Visualisations (Mental Imagery)

Visualising can help you in many ways:

• Imagining yourself doing something can help you to get better at doing it.
• Imagery can help you to keep calm and focused during difficult interactions.
• You can mentally rehearse maintaining a calm and assertive composure while the other person is trying to ignore or distract you.
• You can use imagery to envision success, thus boosting your motivation and confidence.
• Visualising can help you to feel calmer and to manage stress.

When visualising, you should:

• Use all of your five senses. Many people assume that visualising or mental imagery is only about ‘seeing’ but you will achieve much more if you use all your senses. What can you see, hear, feel, smell, or taste in your mind when you visualise?
• Make your mental imagery real. Live your virtualisation as if it is actually happening.
• Live your virtualisation from your own perspective and not as if you are observing yourself from the outside.
• Focus on the positive as you imagine every step of your unfolding imagery.
• Feel the results of your visualisations like it’s a reality right now.
• Give your visualisations more power by writing them down. Know that as you write, they become reality in your world.