Here’s some interesting evidence that visualisation techniques can create concrete results. It comes from a positive psychology study on how to integrate gratitude techniques into daily life. A group of undergraduates were asked to be thankful more often. This sounds like a simple task – but because it involved remembering to change their behaviour, it posed a challenge. So the researchers taught the students to visualise their best possible selves in expressing gratitude. This simple mental exercise led to an immediate improvement in their ability to apply gratitude activities in everyday situations.
If you’re a fan of NLP or positive psychology, you probably already use visualisation or mindfulness exercises. So it’s great to see some evidence emerging that your efforts are worthwhile.
About the author of this fast fact:
Eleanor Shakiba is passionate about helping talented people flourish professionally. She coaches and trains high performers who want to excel in business. Her core expertise is in positive psychology. Eleanor is the author of the Positive Psychology Toolkit for HR and L&D practitioners. She also runs master practitioner level retreats and workshops for trainers and facilitators.