Let your mind be your guide.

Creativity Through Visualization

Whatever you do, don't think about a cup of coffee.

You thought about the cup of coffee even though I told you not to, didn't you?

What does that mean?

Your brain wants to visualize your reality even if you don't want it to. It's such a powerful instinct that we can't turn it off. Don't fight it.

Use it to your advantage.

How to See the Future

Today's newsletter is a practical look at how you can shape your reality by using the power of your mind's eye.

I've done this dozens, maybe hundreds of times throughout my life, and sometimes the effects are intangible like a change of attitude or a new career move.

Here's an example of when I used visualization to create real things and as a bonus pick up a massive set of skills to add to my game design skill stack.

I Get Into Mini Painting

Several years ago I got into the game Blood Bowl which is like a cross between American football and Warhammer. At first, I only played the video game version since that was the only way to find any opponents to play against. My real-life Blood Bowl options were limited.

When I moved into my new house, I discovered this room in the basement that the previous owners used as a loose storage space/cat litter kingdom.

This would be my workshop.

I envisioned a couple of shelves filled with vibrant miniature figures. Trouble was, I knew zero about mini painting, real life Blood Bowl, or shelf building.

Visualizing the outcome was such a powerful anchor, I found a way to overcome all of those "obstacles" (which were disguised as exciting new skills to learn) and what you see here is more or less the exact thing my mind saw.

A shelf full of painted plastic bad guys.

The power of visualization can't be understated. There's an apocryphal tale of a Vietnam War prisoner who visualized playing golf—every shot, every step—on his favorite course multiple times a day during his internment and upon returning to his home course, shot a par round.

While that story might be fiction, the evidence of the power of visualization suggests that using your mind's eye to tune into your outcome produces spectacular results. Athletes, business owners, entrepreneurs, bodybuilders, surgeons, and artists all use visualization to take what is yet-to-be into the world of reality.

Give it a shot.

To future worlds,

Matt ventre