Show Notes

On today’s chapter of the Word Weaver Podcast I’m talking about visualization and how you can use it as a transformational tool for achieving your wildest writing goals.

Visualization, on its own, is picturing in your mind the outcome of something BEFORE it has happened. By utilizing all five senses to vividly imagine your idealized outcome, it brings your desired goal into the realm of possibility.

Our thoughts are energy, they are so powerful! Your amygdala, the part of our brain responsible for the fight or flight response (our survival instinct), has trouble distinguishing between something that is being seen in your mind during a visualization and something that is actually happening in real time. Simply by visualizing it, you are bringing it into your reality.

When you consistently practice visualization, you’re engaging the familiarity effect, where your wildest writing dreams suddenly seem less scary or impossible and more tangible!

Olympic athletes, like Michael Phelps, have leveraged the powers of visualization (often up to two hours a day) in psychological preparation for big competitions and events. Michael would see himself winning, feel the weight of a gold medal around his neck, smell the chlorine in the pool, taste the water on his lips, hear the sound of the gun going off and the crowds cheering.

As writers, we can employ the same techniques in order to be mentally fit for the marathon of writing and publishing a book. That could be envisioning yourself typing “THE END” on your first draft, getting a phone call from your agent with a book deal, walking into your favourite bookstore and seeing your novel on the Hot New Releases table or opening up the newspaper and seeing your name in print on the bestseller list.

Along with helping to manifest your book goals faster, 8 other benefits of visualization are:

1. Improved performance (incl. word count output)

2. Increased focus

3. Decreased levels of stress and anxiety

4. Insomnia relief

5. Boosted immunity

6. Alleviate migraines and chronic pain

7. Decreased depression

8. Boosted confidence
   

Visualization through meditation, or simply by sitting cross-legged with your eyes closed for five minutes, can start off feeling silly and as though nothing is happening (we are so used to instant gratification) — but through consistent practice, I have noticed the benefits only in hindsight, they happened almost invisibly over time. If you can BELIEVE IT, you can ACHIEVE IT!

Word Weaver Podcast Links

Instagram: @wordweaverpodcast

Website: louiseclairejohnson.com/podcast

#wordweaverpodcast

• Intro Song: Late July by Shakey Graves

• Outro Song: Way With Words by Bahamas

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