Unpacking and unpicking... Visualisation
Is it a myth? A fad? Wishful thinking? Or a useful tool for your 'figuring life out' kit?
Reminder: Sales end January 2nd for my upcoming evening retreat, New Year Intentions. An evening of gentle yoga and creative vision boarding. Livestreamed from our yoga space above an indie bookshop, straight into your home. Skip to the end for the link to book, and a discount code!
Beyoncé, Oprah, Arnold Schwarzeneggar, Allyson Felix and Billie Jean King. And my friend Hannah. What do they have in common?
Spoiler alert: it’s visualisation.
Visualisation might sound like wishful thinking. But at its core, it leans on fundamental ways your brain works. Visualisation is effective, and the research says so.
Here’s an example of a vision board turned into reality by my friend and partner in visioning, Hannah Harvey. She made this vision board at our workshop in January 2024, and check out the progress she made by May:
A vision board is a kind of psychological powerhouse. Every glance at it primes your brain to notice opportunities, feel motivated, and take aligned action.
So, are you ready? Lets unpack and unpick the relationship between visualisation and how your brain works, and learn how to do it.
Unpacking visualisation - what is it?
Visualisation means forming a picture in your mind of something you want to achieve, in order to make it more likely to happen.
Athletes imagine their next competition race in their heads, like a movie playing from the moment they step onto the track to the moment they cross the finish line. It keeps them going on those training runs in the depths of winter when they’d rather be doing anything else. And it keeps them calm when they finally hit those crucial seconds where performance really matters (at the Olympic blocks, say).
In my chat with Hannah last year on her podcast, before she made that board, I shared a couple of my own vision boards, including one from around 2016, 2017…ish? I didn’t write a date on it. First rule of vision boarding: write on the date that you make the board!
I made that one back when I was living in Cambridge, which is about as far from the sea as you can get. It's basically a massive piece of paper - huge! And I tore up loads of images that I loved from different magazines and just stuck them down. And I remember that I was babysitting for a friend's kid, and she stuck a leaf on the board, which is now very brown and crunchy.
That was really nice, actually, because she could see that we were out in the garden when we did it. We were out in nature. And that was a lot of what was reflected on my board. So she made my vision 3D and tactile!
I still have that board, because it reminds me of the journey to get here, where I am now, living a ten minute walk from the beach. Was it magic, having that board? Was it easy to make the change? No way. Was it hard? Yes. Did it take unexpected turns and difficult decisions to get here? Absolutely. And yet, the board helped. And now, every time I look at it, it reminds me that I can do hard things.
Unpicking visualisation - how does it work?
Priming is a psychological phenomenon where exposure to a specific stimulus influences a person’s response to subsequent stimuli, often without their conscious awareness. The initial stimulus activates certain associations in their memory, which then affects their perceptions, decisions, or behaviours. So a picture of a tidy workspace above your desk might nudge you to keep your workspace tidy. This is the thinking behind why a vision board works.
There’s also research that shows that imagining a task activates the same brain regions as actually doing that exact task. It’s the same parts of the brain lighting up, whether you’re doing the task or imagining doing it.
Then there’s other research that shows that people imagining their muscles getting stronger had better improvements to their strength than people who went through a muscle training programme.
Guided imagery reduces stress and promotes relaxation. It increases confidence and promotes optimism. And there’s other research that shows that mental imagery can improve judgement and facilitate problem-solving. Better decision making by imagining or looking at pictures? Yes please!
It’s not magic. It’s not a shortcut. It is a helpful tool with a wide range of benefits. Are you in yet? I hope so! If so, here’s how to do it.
How to visualise.
Picture your desired outcome.
Vision board. One way to picture your desired outcome is to make a vision board. This gives you a tool for focusing your attention and maintaining your momentum. It’s a sensory blueprint that primes your brain to notice similar stimuli in the world around you. And a visual reminder that turns your intentions into action, one small nudge at a time.
Gather images, words, symbols that represent your goals, desires, and aspirations. Take a plain sheet of paper and write today’s date on it.
The words work by priming related concepts in your mind, so choose words that reflect how you want to feel and what you want to do.
The images work by priming your brain for similar images in your environment. Just like Hannah’s kitchen; her vision board made her more likely to make choices that would result in a kitchen like the one on her board. She didn’t even need to directly refer to the image when designing her kitchen for it to work.
Play with the order and location of things, until you’re happy. Then start to stick things down.
Every glance at your vision board is a gentle reminder to notice opportunities, boost your motivation, and take action every day towards your goals.
Repeat exposure to the vision board will subtly influence your actions. Looking at it regularly will drive habits and decisions that align with the goals represented by the board.
Mental journey. Imagine the steps you’ll take to do the thing you’ve always wanted to. Lift weights? Start a side hustle? Improve your fitness? Take time each day to imagine the steps you’ll take to do that. For me, I’m planning to get out of the house and walk more in 2025, so I’ll be imagining putting my shoes on, leaving by the front door, and taking the route to the beach.
Engage all your senses. Bring a little of the beach home and keep it in a jar by the door. Wear a specific scent when you meditate and then start to spray it around your home. What are some creative ways you can engage all your senses in this process?
Come vision boarding with me.
Join me to slow down this Sunday. January 5th, 2025. At 5pm GMT, I’ll be live streaming my yoga + vision boarding workshop from a unique yoga space above the bound bookshop, my local indie bookseller, in Whitley Bay.
I’m teaming up with my incredible yoga teacher, Hannah Harvey. She’s got a beautiful, gentle movement practice for you that will get you ready to dream. And then we’ll dive into vision boarding, with some carefully crafted prompts and a little hand holding where you need it.
Buy your online ticket for just £35 and get 10% off with the code OUTOFOFFICE24. You’ll get instructions of what to gather and bring, and a recording of the yoga session to repeat in your own time. Sales end January 2nd! Buy your ticket now.
Reflection time.
What are your experiences with visualisation?
What’s worked, what hasn’t, and what have you learned along the way?
