If visualization isn’t for you, maybe this is (especially if you drive)

I get it. Visualization isn’t for everybody. Daydreaming is. But visualization can feel like it’s too hard. You don’t feel it, you don’t see it, you’re not sure what you’re even doing there with your eyes closed. Your eyes pop open, what was it you were supposed to be doing?

What astounds me is how inoften I visualize, even when I’ve been struck by its effectiveness repeatedly. Like struck in the gut how well things worked out when I took the time to imagine and feel my preferred outcome.

For many I’ve spoken with visualization can feel forced. There’s enough already that feels forced in our lives, why add something else.

Try this alternative and see what you think.

Try speaking it out loud.

I’ve had great fun with this while driving. There’s no one else to hear you. Even if someone glances over at you at a stoplight they’ll be none the wiser. They’ll think you’re talking via some Bluetooth device just out of their visual range.

If you’re heading into some potential trouble, talk it out. Talk out how you’d like it to go. Aloud you can reach out to that hidden soul source in another person and ask for an optimal solution.

I’m always asking myself questions as I go along. Is that what I really want? What might be the best for all concerned . . . in fact I often skip to the endpoint and talk it out from there. I’m leaving the situation the meeting the appointment the whatever and everyone feels great about the result.

Yeah baby.

I may have no clue what we all feel so great about as I talk it out — it doesn’t matter. Hakuna matata! It just doesn’t matter. What matters is that I’ve talked myself into a reality with a perfect resolution for whatever it is I’m facing.

You’d be surprised how often talking it out in advance propels you into that very place you spoke of.

Talking it out makes it more specific. You can easily amend how you want things to flow as you see your first feeble attempts flail for lack of vision. Talking it out in advance allows me to edit as I speak.

You’ll laugh yourself silly too, by what comes out of your mouth after you get rolling.

I find it easier to speak aloud what I want that is best and amazing for my life. There’s something about the syntax of speech that leads you further in. Where you might get stuck in a nebulous visualization mode, speaking demands continuity. It demands more detail.

And as you speak you gather force. You may start out sheepishly, especially if you’re new at this, but watch as the power and lilt comes into your voice as you continue.

You know what that is? Your very own personal soul source rising to the occasion.

Because you’ve summoned it.

For you —

Evan Griffith
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