CaN yOu bEliEVe iTâs tHe EnD oF THe YeAr? I remember the general sentiment at the end of 2020 being, âFinally, weâre done with this horrible year! 2021 is going to be amazing since weâll be done with pandemic!â Of course, we were confronted with the harsh realities that 1. a new year doesnât magically reset our lives and 2. nothing changes until we do. This brings me to my annual criticism of New Yearâs Resolutions. Waiting a whole year to radically change things for yourself or to finally start working on your goals is a great way to live a mediocre and stagnant life. You are constantly evolving, learning, shifting, and progressing. Your goals shouldnât be reserved for a single time in the year!
That being said, one of the best tools to stay on track to accomplish your goals throughout the year is visualization. Visualization is simply imagining scenarios of things youâd like to happen. Itâs one of those things that seems pretty out there and woo woo until you look at the research behind it.
The most well-documented evidence supporting the efficacy of visualization comes from sports. You mightâve heard of elite athletes like Michael Phelps and Simone Biles using visualization or imagery to mentally rehearse before an event. In fact, most Olympic athletes regularly practice visualization, at the advice of their sport psychologists. Phelps prepares for any possible scenario, as heâs quoted saying, âAny small thing that could go wrong, I am ready for.â
The first person credited with studying the link between our thoughts and physical performance is Edmund Jacobson, a Harvard physiologist. In the 1930s, he found that when you think about lifting an object with one arm, the muscles responsible for lifting in that arm activate. From thereafter, many studies replicated Jacobsonâs findings that mere thoughts can improve performance.
Visualization can be used to help you achieve your goals. How do we visualize? Here are When you visualize your goals happening, it does three things: first, it helps you prepare for various scenarios and perform well when itâs game time. Second, it gets you motivated because you feel excited and more confident when you imagine accomplishing the goal; this puts you in a better mindset to take the next step. Third, visualization helps your mind find creative steps to accomplish your goal, thanks to the reticular activating system (RAS).
Brief neuroscience lesson: the RAS is a network of neurons located at the base of the brain. Its functions include managing sleep, determining your flight-or-fight response, and filtering through the millions of information bits you receive each day. So how does it decide what to filter out and what to process? Well, your thoughts decide. Thousands of years ago, if you were in the wild and hungry, your thoughts of finding food would make your RAS focus on food and generally filter out everything else. If I told you to look up right now and count all the red objects around you, and then think of how many blue items you saw (without looking up again), you wouldnât be able to say since you thought about finding red items. Thatâs your RAS at work!
So, tying this all back to visualizationâ when you think about a goal and visualize success, you are also leading your RAS to focus on the bits of information in your day-to-day life that will lead you toward accomplishing that goal. Remember, your RAS will always filter for your thoughts. Say you have a goal of having a healthier diet. You think about all the fruits and veggies youâll start incorporating and imagine yourself drinking a green smoothie. Later when you leave your apartment, you might notice how many juice shops are in your neighborhood (thanks, RAS!) and go ahead and grab a green juice. Youâre now well on your way to #health.
2021 retrospective
Obviously, this year was filled with ups and downs. In a similar fashion to how Iâve trained my RAS, Iâm choosing to focus on the positive đ¤. Here are a few highlights of my year:
Health coaching clients! I loved coaching all of my amazing clients this year and am so proud of everything we accomplished. This work fulfills like no other, and Iâm so grateful Iâve found something that lights me up like this.
Learned how to do a headstand. Okay, this may not sound impressive, but considering how weak and inflexible I was before I started practicing yoga (unable to do a somersault), this was a big milestone for me.
Worked as private chef and had a meal prep business. Working in food this year was super interesting, and I learned a lot; mostly, it was a huge lesson in abandoning the ego đ. I was cooking in peopleâs homes all over the city and had some really cool experiences.
some food I made Started therapy. Wow. This is definitely one I wish I had started earlier, but Iâm so glad I finally did it. Iâm going to write about my experience and the type of therapy Iâm doing in an upcoming newsletter because I think itâd be really helpful. For now, Iâll just say Iâm so fascinated by how the brain works.
Started living alone. I moved into my own place this year and it has been magical. 10/10 would recommend.
Launched a newsletter! As someone who has done very little writing in her life (econ and comp sci double major đľâđŤ), I was intimidated to start this newsletter, but Iâm proud that I did it. I love connecting with you every week in our little private(ish) corner of the internet. Thank you so much for supporting me! đĽşâĽď¸
We all deserve an award for just making it through this past year. That being said, what are you especially proud of accomplishing in 2021? Let me know in the comments! đ
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