I’m a big advocate of using meditation and visualisation exercises to work out what we want and our next steps. Some of the reasons why:
It involves both our conscious and unconscious mind (= more impact)
It connects us to our intuition - that quiet part of us that always knows the right answer, even if our mind is noisy with conflicting ideas
We create insights fast, without our linear thought processes getting in the way.
An entrepreneur in a business group I’m part of asked ‘How do I know if what I’m experiencing during a visualisation or meditation is real, or if I’m making it up?’ And being me, my head went straight to a scene near the end of the final Harry Potter book where Harry has a vision of Dumbledore (believe it or not, I do bring Harry Potter into conversation with senior business leaders). Harry asks if the experience is real or in his head. Dumbledore replies: ‘Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?' It’s the perfect answer.
It doesn't matter if you’re using your imagination or picturing a real event - our unconscious mind can’t tell the difference. All thoughts and images that run through our mind go into our unconscious. There is immense power available to us when we leverage it. This is why Olympic athletes visualise winning and why successful CEOs use the same techniques.
For a long time, I didn’t really ‘get’ it, I thought visualisations weren't for me - until I worked 1-1 with coaches who used them as a tool to help me access more of my intuition. Now that I’ve gained Neuro Linguistic Programming and hypnotherapy certifications, I use this technique as a high performance tool with clients.
The next time you're daydreaming about the future, or meditating, or fantasizing, quit holding back. Get those amazing images into your mind and start that manifestation. I'm thinking of recording a guided visualization to help people create insights (aha moments) about their bigger vision and next steps - is this something you'd be interested in? Do you have any recommendations?
P.S. In short, daydreaming about positive future outcomes is a good thing. Keep filling your mind with these thoughts and images and you're on your way to creating them in your current reality.