Have you ever gone to the airport, stood in line, made it through security, finally gotten settled on the plane only to find out that the pilot has no idea where he is going? Ya, me either.. We wouldn’t want to get on an airplane not knowing where we are going. Why would we want to live life that way? Think of visualizing your highest self as your road map or directions for life.
Visualizing your best self has been shown to boost positive emotions, happiness levels, optimism, hope and also improves coping skills. It has also shown an elevation of positive expectations about the future in people who practice this exercise. There are two steps to this exercise. The first being a visualization of yourself in the future having accomplished your goals and the second being the consideration of the strengths and characteristics you’ll need to make your vision a reality.
Seems simple enough, doesn’t it?
Wondering how you’re supposed to visualize who your best self is? I mean, most of us have a hard time deciding what’s for supper tomorrow, let alone who we’re suppose to become in the next 20, 30, or even 40 years.
Let’s break it down:
The why:
By doing this exercise where you imagine your best possible self, you’re getting to lay out your potential future when pretty much everything has gone right. Your business is flourishing, your family life is going great, you have financial freedom. How amazing would that life be? What would that feel like to accomplish all of those things? That’s exactly why this exercise is important. Once you have an end point in mind, you can use it to guide your current life choices, habits and goals.
The how:
Take 10 minutes to visualize that life and write everything that comes to mind for how that life would be. Don’t worry about getting it “right.” There is no right or wrong in this exercise. It’s simply how you imagine your life at its most amazing point. If you're having trouble defining what it looks like, start by determining how you want to feel. Based on that, you can choose how the other portions of your life look in order to provide you with that feeling or feelings.
This may not sound like it would make a big difference, but it can be extremely successful according to a number of recent studies.
What if my best life changes?
That’s okay! You can repeat this exercise any time you feel like you need a pivot in life or to add some joy to your week. As you grow and adapt to the “life” that happens, your ideal life will change too. And that’s okay! You can repeat this activity as often as you need.
Still not completely convinced you can do this on your own? Download my guide for determining your best life. It will walk you step by step through this process as well as helping you set yourself up for success in achieving the life you have visualized. You can grab it here.
You can also find inspiration from this blog post for being unapologetically yourself.