by John Assaraf

Let’s take a look at what happens in our brain when we visualize the future. There are two parts of our brain—the conscious and the subconscious. The conscious part of the brain is the part we are aware of; the conscious brain focuses on one thing at a time, whatever we think is important at the moment.

The subconscious brain doesn’t think this way. The subconscious brain sees a complete picture of everything happening all at once. The subconscious mind is aware of the input from all of your senses at every moment.

Your conscious brain…

• The amount of information your conscious brain processes is about one-half of the one-millionth of one percent of the amount your subconscious brain processes.
• For all its brilliance, the conscious brain has a major weakness—follow through.
• The conscious brain is great at imagining things and thinking them through, but it’s next to useless when it comes to actually getting things done.
• Your conscious brain is amazing at coming up with ideas, but useless when it comes to carrying them out because it is easily distracted. The average person changes focus every six to 10 seconds.
• Goal-setting is something your conscious brain can do.

Your subconscious brain…

• The subconscious brain can remember billions of things in perfect sequence, not only for minutes at a time, but for your lifetime. How often does it get distracted? Never.
• Goal-attaining is something only your subconscious can do.

So, let me ask you, which part of your brain would want to trust and deliver on your dreams? The power is in your subconscious brain.

1. Write any script you want and play that film out in your imagination. Your subconscious will watch it play out and think it’s real. The subconscious mind is a captive audience for the movies we play in our head.
2. Realize a mere thought causes measurable biological changes—a scary movie can cause our hearts to race while a different image can evoke biological cues telling your body to relax.
3. Combine the stories you are crafting about yourself with powerful emotions. A good story evokes powerful mental images and those images can create an emotional response that is stronger than what is really happening in our lives.
4. Visualize your ideal life to reshape your perception of reality, and once that happens, reality conforms to that perception.

How effectively you are able to move an idea from your conscious (imagination) to your subconscious (belief/action) will determine your success. Visualization is the key to making this happen, because your subconscious mind doesn’t know that what you are visualizing is only in your imagination. Your life script visualized and acted upon can change the course of your life.