Visualise a great blog post

There's nothing I like more than a good, juicy article. And no-one does then better than Elle magazine. As I was flicking through the March issue, I came across an in-depth and compelling article on visualisation. Basically, it says, we become what we think.

The article features interviews with personal trainer Sonja Moses and Liz Edlich, founder of Radical Skincare - who both believe that visualisation works wonders. Well, after reading the article and the scientific evidence, I now know it's more a case of knowing, rather than believing.

I'm a big believer in the power of the mind. Yet, my problem is having a lack of effort. I fully appreciate the benefits of meditation, mindfulness and powerful thinking. Yet, I just can't seem to be bothered to do them - which makes me think that maybe I don't actually appreciate them enough. So maybe visualisation is a good place to start. 

The article starts with Sonja asking the writer of the feature, Lisa Relch, to imagine her ideal life, and exactly what she wants. I started thinking that I could really benefit from this - I should have been able to reel off the top of my head what I want, but I had to sit and think for a while.

My self-identity has always largely consisted of me thinking I'm ambitious. But, I've always known it's a bit of a scattered kind of ambition - imagine putting your finger over a running tap - I've got a drive inside of me, but it squirts in many directions.

The article talks about an astonishing study in which a group of people who exercised and a group who visualised doing exercise were compared. At the end of the study those who exercised had a 30% muscle increase, and those who only did exercise in their minds had a 15% muscle increase.

The article says that writing a diary post dated exactly a year in the future can help with visualisation. To make it feel even more real, I'm going to write a future blog post. This has the potential to be really embarrassing - but no pain, no gain. My unemployed, unfocused brain needs the power visualisation has to offer.

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24th February 2014

I thought I'd write a quick blog post whilst I have some free time - something I seem to have very little of recently. I remember last year, when I had too much free time to know what to do with. Today I've been at my job for nine months, although it hardly feels like it's been that long. But I thought I'd quickly write a post on London. 

I moved to London a 18 months ago, after loving it dearly from afar for many years. It turned out to be the biggest anti-climax I've ever experienced. Between a 'spell' of agoraphobia, no luck finding a job and a horrible experience with flatmates and letting agents, I feel out of love with London almost as quickly as the love affair began. 

Now, I've finally gotten used to the city. My agoraphobia developed over the space of a week when I first moved to London, and has taken a long, long time to go away. But as it slowly alleviated, my anxiety disorder became more manageable. 

When I moved to London, I wanted a great job and I wanted it immediately. I've slowly learned the virtue of patience, the capacity of my own strength and a level of gratitude I wouldn't otherwise have possessed. Unfortunately, I'm still no closer to getting a pet skunk, though.

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I haven't mentioned any specificities in my future blog post. I can't visualise the exact job I want or where exactly I'd love to live, so I decided to channel my finger-on-the-tap-type ambition, instead. I know I want to write, I know I want my writing to be stimulating and interesting, and I want to be calmer and happier. I might not be able to visualise anything specifically, but I can visualise the feeling, and it's good enough to motivate me to go and get it.