Childhood is littered with imagination and wishful thinking, allowing our tiny minds to fashion ideal scenarios and ultimate fantasies. In a single day, a child can be a surgeon performing stuffed-animal operations, a manic grocery store clerk, a princess living lavishly, and a crime-fighting superhero. They can live a hundred different lives simply by visualizing these experiences. Even though these stories weren’t exactly real, it feels real enough to them.

In the real world, “playing pretend” doesn’t quite make the cut when picturing what we desire most. Even if I imagined myself as Cole, the earth-power ninja from LEGO Ninjago, that didn’t make me a ninja… or did it?

My brother, my two neighbors, and I were transfixed on the new LEGO Ninjago show back when it came out in 2011. In fact, we were so inspired by this secret warrior crew that we would then roleplay as the characters for hours afterwards. We were mesmerized by how cool the ninjas were, which led us to wanting to be ninjas. We would “practice” our ninja moves after school, but soon that wasn’t enough for my brother and I. The next step was to find our own Sensei Wu to guide us through the art of “spinjitsu”, so soon enough, the two of us signed up for Taekwondo classes. With Taekwondo being a kick-ass form of martial arts, we were overtly excited to truly embody the LEGO Ninjago characters. Both of us continued on with this activity for years afterwards, where I went on to become an assistant instructor. We envisioned ourselves as ninjas and then took the action to bring that vision to life as close as possible.

If I were to recreate this cycle of events as an adult now, I would have even more opportunities to expand my “ninja” abilities and truly embody the discipline of a warrior with the expansive resources at hand. I could easily purchase a katana off the internet to practice with or even hop a plane to a Japanese karate studio for authentic lessons. Obviously, these options weren’t exactly available to me as a child, but I made do with what I had. Being an adult with a developed frontal cortex means that the possibilities are endless and you can do anything, as long as you are able to visualize it.

Using Visualization

What exactly is visualization if it’s not just regular imagination? This important form of manifestation is not only the way to fantasize experiences as a child, but a technique of inwardly bringing in success and achieving personal goals. When you master the method of visualization, you are pulling your dreams to the surface and making them tangible.

To start out, pick a goal that you have in mind and make it as clear as possible. The more details established for this goal, the easier it will be to have a defined visualization for it. In my LEGO Ninjago story, the overall aspiration was “to become a ninja.” This was conveniently defined by the show itself; superb individuals who wore traditional Asian garments, possessed killer speed and balance, and mastered karate techniques were “ninjas.” Therefore, the TV show is what my goal looked like.

If your main objective isn’t fully fleshed-out yet, gathering inspiration from similar success stories is always a great way to define what you want to work towards. This can be in the form of celebrities, influencers, or even friends and family members. Having a person that can stand as an example of where you want to be is not only a good motivator, but is helpful for filling in the blanks regarding your goal. For example, one day I want to publish a book. To really establish that aspiration, I would look towards successful writers and dive into their start-up stories. From gathering that inspiration, I may discover what genre I want to publish in, which publisher I want, and even vaguely what the book cover will look like. The more you can envision, the more you make it real.

Once you are pretty confident of your main objective, now comes the visualization aspect of it. Basically, you “play pretend” with your goal until it becomes physical reality. If this sounds ludicrous to you, I completely understand, but there is a genuine science behind this fantastical phenomenon. It all lies within the power of the mind.

Staying Consistent

The way that humans think day-in and day-out is due to their individual thought process patterns. We each reflect and evaluate thoughts in different ways, and these life pathways are shaped by the notions that occupy our minds the most. This is why, in a broader sense, we must be careful about what we allow to enter our minds.

A single unwanted thought can easily slip in and burrow itself into your brain. For example, if an individual looked in the mirror everyday and said to themselves, “I am unattractive. I am ugly,” this would reinforce their inner (subconscious) thoughts to continue these active (conscious) thoughts. A person who consistently hears or tells themselves a negative, degrading thought like this may be more likely to ingest this statement as a fact and therefore view it as reality, which may relate to hyper self-consciousness and escalated anxiety.(1) Our own contemplations are what define our feelings and actions.

However, this proves that we can just as easily think positive thoughts to evoke beneficial responses, which is where our visualization technique comes in. The initial step to envisioning your desired achievement after having a clear idea of it is to vividly picture it in a consistent manner. Treat your ultimate goal like a movie scene. As clear as day, illustrate in your mind’s eye you walking across the stage with that degree, or shaking the hands of that famous director, or standing at the altar staring into the eyes of your soulmate. Produce this image as vividly as possible. Once you are satisfied with your imagination, it is important to consistently bring this scene up throughout the days and weeks.

You begin visualizing this future goal and stay consistent with it for a week or so. If you are persistent with your “thought schedule”, you may notice that it becomes even easier to imagine your goal as time goes on. This is because if you are consciously repeating a thought, vision, or idea in your head, it eventually sinks into your subconscious thoughts. Just like I stated in my negative thought example, your mind will begin to take this vision as fact.

Once this occurs, you will notice your goal popping into your mind more regularly. Not only that, but as you are creating a habit of imagining your goal, you are tricking your brain into believing that this goal is already happening rather than something that will happen in the future. Neuroscientist Dr. Tara Swart explains the power of imaging an idea or goal in her book The Source: “Visualization works because there is surprisingly little difference to the brain between experiencing an event directly in the outside world and a strongly imagined vision of the same event.” Even though this imagined goal of yours isn’t exactly real yet, you are beginning to obtain the mental benefits of it already.

Coming to Life

So far, we have defined our goal, intensely visualized it for a period of time, and now are accepting it as reality. Now what? Once you are at this stage, you’ll begin to realize opportunities, “coincidences,” and special occurrences are bending your way. This goal of yours is internalized and embedded in your subconscious now, and this is where the magic happens. Because of this aspiration embodiment, your mind is working on autopilot to direct you towards this goal in every aspect. Without your knowledge, your mind is influencing your actions and thoughts in such a way that it drives you towards your end goal. According to Roxie Nafousi:

“When we start to regularly practice visualizing the things that we want, our brain responds by altering our behavior patterns and our interpretations of our surroundings in line with the imagined goal. It becomes more perceptive and open to new opportunities that will align with our visualization, while filtering out any unwanted information that does not. This means we can literally prime our brains to drive us towards our desired future.”(2)

You don’t even realize it, but the brain is already working towards that shiny goal of yours, all because of simply visualizing it a few times a day. The more a desire is visualized, the more likely it is to come true.

“Wait a minute,” you may be thinking. “All I have to do is imagine what I want and it’ll come true?” The answer would technically be yes! Backed by psychology and neuroscience, this type of manifestation is incredibly reliable and can work wonders. However, there is a catch to this method. A person can follow all of these visualization stages to a tee and have their desire be the only image to cross their mind, but none of it matters unless they physically put in the work. Unfortunately, we don’t have a fairy godmother who can arrange wishes with the flick of a wand, which means the final steps to reaching and completing a goal requires your own passion and effort.

Let’s envision a scenario. We have two individuals, Alex and Riley, and they both have followed this visualization technique for their shared goal of finding an internship for the summer. Alex is more of a homebody and doesn’t participate in many activities that require them to leave the house. Alex also is more comfortable sticking to their daily routine and hanging with a couple of their close friends, rather than trying or meeting someone new. Alex spends their free time watching TV and scrolling on their phone. On the other hand, Riley is constantly out and about and engages in a few community activities, such as playing kickball with a local team in the nearby park. Riley likes to leave the house and be productive in coffee shops or outdoor cafes when the weather is nice. Riley spends their free-time by going barhopping with friends, attending music events, and jogging on trails.

One of these individuals will not have the same idyllic opportunities as the other. Alex, who doesn’t veer from their routine nor step outside their comfort zone, is less likely to have their goal come true than Riley. This is because Riley is allowing these “magical” instances to approach them by continually being exposed to many different environments, people, and scenarios. With Riley more acquainted with the “outside world”, their subconscious brain has more opportunities to pick up and recognize patterns that will lead towards their ultimate goal of receiving an internship. While Alex may only have jobsites to browse, Riley has the advantage of possibly meeting strangers in the desired field, coming across posters with related networking events, being introduced to a recruiter through connections, or experiencing a sort of “coincidence” experience that gets them a step closer.

Visualization is a manifestation tool that promptly pulls your aspirations near to you, but this tool is only efficient if you wield it correctly. Simply envisioning a wish to come true but not necessarily taking action to achieve it won’t have any lasting effects. However, if you put yourself out there like Riley, routes and choices that lead to your goal are more likely to present itself. Expose yourself and your ambition to the world, and you will be rewarded back!

If you are an aspirational person who carries a mental list of goals with them, visualization can be used for multiple objectives at once. A great activity to keep track of these, however, is to create a vision board. A vision board is essentially a physical collage of images, quotes, photos, or symbols that represent the different goals you are targeting. Creating a physical version of this manifestation technique is a wonderful alternative for individuals who experience a tough time using imagination and would rather have a visual representation of their aspirations that they’re able to reference. Check out our article How to Create a Vision Board for a clearer understanding of how it works and how to make one!

When I was a child, I had a vision to become a ninja. With the LEGO Ninjago show as my reference, I envisioned myself as a martial arts warrior everyday and even embodied this character through amateur karate moves with the neighbors. After effortlessly picturing myself as this kick-ass ninja, we happened to come across flyers for a new Taekwondo studio that recently opened up in the neighborhood. This was our sign to enroll, and my little dream came true as my brother and I trained to become little martial artists.

That was just a youthful example of visualization, but this technique remains tried and true even through adult life. In fact, with more opportunities at your disposal, this method is even fiercer as you age. Picture that budding version of yourself and channel your inner child when imagining your new dreams and aspirations. Anything can happen as long as you can visualize it. You can be that ninja.

Exercises

Not sure what to do still? Here are some example exercises that follow along with the steps listed out in this article:

• Gain inspiration for your visualization by combing your own social media. Scroll through your liked and pinned posts (Instagram, Pinterest, TikTok, whatever you use!) and think about why you “hearted” it in the first place. Posts like these can look like interior design inspiration, sports and athletic tips, trendy outfits you like, make-up tutorials, recipes, interesting job opportunities, and many others. Ask yourself these questions: What about this post did you like? What inspiration can you pull from it? What goal can you set to achieve it for yourself?

• Imagine a movie. If visualizing your future is difficult because of your present, place it in a movie format. You are the main character, and at the end of this movie, you achieve all of the set goals. What does this look like? How did you achieve them? How do you feel once these goals are accomplished?

• Challenge yourself to go somewhere new once a week. Whether it’s a coffee shop, grocery store, outdoor park, academic building, retail store, or whatever, changing up your surroundings and putting yourself out in the world makes a difference when making your dreams come true. Pay attention to these surroundings. What are the types of people around you? Are there any posters or boards listing events or opportunities? Can you turn this moment into an opportunity?

Works Cited

1. Chakhssi F, Kraiss JT, Sommers-Spijkerman M, Bohlmeijer ET. The effect of positive psychology interventions on well-being and distress in clinical samples with psychiatric or somatic disorders: a systematic review and meta-analysis. BMC Psychiatry. 2018 Jun 27;18:211. doi:10.1186/s12888-018-1739-2 PubMed PMID: 29945603; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6020379.

2. Nafousi R. Manifest: 7 steps to living your best life. UK: Michael Joseph; 2022.

Credit

Editor: Piper Ruth

Research Consultant: Emmerson Borthwick

Illustrator: Aiden Lawton

**The Beamish Club does not offer professional medical advice, treatments, nor diagnosis. Anything written and published by The Beamish Club is not a direct replacement for medical treatment. If you have health concerns, please seek advice from your local health and mental health professionals for treatment plans**