries. Visualization is a technique very close to meditation, only it is more active and vivid. In visualization you are encouraged to think actively about the possibilities, but as with meditation, you must leave aside anything extraneous to your dreams and goals and only focus on them.

Create a vision board to remind you of the life you want.

This will help you visualize your goals on a regular basis. To make a vision board, post a collection of photos and words that represent your future goals. That way, you can look at them every day to stay motivated as you pursue the life you want.

Write your visualisation down

This is absolutely the key. The whole point behind writing down what you are going to visualise is that it gives you structure - and a plan to fall back on. Simple! Taking a few minutes to jot down your visualisation first will really help you stay on track and keep your mind focussed. Of course, you need to know your goals before you do this - and I mean really know your goals, the ones that excite you and drive you and almost propel you into action.

In addition to writing down your goals, also write down the emotions you would feel if you had already achieved them (it is a special trick). When you think about these and write them down, you should start to feel that little excited twitch in your belly that tells you you're on the right path... This will save you a lot of time and effort later when you're actually visualising.

Make it vivid

The key is to make the pictures in your mind as bright and vivid as you can. Really see yourself acting the way you want to be. Look for more details to make the picture clearer. What's the weather like? What are you wearing? Take the time to notice and feel the texture of your clothes, the temperature of the room, and any other small details you see when you look around. Again, the more life-like this is, the better the results you will get.

The Road to Inner Transformation

Visualization is an inner transformation that leads to the realization of outer results in the real world. It's very much a creative form of thinking and/or imagining where you consciously create and shape your life with purpose. It's akin to our very own movie-making studio where we as the Director hold the power to manifest a world of our own choosing. And the best part is that this inner world doesn't rely upon events of the outer world. In fact, it's only dependent on the power of your own imagination. Brain studies have revealed that our thoughts actually produce the same mental instructions as actions. What this means is that how we mentally rehearse something in our minds (through the process of visualization) impacts many cognitive processes in the brain including motor control, attention perception, planning, and memory. In other words, your brain is stimulated in exactly the same way when you're physically performing an action as when you're visualizing that same action. Therefore visualization provides the same value as the physical act of doing something. These results are evident in brain scans that show there is no difference in brain activity when a person is visualizing compared to when a person is observing something in the real world.

Special thanks to https://www.realsimple.com, https://www.wikihow.com, http://www.personal-development-planet.com and https://www.girlschase.com for inspiration.