Visualisation versus Wishful Thinking

Growing up most of our holidays were spent on windswept Northumbrian beaches, staying in our family holiday home near Alnwick.

Venturing “down South” (anywhere beyond Sheffield) was seen as an exotic adventure. The factor 50 would be packed, A-Z maps carefully studied, and we’d head off like pioneers seeking a new frontier.

I can vividly remember one of those trips, a canal boating holiday on the Thames, as a remarkable thing happened.

Sitting on the boat, admiring the stunning Thames side houses, and the relaxed riverside life, I made the decision that I was going to live there. 

In my head, the whole of the Thames Valley was represented in that scene (perhaps I should have done some more research), and that was where I’d live.

I started visualising exactly what my life would look like, and I added a career in the software industry. I had no idea what that would involve, nor did I have any interest in tech, but it sounded lucrative and quite a cool thing to do.

I knew no one in the industry, or indeed the region. At the time it seemed quite far-fetched.

Years later, I found myself sitting in the office of a small software startup in Reading, being gently ribbed for my North Eastern accent.

A few years later I found myself living on the edge of the Thames, my bedroom overlooking the river.

Looking back, most of the major positive changes in my life have been the result of a conscious visualisation. 

However, an important distinction must be made between the evidence-based act of visualisation, and “wishful thinking”. 

In the mid 80’s Russian researchers studied visualisation in relation to the performance of Olympic athletes, and noticed a marked improvement in the performance of those who spent time carefully visualising themselves successfully performing the movements associated with their discipline.

Many modern-day athletes and sports people use visualisation to great effect, such as Lindsey Vonn, Michael Phelps and Ronaldinho.

Visualisation effectively gives your subconscious a clear instruction as to what you want to achieve, and allows it to mentally rehearse that act.

As Milton Erickson once said, “What you don’t realise is that most of your life is unconsciously determined”. 

Think about it. You’re sat there reading this article, but what has to happen in your body and mind to make that happen? 

There’s a million and one intricate things going on, that you might never give thought to. All of those muscles in your body work together to keep you upright. The intricate hand-eye movement as you scroll through your phone. You’re breathing, your heart is beating, and your blood pressure is being monitored. And on and on.

So visualisation sets in place a process within the subconscious to bring together the resources you need to achieve your goal. 

You’ll also find ideas popping up in your head, or notice opportunities that you might have overwise missed.

It can sound like a magical process, however, it’s not wishful thinking.

If you don’t take action, if you don’t put in the work, you’re not going to achieve your goal. You’re also constrained by reality. 

In modern life, we all want a quick, easy fix. We’ve forgotten that the satisfaction in achieving something is the journey, not the destination.

Despite what some people (and certain books!) might tell you, if you visualise owning a private jet, it's highly unlikely to turn up on your doorstep the next day out of the blue. This is purely wishful thinking and can be detrimental to your success.

As well as visualising their goals, everyone of those above-mentioned athletes has worked insanely hard to train in their discipline.

I told a simplified version of my story. What I should add is that I took a leap of faith to move to the other end of the country. I attended interviews for jobs I knew little about. In the first few years, I spent hour after hour pushing myself outside my comfort zone, cold calling prospects, taking rejection after rejection. 

So in summary, visualisation is an incredibly powerful tool in achieving your goals. It sets in place a subconscious process which helps you align your internal resources towards that goal. However, most importantly, you need to take action, work hard, and trust your subconscious.