Imagery can be described as a mental conception and experience designed by the mind (not an intentional rhyme). The fact of the matter is, each of us is “imaging” every hour of every day. Sometimes what we’re experiencing is what we believe to be in front of us already (such as when we are fully alert and participating in our day to day lives), while other times we are experiencing events from our past or future (when we are trying to remember where we put our keys, for instance, or when we are imagining a future conversation or meeting). 

Here I’ll explore 3 unique and useful “types” of visualization, as well as their potential place and purpose:

Results/Process Imagery - If there is one important distinction between types of imagery, I believe it is between Results Imagery and Process Imagery. Knowing what you want to do and how you want to do it would be seem almost pointless if we did not know what we wanted to accomplish in the first place. For instance, one famous golfer imagines the ball flying on a perfect course and landing precisely where he wants it – then and only then does he imagine himself striking the ball perfectly and making that perfect trajectory happen. 

• Results Imagery – Involves imagining how you’d feel and what you’d experience after your accomplishment. That accomplishment might be a change in your world (IE: making more money) or a change in your character/responses (IE: being more confident speaking in public). The idea of identity is repeatedly brought up here. If we regularly image ourselves in the place we want to be, it will be easier and easier for us to bring about those behaviors in our lives. The fact is, we are always conditioning ourselves. While before we may have conditioned ourselves to fear public speaking, we are now sending a different, more adaptive message. If we change the way we think about ourselves, we are able to enact change much more easily. Results imagery ties into David Allen’s idea of imagining “wild success” before engaging in an activity.
• Process Imagery, then, involves visualization of how we will get to our objective. Again this might involve something physical (the individual steps we take to get a project completed at work), or within our character (which involves imagining how we would develop manifest the qualities we want to cultivate). Once we understand our desired results (and have compelling reasons why we want to get there), Process Imagery will help to align our minds with how to get there, and will acclimate us to the behaviors necessary.

Remembering Success – When we imagine a task or activity, we are often simultaneously guaging our own efficacy in regards to that task. If we experience feelings out doubt and fear in the face of certain important objectives, then we will have access to the resources of “doubt” and “fear” when we attempt to move forward with that objective. 

• Remembering Past Success involves gaining an empowering perspective on our own efficacy, and bringing joy and power to an activity, instead of doubt and fear. The process involves bringing to mind other challenges (possibly ones that are similar to our current challenges) that we have overcome, or times when we felt powerful and achieved what we desired. It is an important point that when we are involved in process / results imaging, we should infuse a remembrance of past success so that our goals are channelled to the strength of our most efficacious, capable mental states. This gives us reasons to believe that we will achieve our objectives – not in a state of anxiety – but in one of enthusiasm.

Using these basic tools of imagery can prove immensely helpful in applying the kind of focus appropriate to your task – and also managing your state within the situations at hand. 

See if you can’t find particular contexts where each (or all) of these techniques can be particularly useful!

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