Welcome to April, friends!
It seems fitting that I begin a new month by writing to you from a place of many new beginnings for me - my old neighborhood in Dallas, Texas.
My husband and I chuckled as we walked past the local Starbucks this morning. We used to sit here for hours on Sundays when we lived in this concrete jungle, envisioning our future life as nomads.
Sitting here, while feeling restless, we would brainstorm ideas on post-its, review our finances, and plan steps to leave our apartment, move into our camper, and start a more adventurous life.
In this issue: The power of visualizing the life you want and how to do it. Also, an invitation to attend Open Hours in April.
One Year from Now
I recently stumbled across an essay I wrote 4 years ago. It’s dated “March 16, 2019”. I wrote it during my first weekend of training to become a coach.
My essay was titled “One Year From Now”. It was an exercise to visualize the life I wanted a year from that date.
As I sat down to write my essay, I remember thinking, “Yeah, right. There’s no way that by writing this down, my dream life will come true. Life doesn’t work that way.”
I’ve always had a healthy dose of skepticism about things like The Law of Attraction.
Perhaps this disbelief comes from a story my dad told me when I was younger about a woman who won the lottery.
In a news interview, this woman shared how, when she was penniless, she would put a note under her pillow with the amount of money she wanted to win written down. Each night, before going to sleep, she would look at that note and pray for that amount. One day, she won that amount in the lottery.
Maybe I haven’t wished hard enough, but that approach to visualizing never resulted in me winning the lottery.
However, after completing my “One Year From Now” exercise, I’m a lot more open to the power of visualization given how our brains work.
Visualizing and the brain
I attribute the woman’s good lottery fortune to chance, but I’m intrigued by how our brains work when it comes to “attracting” the life we want.
A few years ago, I researched and delivered a talk about how to overcome our biases and build high-performing teams at work. Through my research, I learned that the human body sends 11 million bits of information per second to our brains, yet our conscious brains process 50 bits of that information per second.
The part of our brain that filters out “unnecessary” information and brings certain stimuli into our consciousness is the Reticular Activating System (RAS). The RAS is responsible for our wakefulness and ability to focus. It’s why my brain can tune out irrelevant conversations at Starbucks as I write this article and also snap to attention when the barista calls my name with my drink order.
What does this have to do with visualization?
Well, the RAS can be why you create or miss out on certain opportunities. The RAS filters information into our conscious minds based on what it believes is important.
For example, if our house is on fire, the RAS will allow the right stimulus to enter our brains so we can escape (thankfully!). Similarly, if we tell ourselves that we’re “bad” at something, the RAS will allow evidence that proves us right to also enter our brains. In other words, the RAS filters information based on the parameters you give to it.
Choose parameters that inspire action
Visualizing is one way to give your RAS parameters of what to filter into your conscious mind. When I think about visualizing this way, I suppose The Law of Attraction isn’t that mystical after all!
This “law” is simply about recognizing the power that our thoughts have on our outcomes. If you think positively, your RAS will filter in “positive” information into your brain, leading to more powerful beliefs and results. Hooray!
Except…it’s not that simple.
Here’s what happened after I wrote my “One Year From Now” essay:
Nothing.
Nothing, that is, until I took action.
A new life doesn’t just magically appear by thinking about it.
We create the life we want by taking action based on our thoughts.
A year after I wrote my essay, my dream life did materialize: I was living an adventurous life on the road in my camper, working remotely as an executive coach, feeling “excited about my work and not living for the weekends”.
It all came true!
My vision came true but not just because of thoughts. Rather, my vision came true because of specific thoughts that inspired action.
To create a vision that inspires you to take action, I invite you to be specific, engage your senses, and write in the present tense.
Here’s how I did this:
Rather than saying, “I wish I loved my job”, I wrote, “I am waking up on Monday mornings excited to coach and write.”
Instead of saying, “Someday, I’d like to travel more”, I wrote, “I am visiting my eighth national park in the U.S., feeling at ease with how to drive, maintain, and park the camper.”
Instead of saying, “It would be nice to spend more time with family”, I wrote, “I am grateful I get to visit my parents for at least two months at a time since I can now park my house on wheels in their driveway!”
Visualizing specific details in the present tense, and detailing out how I felt in those scenarios told my brain to be on the lookout for opportunities to make that reality happen (my RAS at work!).
Being so detailed also helped me figure out what actions would be necessary to create this reality, like the skills I’d need to learn, conversations I needed to have, and roles at work I could apply for.
Writing a vision that was set to hapen within a year also constrained my general “wishes” into a specific timeframe, helping ensure my vision was realistic.
Your turn: Write your “One Year from Now” essay
You don’t need to wait for next New Year’s Day to imagine your life a year from now. You can create filtering parameters for your RAS that inspire action any day of the year. A visualization board is a great way to do this, as is writing an essay or letter.
If you choose to write an essay, consider this:
What do you imagine yourself doing a year from now when you:
Wake up
Go about your day
Fall asleep at night
Describe how you feel, who you’re with, and what you might be hearing or saying. Paint a specific picture that engages your senses.
Now, describe the qualities that best describe who you’re being.
Don’t just think about what you’re doing, but also, who are you being a year from now?
Then, sit with your vision for a while.
Let it sink in and imagine that it’s done.
Imagine the new “you” you are being.
With these new beliefs about what is possible for you, identify a tiny step forward. Try it out and learn. Repeat.
A new life doesn’t just magically appear by thinking about it.
We create the life we want by taking action based on thoughts that inspire and inform those actions.
Leave me a comment and let me know:
What’s one thing you imagine experiencing a year from now?
What’s one little action in that direction that you’ll take this week?
P.S. If you’ve been recently laid off, I invite you to attend one of my “Open Hours” - one hour to process what you’re experiencing and feel connected with others going through a similar situation. As a transitions coach, I will ask a few questions to help you reflect and share.
You can register for this hour via the button below. I’m holding Open Hours once a week in April.
If you know of someone who could benefit from this time and space, please share this article with them too!
Thank you so much for motivating me to TAKE ACTION! I have been praying for a clear path or next step and today my prayer was answered through your newsletter by knowing what my next step will be ! This is just what my heart needed to hear today! Thank you!