5 Ways to Imagine Your Ideal Future and Watch it Come to Life

One of your most brilliant and sometimes overlooked gifts is your imagination! By connecting emotionally with a picture in your mind and letting yourself explore this possibility as though it is currently in action, you and your life align with this truth. Visualizing a path forward full of light helps you work through limiting beliefs and expands your possibilities.

Visualization is one of the eight core intentions in our Brighter Being System because it is both fun and a powerful game-changer. The science behind your mind’s eye is astounding!

Studies show that pausing to “see” a desired potential future can change the outcome. The evidence suggests that individuals who maintain a regular visualization practice are likelier to see their imagined potentials come to light. Medical professionals have documented how visualization has helped patients with stress reduction, surgical recovery, and more. Athletes visualize their winning performances, and fighter pilots exercise deep meditative visualizations as a squadron.

At a quantom level, scientists have proven that they can guide nucleus particles to a desired state by just watching them. It’s eerie and mind-blowingly awesome all at once!

Are these researchers calling in young Jedi to their labs to alter the future? Maybe. But the truth is that there are also some more practical answers to why visualization works, and there’s much to discover about its inner mechanics... Could it be that positive outcomes from visualization are due to individuals having primed their minds to see and seek opportunities that draw them closer to their visualized reality? Absolutely. And it also seems like there may be something even more profound at play.

Even if we don’t have a solid answer to “why” imagining the future works, we’re standing on a mountain of material that says firing up your imagination can produce goodness in your life. So we’ve compiled some of our favorite visualization practices below to help you get started or explore a new approach to this intention.

If you'd like to get started by strengthening your ability to tap into the present moment, take a peek at these simple, quick activities.

1. Go for a Valk through Time.

What’s a Valk?! It’s a practice we cooked up almost a decade ago and still love to do – a “Visualization Walk!” Since its creation, it has become our gold standard for our visualization practice. Here’s how it works. Head out for a walk with a friend with the intention of pretending as if it is a year in the future. You have to really get into character. This can feel a little awkward the first few times or even every time. We haven’t taken an improv class, but I’m guessing it's similar…with one exception. You want this “walk and talk” with your friend to feel as normal as the walk you would have taken with them yesterday. What things would you usually share with them? How would you share them? What’s your tone? Ok, now that the stage is set, “ACTION!”

Our conversations usually start with “How are you?” or “What’s going on in your life?” then we’ll share a bit about what happened YESTERDAY. Start there. Remember, this is your friend who you’ve likely been keeping updated for the last year, so you wouldn’t start by giving them a full bulleted report of the year you just had. You would talk about yesterday's amazing meeting or the incredible news you just got this past week. Remember, you’re LIVING this life because you’ve traveled in time. You might share what’s on your docket for the upcoming week. Whatever you share, do it with EMOTION. In the same way, you would share your excitement as if it were already true. Let the other person respond, ask questions, and get excited too!

Quick side story— During a Valk with my husband, I talked about how much fun I had visiting our friend’s place in the country the previous weekend and petting their fuzzy farm animals. That made me smile, so I went with it. I imagined myself petting a big fuzzy cow. This is an example of the fun you can have with your Valk content, and, of course, you can also focus on whatever aspect of your life feels most ready for a transformation. Warning – Be prepared for what starts showing up! Two days after this particular Valk, I ran into a giant golden, fuzzy cow one block from my apartment in the middle of downtown, where giant fuzzy golden petting cows are a very rare sighting! She was there for some cow beauty pageant, so I got to pet a fuzzy cow! 😂 No joke. And, for the cherry on top… I did not have a friend with a place in the country with lots of fuzzy farm animals at the time, and now I do - looking at you, Ms. Undercover Hippy! Maybe this wasn’t a life goal, but there it is, and I love it.

2. Cut up all your Favorite Magazines.

You’ve likely heard of this practice, and if you’re not a “believer” yet in Vision Boarding, we highly encourage you to gather some context and inspiration from neuroscientist Dr. Tara Swart. In her book “The Source,” she offers practical and actionable guidance to help you open your mind and expand your possibilities… and create what she calls an “Action Board.” If you’ve already got a pile of magazines and a pair of scissors in hand, here’s a jumpstart guide to creating your vision board.

1. Flip through your magazines, and when something catches your eye - for whatever reason, cut it out! We like to give ourselves at least 30 minutes or more to “shop” for images that feel true and represent a desired future reality. The pictures or even words can be symbolic and sometimes, you may not know exactly why you love something you’ve cut. That’s ok. If that page or picture called to you, then keep it in your growing pile of cut out images.
2. Using a piece of paper/poster board and glue, begin to curate your collection of images. You might enjoy laying them all out in a collage before you start gluing. Or sticking them together one at a time may feel better for you. It’s your choice!
3. Let time and material be on your side. If you find yourself with images that seem redundant or end up not liking them as much, let them go! Also, if you are at the end of your allotted time and aren’t done, press pause and finish compiling when you have more time to set aside. You might also plan two different settings - one for cutting and another time for pasting. The point is to allow your creation to have some breathing room!
4. The final piece is perhaps the most important… put your vision board where you will SEE IT daily! If you want it to be more personal than your work desktop, you could find a place in your closet or next to your bed to allow those possibilities to stay at the forefront of your mind as you imagine your ideal future!

3. Call the Future into the Present.

No matter what visualization practice you choose, there’s one ingredient to allow your practice to take root: Keep your future picture fresh in your mind and heart.

“Where intention flows, energy goes.” – James Redfield

There are lots of ways to call your future into the present moment, but our favorite is selecting a Mindful Mark that queues you to flash a particular vision in your mind. The Visualize Mark, in its temporary tattoo form, is specifically designed to remind you to take a deep breath and imagine a powerful path. You might also consider setting a time in the morning and evening every day to reflect momentarily on your desired future daily. And, just like any other visualization technique, connect these moments of memory with the positive feelings of this future already being true.

5. Pin the Tail on the Donkey.

We played a game at birthday parties as a kid that never really made sense to me, but it seems to be an appropriate metaphor for the start of a visualization practice. The aim was to correctly replace the detachable tail of a plastic or cardboard donkey that stands just a few feet in front of you. Easy peasy, right? The problem is that you have to wear a bandana over your eyes. Then, if your friends were nice, you were only spun around 12 times and could still stand on two feet when it was your turn to get that donkey’s tail back on its behind. Where’s this going?!

The game constraints (dizzy and blindfolded) are an excellent reminder of what you can do to have more clarity in your visualization — take off the blinders and stop spinning for a moment before you aim. A centered, open state of mind (and heart) will allow you to focus your attention and energy in the right place - likely something more lovely than a donkey’s behind.

Sometimes we are so caught up in the spin of life that we simply can’t see what is ripe for a fresh vision. And the truth is that you are a creative machine with an imagination that can run wild in every direction! This is a talent to behold and harness so that you can utilize this gift for your transformation. So as you begin a new visualization, take a deep breath to slow the spin and set an intention to open your eyes to new possibilities.

Take time to reflect on the different aspects of your life or the emotions you’ve been experiencing. This self-reflection offers hints about what may be ripe in your life for an expanded potential. Also, know that if there’s not a particular area of focus that emerges, that’s perfect too! The act of pausing and recentering before you begin will ensure you’re not stuck in a corner left holding a donkey tail and too dizzy to start!

Final Thoughts on Imagining Your Ideal Future and Watching it Come to Life.

Incorporate as many suggestions in the list above into your life. You may find some of the practices easier than others you may already be doing. The key is to stay on your path. The more you light up your imagination, the more skilled you’ll be at using this gift to create the life you desire.

Hello, #BrighterBeing! Interested in exploring more? Because we’re all about reminders here at LumenKind, we make handy guides and tools to support you in taking action on these insights. And, we hope you'll join us on the journey with monthly insights, suggested intentions, and mindfulness tips. 

Related: Discover your Power Planet 🪐

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