If you believe that your thoughts shape the events and experiences of your life, why wouldn’t you spend a little bit of time every single day thinking thoughts about the life of your wildest dreams, as if you were already living it?
To help with this, here are six guidelines to get you started. They’re not strict rules—this is all about your thoughts becoming reality. That’s the only rule to remember. But these guidelines can provide a simple, daily practice to help you make your thoughts become things.
1. Just do it once a day.
That’s all you need to do—just once a day, and then let it go. Focus on the present, appreciating who you already are and everything you already have. Don’t fall into the trap of doing it 27 times a day, thinking that more visualizations will make it more effective.
If you visualize too often—say, seven or even 27 times a day—you might start comparing where you dream of going with where you are right now. This can overwhelm you, make you feel discouraged, or even lead you to give up. Don’t let that happen! Keep it simple: just one time a day, and then let it go until tomorrow.
2. Don’t visualize longer than five or 10 minutes.
The sweet spot is around three or four minutes a day—that’s the max. Trying to visualize for longer than five or 10 minutes isn’t ideal because no matter who you are, it’s easy to start daydreaming after that point. Then, you might get frustrated with yourself, thinking you have adult ADD, and conclude that visualization just doesn’t work for you.
Don’t go down that road. Instead, you might use a countdown timer to keep track of your time. Once you’ve visualized for three or four minutes, you’ve made progress and set the stage for your goals to become a reality. Spending more than 10 minutes on visualization is usually unnecessary and can even be counterproductive.
3. Imagine every possible detail.
When you’re visualizing, try to include every little detail. Picture the sights, the sounds, the smells, and the textures. The more you can fill in, the more vivid the image in your mind will become. For extra credit, add in some extra, unrelated details too.
For example, imagine you’re sitting in the corner office of your brand-new world headquarters. Picture yourself at your desk, then hear the phone ringing. How does the phone sound in your fancy new office? Pick up the receiver—what does it feel like in your hand?
Answer it—who’s on the other end and what are they saying? Respond back. These little details, even if they don’t relate directly to your dream, help make the image more real in your mind. Do the same with the furniture in your office—what does it look like?
Are there paintings on the wall? What do you see out the window behind you—are there woods, a pond, or a parking lot? All these extra details add to the clarity and make the visualization more powerful.
4. Feel and imagine the joy.
It’s just one small detail, but it’s incredibly important—and that’s the detail of emotion. Emotion acts like a power boost for everything you’re visualizing. It helps make the whole process happen faster. After all, the reason you want more money, more friends, or improved health is because of the feelings of joy and happiness that come with them. So, when you’re visualizing, really feel the joy and happiness. This is the most crucial detail to include when you’re visualizing.
5. Put yourself in the picture.
This is an important detail, but it’s easy to overlook. You should see yourself in the picture. It needs to be you and your life playing out on the “movie screen” of your mind—not just pretty, detached scenery. You want to take ownership of your dreams. You don’t want just fleeting glimpses of your dream life; you want them to be permanent.
You don’t just want to be invited to tea in your dream home—you want to be the one hosting it. You don’t just want to be loaned a new, red, sporty Mercedes—you want your name on the title. Put yourself in the picture! Imagine yourself in the driver’s seat of your dream car, feeling your hands on the steering wheel, reaching over to program its stereo. Or picture holding someone’s hand as you walk along the beach on a romantic evening. Or imagine your toes in the sand.
Also Read: Can I Visualize Anything I Want?
6. Always and only dwell upon the end result.
When you’re visualizing, focus only on the desired end result of your dream coming true—or even going beyond it. Don’t worry about the “hows.” How your dreams will come true is beyond your control to know, but that doesn’t mean you can’t be confident that they will.
The logistics of how a single day on Earth will unfold, with seven billion people constantly changing their plans, dreams, and ideas, means you can’t say “this” will lead to “that” without potentially complicating things. But that’s okay for Divine Intelligence. When you try to figure out the “hows,” you’re setting yourself up for what’s called the “cursed hows.”
You’re putting all your focus on one specific path, stressing yourself out, and ignoring countless other possible ways Divine Intelligence could use to make your dream come true. Sure, sometimes insisting on a “cursed how” has worked for you in the past, but is “might” good enough going forward? Let Divine Intelligence take the reins, weaving together the paths, desires, and thoughts of everyone alive.