Visualise with feeling

It’s a new year, new challenges, and goals. How can I achieve my goals?

It is nothing new to hear that visualisation could help you achieve your goals. Save me the airy-fairy talk, I hear some people say. But did you know that neuroscience has shown that visualisation is a healthy brain exercise with proven results?

Your brain, these scientists say, is in some ways a sophisticated filter system. The so-called reticular activating system allows certain information through and blocks what it chooses to keep out. And guess who does the programming of this system? You – and other people that received your permission to sign up as your co-programmers.

Visualisation can help develop this filter system if you use it correctly. Let’s get practical. You would like to motivate yourself to lose 10 kg and to be healthy. You know what you need to do – move more, exercise, and eat correctly. But excuses pop up easier than self-discipline.

The following two-step-exercise can move you closer to your goal:

• Close your eyes and see what you will look like when you have reached your goal. Visualise the image and imprint it in your brain.
• Now imagine the positive emotions that you will experience when you have reached your goal. Repeat this routine when you have a quiet moment, when you wait in a queue or when you go to bed.

This is how it works: Your brain does not differentiate between real and imagined pictures. Adding the emotional component makes the experience all the more real and helps to engrain the image deeper into your brain. The more you do your little picturing exercise, the more you develop and improve the brain’s filter system.

It has also been proven that successful and “lucky” people have trained themselves to think optimistically and to spot the good in any situation. One practical exercise to train your brain’s filter system to think this way is to write down one good thing that happened at the end of every day. Even if it meant that you are grateful for getting out of bed and for finishing a day’s work. Soon your list will grow.

Remember that nothing comes without effort – you have to push yourself at least a little bit (and mostly a lot). Add feelings to your visualisation and start reprogramming your brain with your goal in mind.

Source: https://www.lynettebeer.co.za/