Visualisation Techniques For Success And Anxiety

I find the idea of visualisation techniques for success really interesting because they don’t involve going to the gym or breaking much of a sweat in general and yet they can be incredibly helpful in achieving your goals.

The idea is simple; visualise what you want to achieve over and over again until the scenario you have created feels as real as it can be. After all, the brain has a hard time distinguishing imaginary memories from real ones. If you visualise doing something over and over again, there’s a good chance muscle memory will serve you well when it’s time to perform in the real world.

Visualisation techniques are used by top athletes

You may think that visualisation techniques are a bit ‘woo-woo’ but the practice has been long adopted by some of the worlds top athletes like the swimmer Michael Phelps. Phelps describes visualising a race hundreds of times beforehand. He also uses visualisation techniques to imagine all the different scenarios where something could go wrong so he can prepare ahead of time. When his hands hit the water, he feels as if he’s on auto-pilot and can perform at the highest level.

I was watching a podcast the other day with the ex-footballer Ole Gunnar Solskjaer where he was talking about his famous goal that helped his Manchester United Team win the Champions League in the 93rd minute. The interviewer was asking him if he was worried he would hit the target and score the ‘lucky winner’ right at the end of the game when the chance presented itself. Solskjaer explained that he had pictured scoring that goal hundreds of times in his head before that game and so when it came to poking it in the bottom corner, he felt calm and relaxed because he knew that he would score it.

Olympian Kayla Harrison also uses visualisation techniques and mental imagery to simulate success as a way of guiding her to achieve her goals in real life.

“Every night I visualize myself wining the Olympics… I picture myself bombing the girl in the final and standing on top of the podium and watching the flag go up and feeling the gold medal go around my neck and hugging my coach. I visualize all of that every night.”

Kayla Harrison

You don’t just have to use visualisation techniques to work towards success though, they are incredibly useful tools for when you want to be creative.

I’ve always had a vivid imagination and that has helped me to write descriptive stories and create artwork that I’m proud of. Every since I was a child I’ve used some kind of visualisation technique to picture a scene I want to write about or draw. Practising visualisation techniques helps to expand your imagination and it only gets better the more you do it, just like any habit you adopt.

I remember being in my English class when I was thirteen years old. We were all set the task of writing a descriptive scene of a story we had to make up from scratch. Being someone that had always loved to build a scene, I was excited to give it a go and I already knew what I wanted to write because I’d already written it several times in my head. It was like I already had it in my ‘locker’ and could recite it on cue.

After being heavily inspired by films like Saving Private Ryan, I decided to write a short opening scene about soldiers on the Eastern front and the build-up to battle in the trenches. I visualised the cold damp conditions and the quiet of the foggy fields. I thought about how the situation would make me personally feel if I was there and added in small details about how the birds in the trees sang their mornings songs, obliviously to the carnage about to unfold.

The end result was a short descriptive story that made my teacher pull me out of my class because she thought I’d copied it from a book! This was of course untrue, and it was only by visualising the different descriptive elements of the story I wanted to create that allowed me to make my short story so powerful.

This situation showed me the power of the mind and what you can achieve by visualising what you want.

Benefits of visualisation techniques

There are many benefits to performing visualisation techniques on a regular basis. These are just a few;

• Improves self-confidence
• Reduces anxiety
• Better performance
• Cope with stress better
• Increase compassion for others
• Helps to define your goals
• Improves imagination

Visualisation techniques especially increase your imagination because they force you to be creative. After all, you’re the one who has to build the scene in your head. The best thing about using visualisation techniques is that they’re free to try. You have nothing to lose by practising them and you may just get some benefit from doing so.

Simple techniques for you to try

Practising visualisation techniques can be very simple. It may take a bit of practice to get used to the idea of visualising success or general scenes but you can use these to get you started.

Use your senses

The best way to visualise something you want to achieve is to make it as real as you can. You need to be in a relaxed state first which is why some people will tell you to use visualisation when you meditate. However, this is not necessary. When you’re relaxed, start by closing your eyes and picturing the scene. What can you smell? What can you see? What can you hear? Is it warm or cold? If you use your senses to create a picture in your mind, you’ll be surprised by how real each scenario can feel.

The next step is to play out what you want to happen. It helps to do this over and over again as if you’re rewinding a tape and playing it from the start again. The most important part of this visualisation technique is to have a clear goal at the end of it. You can also picture your success and then deconstruct it backwards to play out what got you to your goal. Going back and forth gives you a clear map of how to achieve your goal.

Create a vision board

Another great visualisation technique is also a really fin one. This involves creating a vision board. You’ve probably heard of vision boards before and you may even think they’re reserved for girls and women however they can also be useful for guys too! The reason why vision boards are so useful is that you have to creatively design your board with images and writing. Creating a vision board allows you to construct what you’re trying to achieve and you’ll have a constant physical reminder of what you’re aiming for.

For example, if you’re trying to lose weight you can add images of body types you’d like to aim for. Some people use images of themselves when they were healthier weights as motivation and as reminders of why they’re working so hard. A vision board is like this only better because you can keep adding to it as you progress towards your goal.

You can make your vision board unique by cutting out words from magazines that relate to your goals and you can also draw illustrations if you’re feeling creative. Your vision board serves as motivation and inspiration, especially on the days where you feel like going off the rails and giving up.

Here’s a great guide for making a vision board.

Benefits of a vision board

• Inspire creativity
• Helps to set clear goals
• Helps to set intentions
• Helps to visualise what you want to achieve

Starting a vision board is easy. You can use a piece of card, some images and some magazines. The sky is the limit and there’s really no right way of making one.

Visualisation techniques for anxiety

Visualisation techniques can also be helpful in easing anxiety. Much like meditation, visualisation techniques for anxiety aim to bring about calmness and a focus on something relaxing and positive. You can use visualisation techniques to ‘go to your happy place’. One popular technique is the beach scene. By using this visualisation technique, you engage your senses to create a realistic picture of a serene beach in your mind. The idea is to be as descriptive as you can to build the scene. This involves identifying a few key environmental elements

Serene beach scene

Here’s how to do it;

• Close your eyes in a quiet place
• Imagine laying on your back on the white sand
• How warm does the sand feel on your back?
• How bright is the sun and how warn is it on your skin?
• How loud are the waves beneath your feet?
• What colour is the water?
• How loud is the breeze?
• Does the breeze feel cool on your skin?
• Is the breeze making your hair move?
• How busy is the beach?
• What can you smell? Can you smell the sea in the air?

The more you can describe the scene, the better this visualisation technique will be. You can use this visualisation technique to practise being in a meditate state and then you can use it for any scenario you want. The idea is to be creative and to let your imagination be free.

Big red stop sign

I’ve used visualisation techniques to stop anxiety lots of different times in the past. Sometimes it’s a simple case of visualising the words; “that’s enough”. I’ve learned that because many anxious thoughts come without justification, you can stop them just as easily by shutting them down and telling them you’ve had enough. You can do this with the big red stop sign technique.

Here’s how to do it;

• Visualise yourself travelling towards a big red sign with the word stop on it, much like a traffic sign.
• Focus on the word ‘stop’.
• This gives permission for your anxious thoughts to dissolve and go away.

This is a simple technique that only works if you give yourself permission to be in control. Anxious thoughts are just imaginary scenarios that we allow to manifest in our minds until they become incredibly real. You can make your positive visualisations incredibly real too, giving you back control.

Body cleanse technique

The body cleanse technique is another helpful visualisation technique to dissolve anxious thoughts and unhelp internal chatter.

Here’s how to do it;

• Close your eyes and get comfy.
• Visualise a clear thick liquid entering your mind.
• Watch it wash down through your entire body, taking any negative energy with it.
• Visualise it leaving through your feed.
• Repeat this visualisation as many times as you need to.

Guided visualisations

Guided visualisation techniques are helpful when you need a little bit of a push in the right direction. You can try out lots of different apps to help you with this. One of the best apps out there is Headspace, the mindfulness and relaxation app. One of their best guided visualisation meditations is the kindness and compassion visualisation.

Here’s how to do it;

• Find somewhere comfy to sit and close your eyes.
• Visualise a loved one sending love your way and you returning it.
• Visualise the love in the form of a white light being shared between you.
• Picture the joy you both share as the white light gets bigger and engulfs you.

Conclusion

So there you have it, a multitude of visualisation techniques for you to try right now. The key is to practise them and to build the scene through identifying and working with your senses. If you can do this, you can visualise life-like scenarios for you to work towards or that can help to bring about calmness.