On the other side of the creativity coin lies the power of your imagination. For without our imagination, none of the aforementioned works of art would ever be created. Every idea starts with our imagination, which, for those who take action, turns into something tangible that you can see, that we can see, that all can see.
So let’s get back to the root of things. As children, we are encouraged to utilize our imaginations. This is seen through child’s play, especially where we would imagine any given scenery playing out and act it out with action figures as though it was happening in that moment. Well, somewhere along the lines some of us lost that imaginative spark. We have the idea that we have to stay focused on the rational and concrete things. For those who are artists or even entrepreneurs, I would say they are using the power of their imaginations. However, for those of you who feel stuck, when is the last time you were able to access the power of your imagination? Or perhaps, you imagine yourself getting unstuck out of your current situation, but can’t fully see what that looks like?
What if I told you there was significant power in visualization? And what if I told you that visualization is simply utilizing your imagination? Would you be in? Sold on this idea? There have been countless studies that have proven this exact power. Take the following example taken from The Silva Mind Control Method by Jose Silva. He speaks in this book about the power of visualization in that there were 3 groups of people split up, whose task was to focus on improving their free throw shot (for those of you unclear what this is, it’s when someone is fouled in basketball and they consequently get to stand at the free throw line by themselves and try to make one, if not two shots with no defensive interference). The first group got to practice daily their free throw shots. The second group didn’t practice at all. And the third group simply had to imagine taking these free throw shots, without actually doing so. Well, guess who improved the most in this grouping of people? Yep, you guessed right – the group that simply imagined shooting the free throw shots, not the group that actually did practice. That is so powerful. It shows just how amazing and powerful our imaginations can be.
Another example comes from someone I met at a local Toastmasters meeting. It was my first Toastmasters meeting I had ever attended, and this particular person got up and told his motivational story of overcoming a cancerous brain tumor simply by using the power of his imagination. He was diagnosed with this horrible disease in the prime of his career. Little did he know it would eventually put him into a state where he became a paraplegic, unable to move his limbs, and unable to speak. It was during this time that he began to harness the power of his imagination, since that was the one thing that he could still do. He imagined himself working out in a room, moving and active, accomplishing things he was once able to do prior to the cancer, if not even greater things. He pictured himself walking, lifting weights, and more. Though the doctors initially told him he had a very slim chance of ever walking again, the power of his imagination proved the doctors wrong. He religiously would imagine those scenes of his miraculous recovery, and sure enough, that miraculous recovery eventually happened. The doctors were dumbfounded and amazed at his improvements, and mostly without the assistance of medications that were suggested. He essentially was deemed a vegetable, left for dead, yet he had other plans for himself. And it was his plans that came to fruition in order to get him moving again. He first took a couple of steps, then more, then more, until he is now functioning at 100%. If you look at him today, as I did, you would never have any idea that this man was ever on his deathbed and deemed a vegetable. He attributes this incredible recovery and turnaround to the power of his imagination. He told himself he would never give up, and he was correct. Now if that isn’t a powerful example of what the imagination can do and create for you, I don’t know what is!
The imagination is essentially the driving force behind such long-standing techniques as hypnosis. Think about it. When you have seen the displays of hypnosis via a stage show, what usually happens? The hypnotist tells the person that they are someone they are not, that they will see someone next to them as an animal or have a desire to drink massive amounts of water when someone says a trigger word to them. All of that is simply tapping into the power of one’s imagination. If you can think it, you can do and/or be it. Hypnosis in a therapeutic manner simply has you imagine where you would like to be in life, and it then brings you there. Imagine it fully in the present. I mean, if we can imagine situations happening in the future that make us nervous or anxious (such as preparing to talk in front of a large audience), why can’t we imagine situations in which we are empowered and unbreakable? Makes sense! So hypnosis does exactly that. It allows you to tap into your creative process, to harness that creative energy in a way that works for, rather than, against you. You have been using your imagination to work against you in a way that isn’t helpful for anyone. It’s time to let that old way of thinking go, and invite a new and uplifting one in.
Consider this: depression is about what has happened in the past, while anxiety is more about what will happen in the future. Think about a situation that occurred in the past that creates a sense of sadness, anger, regret or guilt. I bet you were able to do that quite easily. Is that situation happening now in this present moment as you read these words? No? Well, then congratulations. You just used the power of your imagination! Now think about a situation in the future that causes fear, worry, or discomfort. How quickly did that scenario come up for you? Pretty quickly, huh? Well, that is nothing more than that nasty old imagination rearing its ugly head for you, almost automatically and with not much control or say from you.
Now imagine a scenario where you feel empowered, energized, enthusiastic, effective and/or organized. Were you able to come up with something? Excellent. You just exercised that muscle in the mind that leads to profound changes in your subconscious! That, my friend, is what hypnosis helps you do – harness the power of your subconscious, which is 90% of your thinking and doing, while bypassing the critical faculties of your consciousness (I know, that’s a mouthful!), which is only 10% of your thinking. I mean, what would you rather place more faith in? Someone who is able to accomplish 90% of a task you give them or someone who can only accomplish 10% of a task you ask of them? I don’t know about you, but I’d definitely go with the person who completes 90% of that task (though truth be told, I’d prefer them to complete it 100 percent!).
There you have it. Creativity is key in leading to movement, which is progress in the right direction in order to become unstuck. Do so with a beginner’s mind, opening your thinking up to a world of possibilities you never even knew were possible or could exist. Try to get outside of that box you’ve been thinking within. Your mind and the world are much bigger and greater than that. Get to exploring!!