By now you probably know that when negative thoughts come up, you need to switch to thinking about what you desire and how you want to be feeling. You probably have heard about Visualization. Good! Visualization is a wonderful tool, but as a beginner, how the heck do you begin and what are some common pitfalls? This article will give you some great suggestions and put your mind at ease. And of course, if you still have questions, send me an email! Let’s get started!

To begin with, it will benefit you to know that your fantasy i.e. visualization will not be very good at first. One reason is that you haven’t been practicing it (obviously or you’d be living it). The other is that when you are in a low vibration you can’t just jump to a high one. So your first pictures won’t be clear and you won’t be able to feel the feeling.

What I like to do in this situation is to talk myself through it and imagine whatever I can. Just one or two pictures (scenes) are best. There is no need to try to imagine every aspect of your new life because it only takes one good scene to represent to you your ideal life. (Later in the article we’ll see some suggestions.)

I always start with the very general essence of how I want to feel, “I want to be happy. I want to feel good about my life. I want to feel fulfilled,” and I imagine myself laughing. I still can’t feel that feeling, mind you, but at least in my mind’s eye things are starting to look good. I see myself laughing. I see myself as happy. And that starts to shift my vibration, meaning, I feel better.

The more you do this and the more often, your vibration will shift up and up and up. Soon that fantasy starts coming into your life. For me, I start to feel like smiling more often. Then there are more things to laugh about. Opportunities that make my life even better start coming in.

That first visualization is the hardest because you aren’t used to doing it. Usually we worry that we’ll feel even worse afterwards, but I’m here to tell you that that just isn’t true when you actually start visualizing having what you want to have. It’s different when people think of things and feelings they want without really imagining having them. Then it’s painful because it’s like they’re looking over the fence and seeing what someone else has, not them. But when you visualize actually living your ideal life, you’ll see how it makes you feel good. Visualizing living something in your own skin is what makes all the difference.

There is no way you can fail if you keep doing this!

Here are five suggestions to get you started and then the common mistakes to avoid.

SCENES:

1. You are driving your gorgeous new car. You feel so free, so happy. People in other cars see you and smile, admiring your car.

2. You are laughing and the sun is shining down on you. You feel so fulfilled, your life is so perfect. (my favorite)

3. You are the boss of your own company. You walk down the aisle and your employees are perfectly carrying out their duties. You feel incredibly proud of what you’ve created.

4. You log into your checking account and you see $500,000 (or some other amount that’s meaningful to you). You feel so happy and safe and proud.

5. You are snuggling with your honey in bed, watching a new movie you both like and eating yummy pizza. Things couldn’t be more perfect.

As you can see, there are many many perfect scenes. Your mind will come up with what is currently perfect to you. As time goes by, your imaginings will change and your reality will mirror the happiness you imagined.

Some common mistakes

1. Visualizing a fixed version of a situation gone wrong

Please don’t do this. Back up from the situation you want to fix and visualize a scene where you’re truly happy that isn’t connected to the problem. Example: if you’re having major heartbreak over your ex, don’t visualize having the perfect relationship. That will be too hard and you will be likely to visualize the same person you’re currently attached to. This drags current reality into your fantasy and spoils it all.
Let that go, knowing that you will be moving toward your ideal life, and that everything that fits will stay and that those things that don’t fit will be replaced with something better.

2. Forcing yourself to visualize many details

Absolutely not necessary. As I’ve already written, I just imagine laughing and being happy in the sun. Remember the KISS rule: Keep it simple stupid. There are details that are fun to add, perhaps drinking a piña colada, but they will come to you easily and will make you chuckle. ;) One of my clients discovered she loved wearing “Audrey Hepburn” hats in her scenes, which made her feel elegant and chic, and perfectly described her tastes.

3. Your scene is no longer feeling ideal

Excellent! This means you have grown and it’s time to imagine a different scene. Choose whatever is easy and feels good. Sometimes it takes a few mental tries before coming up with a scene you love. Play with it and keep molding it. That’s what imagination is for.

4. Not keeping this up

Everyone feels better once they do this for real, yet not all continue. It feels too frivolous. That’s because we’re so used to worrying about our current problems and trained to believe that we must solve them. You have to keep remembering that worrying and solving never helped you and that in order to change your reality, you have to keep imagining a new one. Five minutes everyday might be all you start with, but make the commitment.