Visualization of the Future: How to Picture Your Goals So You Achieve Them

Before a difficult meeting, most of us run the argument in our head. Before a journey, we picture the delay. Before a result, we see ourselves failing. That is visualization of the future too. We do it for hours every day, by habit, and we point it at what we fear.

Years ago, every government bus from Trichy to Chennai was full, and the man at the counter told me there was no seat. I sat on the bench, closed my eyes and saw myself in the aisle seat of the second-last row. Five minutes later I asked again. Someone had just cancelled seat 27, the aisle seat in the second-last row. I don't think I was lucky that day. I had simply stopped picturing "no seat" and started picturing myself in one.

This article answers the questions people ask me most about visualization of the future, and gives you the practice I teach in every WISHualization workshop.

What is visualization of the future?

Visualization of the future is deliberately picturing a moment that has not happened yet, as if it is happening now, in enough detail that you know what to do next. In the workshop I put it four ways:

• An intensive vision of what we wish to achieve.
• Imagining the future with complete positive energy.
• Asking clearly for what we wish.
• A lifestyle to live life to the fullest.

That is where the name comes from: WISH plus visualization. Visualize what you wish. Do not visualize what you don't want.

Why do most people visualize the wrong things?

Because we describe our lives by what we don't want. "I don't want to be in debt." "I don't want to lose this client." Every time you say it, you picture the debt and the lost client.

Try this exercise from Day 1. Take one "don't want" and rewrite it as a "want", with a number and a date:

A negative thought is more powerful than a positive one, so notice it early. When you catch one, say the opposite, in the right words.

How do I visualize my future goals?

Pick one wish and build it into a complete scene. In the workshop we use a nine-step rule:

1. Make a wish. One wish, in one sentence.
2. Create a scene. Where and when is it? Morning or night? Indoors or outside?
3. See yourself in it. What are you wearing? Can you see your own face clearly?
4. Add things, with actions. Not "a house", but what you are doing in that house, and with whom.
5. Add sound. The exact words people say, and the sounds of the place.
6. Add people. People who are living now: family, friends, someone you admire.
7. Add senses. Fragrance, taste, touch.
8. Add emotion. What do you feel, in your body and in your heart?
9. Add one of the five elements. Earth, water, fire, air or sky.

Then write the whole scene as one story, in the present tense, as if it is happening now. That page becomes the picture you return to every day.

How detailed should my picture be?

More detailed than feels comfortable. எண்களில் இருக்கும் எண்ணங்கள் வெல்லும்! Thoughts held in numbers win. Ask What? Where? When? Who? and keep going until you can answer each one exactly.

• Numbers: your age then, the year, the amount, the number of people around you.
• Colours: fix the colour of the dress, the wall, the car. A scene without fixed colours keeps changing; fix them and the picture stays.
• Words: what you say to yourself in the scene, in "I will" and "I am", never "I'll try".

How long should I visualize each day?

About fifteen minutes, split across the day. This is the practice participants follow for a year after the workshop:

Can visualization alone help me achieve my goals?

No. I say this in every batch: if you believe in the law of attraction, believe in action. Seeing the result is half of the work. The other half is seeing the steps.

• Rehearse the steps. Close your eyes and see yourself doing the daily work that leads to your scene: the calls, the practice, the early mornings.
• Name your inner obstacle. A fear, a habit or an excuse. Be honest; it stays private.
• Write two if-then plans. For example: if I feel like skipping my morning practice, then I will sit up and play my audio affirmation before I pick up my phone.
• Choose three actions for the next seven days. Small, clear and on a day.

Does mindfulness or Yoga Nidra help visualization?

Yes. A settled mind holds a clearer picture. On Days 2 and 3 of the workshop we begin at 6 AM with gentle stretching, then guided Yoga Nidra, "the sleep of the yogi": deep rest while you stay aware.

The mindfulness habit I teach is simple: watch your thoughts. Don't follow them, don't create them, don't stop them. Watch them. When a fearful picture appears, you will notice it, and you can replace it with your scene.

Move within your comfort, and if you have an injury or a health condition, check with your doctor first.

What if I miss a day?

Don't restart from zero, and don't give up. Miss one day, never two: pick up again with the very next practice.

Knowing is not doing

தெரிந்துகொள்வதே செய்துவிடல் ஆகாது! செய்வதுதான் செயல்படும்!

Knowing is not doing. Doing is doing.

Start tonight. Close your eyes and see your own home: the gate, the door, one room, in as much detail as you can. Then open your eyes and write what you saw. That is the first drill we do on Day 1, and it is the beginning of seeing your future.

If you want to practise this with me for three days, and with your batch for a year, see the upcoming workshops or join a free intro session.