Before the development of language, our ancestors likely communicated and thought primarily through imagery and sensory experience. This may help explain why the mind remains so facile at using imagery as a way of representing and communicating ideas and feelings (Damasio, 1999; Kosslyn et al., 2006).
This post reviews four ways that you can use imagery to help yourself become more successful.
Quiet Your Mind
Have you ever had a great idea while you were walking outside? Or saying a prayer? Or taking a bath? Quiet moments are opportunities to slow down and tune in to your inner wisdom. Your subconscious does some of its best work when you’re relaxed and open to new ideas and suggestions. Take a little time every day to allow your mind to rest.
Here’s an exercise that can help: Imagine a sailboat at the lower tip of your breastbone. It floats there in that space. Now take deep, slow breaths. In your mind, watch the sailboat as it rises with each inhale and falls with each exhale. If you find your mind wandering during this exercise, calmly refocus on the sailboat.
Practice will make it easy to achieve the image of the boat and the calm feeling it gives you when you need it.
Change the Level
No matter the concern you are dealing with, imagine it as something you can mechanically control. You might do this by picturing a changing color, a sliding lever, or a dial you can turn up or down.
For example, you’ve probably heard the expression that someone is “seeing red” when they’re angry. Now imagine that anger is actually red. Next time you feel angry, close your eyes or put your hands over them and imagine that all you can see is red, Red, RED. Now choose a color for calm. Maybe an ocean blue?
Breathing slowly, focus on slowly changing the angry red you feel and see to purple and then to a calm blue. Or, imagine breathing in blue peace, and breathing out the red rage.
Even though this exercise is an act of your imagination, you will likely feel calmer after you make that color change, because you’ve given your brain a job to do and a way to ease an intense emotion.
Another example: Picture a dial you can turn up or down that represents your comfort level. Assign a value to each end (for example a dial set to “10” means you’re ready-to-scream stressed and a dial at “1” means you’re cool and calm). Now imagine reaching out and slowly turning that dial down.
Picture it moving, and imagine the stress being reduced in your body as the level decreases from 10 to 9 to 8 to 7 to 6 to 5 or lower. Imagine you are controlling it just like you would the volume on a radio.
See Your Success
Whether you’re planning to ace an exam, practicing for a big game, or prepping for an important conversation, use the power of imagery to practice how you want the event to play out.
Picture yourself studying, then confidently sitting for the exam and nailing it. Or picture yourself running that basketball play your coach wants you to work on, executing it perfectly not just once, but hundreds of times. Or picture yourself calmly explaining to a friend how something they’ve been saying to you is hurtful.
Using imagery to practice for an event can help move you toward the outcome you want.
Skip Forward in Time
One surprisingly powerful use of imagery is thinking of a future in which a problem you’re having has been resolved. This allows you to feel what it’ll be like to be free of a problem.
Sometimes, just considering that a source of fear or anxiety will resolve helps you feel hopeful. Plus, imagining a solution helps you explore which steps you can take now to get you to that future.
Imagination Essential Reads
For example, sometimes you may feel pressure to excel in a particular class or activity. This can create a lot of anxiety, a feeling that doesn’t help. Now imagine yourself 10 years in the future, looking back on that challenge. What will you see and feel?
- That maybe that pressured situation was not as do-or-die as it seemed in the moment?
- That maybe you can approach this challenge the way you’ve successfully tackled something else?
- That maybe you can accept one less letter grade in a class that’s a constant struggle, rather than expecting yourself to achieve at an “A” level all the time?
- That maybe you eventually mastered the skill that’s been bothering you, so you can keep working at it with confidence?
Albert Einstein has been quoted as saying, “Your imagination is your preview to life’s coming attractions.” If you can imagine a future in which today’s challenges are things you accomplished or overcame, you’ll be on your way to making that your reality.
Takeaway
The methods described in this post represent simple ways to tap into our innate capacity for the use of imagery, which can help us think more clearly, feel calmer, and move toward the futures we imagine for ourselves.
This post is excerpted from my book, The Life Guide for Teens.
