Why you want to be day-dreaming

Did you see the last season of the Great British Baking show?

And, did you catch what David said in the beginning of the last episode?! 

I’ll fill you in. 

David was considered the underdog in the finale having never won star baker. Steph and Alice had both won star baker several times and definitely seemed to be (let’s be honest) stronger bakers.  

Then, David walked into the tent for the finale and shared, “I’ve had day-dreams about winning for 10 years.” 

That’s when I put my money on David (and I totally wanted Steph to win). 

David visualized winning. He replayed it in his head and experienced the win before walking into the tent. And he did this for 10 YEARS!

We all day-dream, but unfortunately many of us are unconsciously day-dreaming about what we fear will happen or what we want to avoid. 

Consequently, this can easily trigger a stress response in the mind and body, and even create the very scenario we’re wanting to avoid! 

Conscious day-dreaming, or visualization, is the act of creating visual images in your mind and imagining scenarios exactly as you would like them to be. It is also one of the most powerful tools for creating what you want and here’s why: 

1)  Visualization uses the reticular activating system (RAS) in your brain, which means that it focuses your brain to begin to notice resources or “coincidences” that you may not have noticed in the past. 

2) It prepares your mind for the future reality that you’re creating, and it gets the creative juices flowing so that you’re creating more ideas about that subject. 

3) You create the feeling of already experiencing that reality and, by the Law of Attraction, you then attract similar thoughts, feelings, people, events, and situations.   

Professional athletes are well-known for practicing visualization, from mentally traveling through a race to picturing winning Gold. Visualizing is considered part of their training. 

One of my favorite stories of this is of the 1984 Men’s US Gymnastics team who ended every workout with a visualization of their dream scenario. They imagined being neck and neck with the People’s Republic of China. At the time, that vision was considered nearly impossible since the Chinese team was #1 in the world, and the US team was ranked significantly lower.

Well, they ended up being neck and neck with the Chinese. In fact, it was the exact same scenario that they had imagined, with the exact same gymnasts from both teams. 

Prior to the final routine the US team’s coach said, “Okay, let’s go. You know what to do. You’ve done it a thousand times, just like every day back in the gym. Let’s just do it one more time, and let’s go home. You’re prepared.” 

The US gymnasts nailed their routine and won gold. 

Oh! And in case you didn’t already know (or guess), David also won the Great British Baking Show. 

Want to start visualizing your dreams? Great! Let’s get started. 

Here are a couple suggestions of how to do it: 

1. Close your eyes and picture yourself in a scenario you desire to experience. Stay focused on imagining it like you’re living it now and notice how you feel emotionally as you imagine it. 

2. Use pictures or printed images to help you visualize it. Some people have a hard time visualizing in their head, and that’s okay. Find images that represent what you want and put them around you. 

3. Use music. Music often creates feelings, so what would be the soundtrack of your life if you were living your dream? Create the soundtrack and see if you can dream it and feel it while listening to your soundtrack. 

You have the power to create what you want by visualizing it, and experiencing the feeling of it happening now. It doesn’t take a lot of time. It takes no money. 

So, why not start now? Take a few minutes right now and ask yourself, “What do I want?” It can be big or small, but allow yourself to visualize having it now. 

I’d love to hear how it goes. :) 

XO

Sarah