Habits that Optimize Visualization Power

Just like meditation, there are some habits that can help you to get the best
experience from visualization. Earlier, we have highlighted some things that
can inhibit your ability to use imagery. In this final chapter, we will explore
the habits that can increase your ability to leverage imagination to achieve
your dreams. Below are some habits you need to inculcate that can optimize
your visualization power.

Living in the Moment
Despite the fact that we face unpleasant situations sometimes, life is also full
of beautiful days, people, events, and things. However, you can become so
engrossed in anxiety and fears of the future that you’ll stop “living.” In other
words, you’ll let moments pass you by without experiencing them. People
could be laughing and happy around you, but you’ll not find reasons to smile.
You could even be eating your favorite meal, but it won’t taste as palatable as
it used to because your mind is full of fearful and negative thoughts. Even in
the midst of a garden full of beautiful flowers, everything will be colorless to
you. If you find yourself living your life this way, you need to start practicing
mindfulness. This practice will help you focus on the positives and find
reasons to be happy in the midst of challenges. If you don’t live in the
moment, you cannot leverage the power of visualization.

Expectation of Positive Results
Life is full of sad days that come when you least expect them. Sometimes, you
don’t experience a negative situation directly, but you are sad all the same
because the people you love are going through hard times. If care isn’t taken,
you can become so used to experiencing unpleasant situations that you start
expecting them to happen. You shouldn’t get to that point. Don’t in the name
of realism become a pessimist.

When you don’t expect good things to happen to you, it will affect your
visualization. You’ll not be able to imagine yourself achieving monumental
success. Instead, you’ll be afraid that something might go wrong somewhere.
Indeed, life can be unpredictable. Nonetheless, there are still many people
that are able to achieve their dreams. Who says you can’t achieve similar
success? Reconfigure your mind to expect good things. It will affect your
drive and motivation to accomplish substantial success.

Positive Affirmations
Your affirmations direct your mind and your actions. Avoid negative
thoughts because they have a way of becoming self-fulfilling prophecies. You
might end up convincing yourself that you’re not good enough because of
your negative thoughts and words. You might ruin your mood and
confidence, thereby affecting your performance. Negative thoughts can ruin
your relationships because people will not want to be around you when they
perceive you as a negative person.

Negative affirmations can also ruin your career because they will make it
obvious that you have low self-esteem. Meanwhile, when you are perceived
as someone who is low in confidence, you’ll not be trusted to handle things
on behalf of others. You need to be deliberate about having positive thoughts
about yourself. Positive affirmations help to eradicate and challenge self-sabotaging thoughts and actions. Interestingly, researchers have confirmed that when you spend just a few minutes thinking about your best qualities before a task, it improves your performance. This will come in handy when
facing high-pressure interviews.

Gratitude
Gratitude is a culture you need to have, especially for the sake of your mental
health. Life won’t always give you what you want. However, you can choose
to be happy all the same. In case you don’t know, happiness is a choice. If you
choose to look at the bright side of life, you will always find reasons to be
happy and grateful. Gratitude is crucial, especially after you have lost
something valuable. One of the reasons people are depressed after a setback
is that they can’t see any positive from the event.

It’s natural that you won’t be happy if you lose your job or a contract.
However, that’s not the end of your life. If you keep worrying about what you
have lost, you’ll never be able to take your time to visualize new possibilities.
When people can’t find positives after a failure, they lose hope. Meanwhile,
hopelessness can be devastating. It’s one of the reasons people take their
lives.

Realism
It is a good attribute and attitude when you are relentless and will never give
excuses for your failure. However, you need to be objective when setting
goals and visualizing your future. For example, if your goal is to become the
best ever in your field, you need to realize that you aren’t the only person in
the world that has such a dream. So, don’t be a bad loser. The spotlight will
never be on you all the time because the world doesn’t revolve around you.
There will be days when others will do enough to deserve to win an award
ahead of you. Don’t become grumpy and disrespect them because of your
obsession with winning. Respect the effort of others when they deserve their
success. You shouldn’t become so competitive that you always feel that you
are cheated whenever others are honored instead of you. Enjoy the spotlight
when it is on you and celebrate others when it’s not your turn. You’ll only
lose the respect of others when they realize that you’re sad when they are
more successful than you.

Contentment
Contentment doesn’t mean that you don’t have an intention to improve your
current situation. It also doesn’t mean that you aren’t ambitious. In fact, you
need to be contented to be able to suppress the overdrive and desperation
that comes with being ambitious. Contentment is the feeling of satisfaction
you have while working towards achieving your dream. When you are
contented, achieving your dreams will not be what determines your worth.
Rather, you’ll have high self-esteem regardless of whether you achieve your
targets or not.

You’ll not put yourself under undue pressure. When you aren’t contented,
you’ll not be realistic when setting goals. You’ll set targets that aren’t
attainable within the timeframe you intend to achieve them. However, you
won’t realize that your targets are unrealistic because your desperation and
low self-esteem are beclouding your judgment. You will treat anyone who
tries to advise you to change your approach as an enemy. You’ll never be able
to distinguish between a destructive and constructive critic when you are
blindfolded by ambitions.

Proactive Actions
When you are proactive, you’ll act before something happens. In other
words, you’ll be able to identify a potential problem and provide solutions
beforehand. Proactive people prioritize preventive measures over curative
ones. Therefore, they hardly make mistakes or have issues solving severe
problems. Being proactive helps your visualization because you’ll be able to
envisage situations before they occur. So, when creating imaginations about
an event, you’ll not be oblivious to the potential issues that can make your
efforts futile.

Once you can recognize likely pitfalls on your journey, you’ll be able to
prepare for them or avoid them. When you need to ask questions from more
experienced people, you’ll do so. People who ask questions rarely make
mistakes. They learn from others, and that helps them to avoid the same
problems others faced because they were naïve and ignorant. Life is full of
unprecedented situations that threaten to derail us. However, when you are
proactive, you’ll reduce the chances of landing yourself into unforeseen
troubles.