The choices we make today create the future. With our imaginations we can create a new 'future reality' and occupy it now.

The big questions for many is how? That’s where visualisation comes in.

Deliberate visualisation is one of the most undervalued and powerful tools anyone can use - to create the future they want, supported by worthwhile goals.

Problem is even those who do it, frequently do it wrong.

That’s according to some recent research from Neuroscience which shows visualising success may actually SAP your energy.

Let’s start at the beginning…

The big idea behind visualisation is that our brain and nervous system are unable to distinguish between something we vividly imagine and something that is real.

We imagine a tasty meal and instantly our mouth begins to salivate, even though consciously, we know that food isn’t actually in front of us. But our brain tells our body it is. The more you create a vivid representation of the meal, the smell, taste, texture in your mouth, the more you trigger a response in your nervous system, as if what you are imagining is actually occurring…

This is one of the tricks to creating your future self.

By visualising intensely, we can also create a future memory of the outcome we want – before the event or goal has occurred.

Visualisation can literally rewire our brains, improve our performance and elevate our focus and motivation (among many other benefits).

However, many people in personal development are doing it wrong.

Why?

Because…

1. They are focused on the result (visualising seeming themselves having achieved the goal) and so are not visualising the process; yet it’s the PROCESS is what creates the effects which produces the conditions for success (aka goal achievement) to occur!

Typically people who have been taught to visualise in personal development have been told to visualise themselves ‘getting the gold’ i.e. mentally seeing themselves after they have accomplished their goal. This may in fact be the wrong type of visualisation to do in the early stages of achieving their goal.

2. Visualising yourself having achieved the goal can seem ‘unbelievable’ in the early stages of the process. As a result our brain can create ‘cross-motivation responses’ where one part of you is visualising achieving the goal while another part is crap talking you saying “this will never happen” and that is what you are actually wiring up and the feeling of certainty that goes with it – totally counter productive.

3. When people don’t see the result occurring right away they can become demotivated, blame themselves and create a new disempowering belief “visualisation doesn’t work!” to go with their other belief “I won’t achieve this goal.”

Researchers have found that creating ‘positive fantasies about idealised futures’ can sap our energy.

In essence, this is the OPPOSITE effect of what you want.

So what should you do?

First recognise that visualisation DOES WORK but needs to be done in the right order.

What order is that…

1. Get into the right state. Useful states include being relaxed, calm and focused.
2. Visualise doing the process first.
3. Then visualise the ideal outcome.
4. Then visualise ‘contingency responses’

Let’s look at the real case example, the visualisation practices of super swimmer Michael Phelps.