Daydreaming may be more powerful than you think

I don't know about you, but I find myself daydreaming often these days. Warm summer weather....hanging out with my friends and family without masks...getting real hugs instead of elbow bumps...my kids getting to return to school...oh, I could go on and on!

I could daydream in school like nobody's business. And then be startled by the teacher wondering if I was listening...uh, no, I had found something much more worthwhile to focus on 😊...and feeling like I had done something wrong.

But is it really wrong to dream? To imagine what you most desire? I wish I could find my teachers now and tell them science has caught up and proven them wrong. 

Turns out that the more we IMAGINE something happening, the more likely our brain makes the connection that it is actually happening. You connect your thought to the actual part in the brain that would direct the movement/action in your dream!

And even more amazing than that is sometimes, it actually kind of happens. 

At the Cleveland Clinic, a study tested healthy volunteers for 12 weeks. They asked one group to imagine they were contracting their little finger. Another control group did nothing. And the last group actually did train their finger.

Ok, no surprise, the group that did nothing got nothing. 

The group that did the muscular exercise increased their finger strength by 53%. Ok, no surprise either, their hard work paid off, right?

The group that imagined training their finger improved strength by 35%!

Of course, the group that did the work got more but the improvement in the group that did nothing but VISUALIZE the action had an impressive outcome!

This is amazing really, if you match the mental image to the imagined physical action, you can make deep connections in your brain that reinforce the outcome!

So, next time you don't want to get out of bed to exercise, I would at least imagine you're doing it!! 🏃🏽‍♀️🚵🏽‍♀️🏋🏽

But seriously, think of the power of this. The more you can prime your brain to imagine doing the action you are hoping for, the more your brain will reinforce the outcome and even look for opportunities in your environment to complete the action. 

When I have a challenging task, I imagine it all going well in the exact venue if possible where it will happen. 

I still remember the day before giving my TEDx talk, they had us come do a 2 minute sound check on the red circle in the exact venue. I stepped out there onto the circle and it was just as I had imagined for weeks. It felt like I had been there before...even though it was only in my mind...and I felt completely comfortable and confident.

This stuff works. You can harness the power of your mind to achieve whatever you desire. You are closer to your dreams being a reality than you think.

So today, dream well and dream big. I, myself, am going to visualize a big bike ride followed by time with friends. A girl can dream, right?

Be well,
Tanmeet