How to Visualize: A Guide to Creative Visualization

“The great successful men of the world have used their imagination . . . they think ahead and create their mental picture in all its details, filling in here, adding a little there, altering this a bit and that a bit, but steadily building – steadily building.”

– Robert Collier

We’re all familiar with quotes from the Buddha which state that we become what we think about, and that with our thoughts we create our world. This is the essence of creative visualization: what you think is what you get.

Visualization is simply the process of creating pictures in your mind. Shakti Gawain defines “creative visualization” as “the technique of using your imagination to create what you want in your life.” She adds that we all visualize, whether we do it consciously or not.

Many people unconsciously expect lack, struggle, and difficulties, and those are the mental pictures that they’re creating. These thoughts and images of lack and limitations lead to unpleasant and uncomfortable situations showing up in their lives.  After all, Einstein is said to have remarked that your imagination is your preview of life’s coming attractions.

As I wrote in my post As A Man Thinketh – The Power of Right Thought, James Allen referred to thoughts as “thought-seeds”. He explains that every thought that you have blossoms into an action, that action creates a result, and that result brings you either joy or misery.

Creative visualization is about learning to use your imagination consciously in order to create what you truly want; it’s about having positive thoughts about yourself and your life–animating those thoughts with color, texture, movement, smells, tastes, and feeling–and focusing on them often.

It involves setting aside a period for relaxation during which you create a mental image depicting a desired result: something you want to be, do, or have. It’s done at least once a day, for a length of time ranging anywhere from five minutes to half an hour.  This post will go into more detail on how to visualize.

Creative Visualization in a Nut Shell

Here is the process of creative visualization in a nut shell:

• The first step is to know what you want; that is, set a goal. Decide on something you would like to have, work toward, or create. It can be on any level: owning your dream home, creating a more harmonious relationship with someone in your life, changing jobs, feeling calm and serene, performing well during a presentation, enhancing your self-image, or even improving your memory and learning ability.
• Relax into a deep, quiet, meditative state of mind.
• Create a clear picture of what you want to be, have, or achieve. Be very specific. Feel that this is something that you can achieve, and experience it as if it were already happening.  Picture yourself in the situation as you desire it now.
• Feel gratitude, as if you had already received or achieved the object of your visualization.
• As you end your visualization session, say to yourself: “This or something better for the best of all concerned.”
• Focus on your mental image often, both during meditation sessions and casually throughout the day.
• Repeat positive affirmations that are related to your goal, such as the following: “I always communicate clearly and effectively”; “I am relaxed and centered”; “I enjoy everything I do”; “I have the energy to do everything that I want”; and so on.  Affirmations should be in the present tense, affirming what you want as if it already exists.

Be Specific About What You Want

The first step of creative visualization is to decide what you want.  In addition, instead of a vague desire, you should be as specific as you can about what you want. Suppose that you want to remodel your kitchen; that wish in and of itself is just a vague desire.  So how do you make it specific?  You can do all of the following:

• Collect magazine articles.
• Visit open houses.
• If you see something that you like about a friend’s kitchen, ask if you can take a photo.
• If you’re watching television and you see a kitchen that you like, jot down all of the things that caught your attention.
• Go to a kitchen appliance store and look around.
• Speak to a friend who’s an architect or an interior designer to get more ideas.

Once you’ve gathered all of this information, you can decide exactly what it is that you want.  For example, you might decide that your ideal kitchen contains all of the following:

• Blue and white decor;
• An island in the middle;
• A slate floor;
• White Italian marble tops;
• Lots of light;
• A Viking stove;
• Vintage wicker baskets;
• A display of blue-and-white floral plates; and so on.

This is an excerpt from the booklet “It Works” published in 1926 by R.H.J.:

“Put down on your list of wants such material things as money, home, automobile, or whatever it may be, but do not stop there. Be more definite. If you want an automobile, decide what kind, style, price, color, and all the other details, including when you want it. If you want a home, plan the structure, grounds and furnishings. Decide on location and cost.

If you want money, write down the amount. If you want to break a record in your business, put it down. It may be sales record. If so, write out the total, the date required, then the number of items you must sell to make it, also list your prospects and put after each name the sum expected.

This may seem very foolish at first, but you can never realize your desires if you do not know positively and in detail what you want and when you want it. If you cannot decide this, you are not in earnest, You must be definite, and when you are, results will be surprising and almost unbelievable.”

Relax While Visualizing

It’s important that you relax when you’re going to visualize.  The best time to visualize is immediately after you wake up or just before you go to sleep.  When your mind and body relax, your brain waves slow down to the alpha level, which has been found to be a very healthy state of consciousness.

As Shakti Gawain explains in her book Creative Visualization, the alpha level of mind has been found to be more effective than the beta level–the level of mind we’re usually at when we’re wide awake–in creating changes through visualization.  Gawain suggests that you try the following in order to relax:

• Find a comfortable position, either sitting or laying down.  Make sure that you won’t be disturbed.
• Starting from your toes and moving up your body slowly, all the way to your scalp, relax every muscle in your body.
• Take deep, slow breaths.  Breathe in through your nose. As you inhale, expand your belly.  Open your mouth slightly to exhale. Gently blow air out through your mouth while tightening your belly.
• Count down slowly from 10 to 1, relaxing more and more with each breath.

If you’re having trouble relaxing, you may want to seek yoga or meditation instructions.

Practice Visualizing by Thinking of Something In the Past

You can practice visualizing by closing your eyes, relaxing deeply, and remembering an experience you’ve had recently which involved a lot of physical sensations.  Did you recently enjoy a good meal at a restaurant with friends?  If so, do the following:

• Imagine that you’re watching a movie of the dinner party you attended.
• Create an image of the table you were sitting at.  Can you recall the restaurant’s decor?
• Was there music playing in the background?
• See your friends’ faces as clearly as you can.
• Recall the smells that lingered in the air.
• Listen to what each person is saying.  Hear their laughter.
• Think of how comfortable the leather seats were.  And how you wondered what was that perfume your friend was wearing when she leaned in to talk to you.
• Remember how you felt when someone commented on how well you looked.  Think of how good it felt to be with your friends.
• Recall how you wrapped the spaghetti with marinara sauce around your fork.  Think of how good it tasted.  And how you took the napkin from your lap and wiped your lips.  Then you reached for the warm garlic bread, feeling the soft texture as you broke off a piece.
• Think back to how you felt slightly full at the end of the meal, and were glad that you decided to attend.

Create an image of the scene in your mind as vividly as you possibly can.  Try to remember as many details as possible.  Include all of your senses, as well as feelings and emotions.  When you visualize you’re going to follow the same process, except that you’re going to use your imagination to create a scene in your mind that hasn’t happened yet, exactly as you want that scene to take place, with the intent that it comes to be.

Three Important Elements of Visualization

The following are three important elements of creative visualization:

Desire

The goal that you choose to focus on during your creative visualization sessions has to be something that you really want.  When I took The Silva Method several years back, we were instructed to hold our breath for as long as we could.  Then we were told to think of that moment when we felt like we just couldn’t hold our breath for a moment longer. Do you want to achieve your goal as badly as you want to take a breath at that moment?

Of course, you can use visualization for little things as well, such as getting a parking spot near the shopping mall’s entrance.  But the more you desire something, the more likely it is that you’ll get it.

Belief

You have to be able to believe that you can have or achieve the goal that you’re visualizing.  If you feel resistance when thinking about your goal, try making your goal smaller for the time being.  For example, if you can’t get yourself to comfortably believe that you can make $50,000 a month, change your goal to making $15,000 a month (or whatever you can get yourself to easily believe).  As your belief gets stronger, you can make your goals bigger.

Expectation

It’s important that you not only believe that something can happen, but that you actually expect for it to happen.

What If I Don’t See Anything When I Visualize?

In his book The Success Principles, Jack Canfield explains that some people are eidetic visualizers, which means that when they close their eyes they see very clear 3D, technicolor images. Most people, however, are not eidetic visualizers. This means that they don’t really see an image, as much as they think about it. Jack adds that this is fine: visualization works just as well for people who “think” of an image, as it does for people who actually “see” an image.

Non-eidetic visualizers can benefit from using external pictures to help them keep their conscious and unconscious minds focused on their goals. Three techniques you can try are the following:

1. Creating a vision board or treasure map.
2. Creating a mind movie.
3. Creating a photo album filled with images of you reaching your goals (you can read my post The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Habit 2 to learn more about this).

Simply look at the images of what you want for a couple of minutes before closing your eyes and beginning your creative visualization session.

Conclusion

Go ahead and try one of the exercises suggested by Shakti Gawain in her book Creative Visualization which is called “Ideal Scene”.  Think of a goal that you want to achieve.  Write it down in one sentence, as clearly as you can.

Underneath write the words “Ideal Scene” and proceed to describe the situation exactly as you would like for it to be once your goal is fully realized.  Describe it in the present tense, as if it already exists, with as much detail as you can.

At the bottom, write: “This or something better for the best of all concerned”.  You can add affirmations if you wish.  Then sign it.  Lastly, do a creative visualization session where you mentally see your ideal scene before you.

Keep in mind that you should visualize your goals daily.  Don’t spread your focus and attention by trying to visualize too many goals at once.  Instead, focus on the two or three goals that are most important to you at the moment and visualize those until you achieve them.  Then you can move on to visualizing other goals.

(Belinda photo is courtesy of Drab Makyo).

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Related Posts:

• Four Stories of Successful Visualization
• How to Prepare Yourself for Success
• The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Habit 1
• The Sedona Method – Let Go of Negative Emotions and Limiting Beliefs
• Psycho-Cybernetics: How to Change Your Self Image

I Recommend:

My ebook “How to Be More Creative – A Handbook for Alchemists” explains that creativity is not the sole domain of the arts but is important in any field. Whatever you do, creativity helps you do it better. Discover practical advice on how to be more creative in every life endeavor by reading my ebook.

The Sedona Method is a simple, powerful, easy-to-learn technique that shows you how to let go of any negative, unwanted or painful feelings you may be experiencing at any particular moment. It consists of a series of questions you ask yourself that lead your awareness to focus on what you’re feeling in the moment and gently guide you toward letting it go. Read my review of the Sedona Method here.