When we think about making a change in our lives, we often focus on the things we need to do differently. The decisions we need to make, the steps we need to take and the things we need to put into place.
But there's another side to change that we don't always pay as much attention to: how we experience it internally.
What might it feel like to do something differently? How might we respond in a situation we've never been in before? And what would it be like to become more familiar with an experience that currently feels uncertain or outside our comfort zone?
This is where visualization and mental rehearsal can be useful.
What is visualization?
Visualization is the practice of using your imagination to create or explore an experience in your mind.
You might picture yourself doing something, imagine a situation unfolding or think about how you would like to feel in a particular moment. You can also bring other senses into the experience, such as sounds, physical sensations and emotions.
It doesn't have to mean creating a perfectly clear picture in your mind. Some people experience visualization quite vividly, while others think more in terms of feelings, words or general impressions.
The important part is allowing yourself to explore an experience internally, rather than only thinking about it in abstract terms.
From imagining something to mentally rehearsing it
Visualization and mental rehearsal are closely connected, but there is a useful distinction.
Visualization can involve exploring a possibility or imagining a future experience. Mental rehearsal is a little more focused. It involves mentally practising how you might approach or respond to a particular situation.
For example, you might imagine yourself having a conversation you've been putting off, speaking up in a meeting, trying something new or responding differently when an uncomfortable feeling comes up.
Rather than simply imagining the outcome you want, you're mentally walking yourself through the experience.
This can help make an unfamiliar situation feel a little more familiar. You're giving yourself an opportunity to explore how you might approach it before you're actually in that situation.
What does research tell us?
There is interesting research exploring what happens when we mentally practise something rather than physically doing it.
One well-known example comes from a 1995 study by researcher Alvaro Pascual-Leone and his colleagues, published in the Journal of Neurophysiology.
The researchers looked at how people learned a simple five-finger piano exercise. Participants were divided into groups: one group physically practised the exercise, another mentally rehearsed playing it without touching the piano, and a control group did not practise it.
After five days, the researchers found changes in the brain's motor areas in both the physical and mental practice groups. The people who physically practised improved their performance more, but the mental practice group also showed measurable changes and improved their ability to perform the exercise.
This is an interesting example of how mentally rehearsing an experience can engage some of the same processes involved in actually performing it.
And the findings aren't limited to one experiment. A 2020 meta-analysis, which brought together findings from 37 studies, also found that mental practice had a small but significant positive effect on performance. The results varied depending on the task and the type and duration of practice.
Of course, practising a piano exercise is different from making a change in your life. These studies don't show that imagining a new career or a different future will make it happen. But they do help us understand why mental rehearsal can be a useful part of learning and preparing for new experiences.
How can visualization support us through change?
When we're considering a change, we often spend a lot of time thinking about what we want to be different.
But knowing what we want and feeling familiar with the experience of getting there are two different things.
You might want to take on a new role, start a business, meet new people or make more space for something that matters to you. At the same time, the thought of actually doing these things might bring up uncertainty, self-doubt or discomfort.
Sometimes, we haven't had many opportunities to experience ourselves in that new situation yet. We might not know how we'll respond, what we'll feel or whether we'll be comfortable with it.
Visualization gives us a way to begin exploring those possibilities.
For example, if you've been thinking about changing your career, you could take a few minutes to imagine yourself in a different working environment. What would your day look like? What kind of work would you be doing? How might you feel interacting with the people around you?
You could also mentally rehearse a more specific experience, such as having a conversation about a new opportunity or introducing yourself to someone in a professional setting.
This doesn't mean you'll know exactly how the situation will unfold. But it gives you space to explore it, consider how you might respond and become a little more familiar with the possibility.
How our internal experience can influence what we do externally
One of the reasons this can be useful is that our internal experience and our external behaviour are connected.
Think about a situation you've been avoiding because it feels uncomfortable. Perhaps you've wanted to reach out to someone, share an idea or try something new, but each time you think about doing it, you find a reason to put it off.
You might be worried about what the other person will think, whether you'll get it right or what could happen if things don't go as planned.
When you mentally rehearse the situation, you can explore how you would like to approach it. You might imagine yourself starting the conversation, notice how you feel and consider how you could respond if some nervousness comes up.
This doesn't necessarily remove the discomfort. And it doesn't mean the actual experience will feel exactly as you imagined.
But it can give you a chance to think through your response and consider a different way of approaching something. Over time, this may make it easier to take a small step in the real world.
Research into mental simulation has also explored its relationship with behaviour change. A 2021 systematic review and meta-analysis examined 123 effects from studies involving more than 5,600 participants. It found an overall positive effect of mental simulation on behaviour, while also highlighting that the type of mental simulation matters.
This is worth keeping in mind: how we use our imagination can make a difference. Simply picturing a desired outcome is not necessarily the same as mentally exploring the steps, actions and responses involved in getting there.
Visualization isn't about getting everything right
It's important to remember that visualization isn't about predicting the future, controlling every outcome or convincing yourself that everything will work out exactly as you imagine.
It's also not about forcing yourself to feel positive when you don't.
Some days, you might find it easy to connect with an imagined experience. On other days, you might notice doubts, resistance or difficulty picturing anything at all. That's okay.
You don't need to create a perfect picture or have all the answers.
Instead, think of visualization as one way to explore what might be possible, become more familiar with new experiences and notice how you would like to feel and respond.
And just as with other practices, it can become more familiar over time.
Bringing it into everyday life
You don't need a complicated routine to start using visualization. You can begin with a few minutes and an experience you'd like to explore.
Find a quiet moment and bring to mind something you've been thinking about changing or something you'd like to experience more of.
Try imagining yourself in that situation. What are you doing? Where are you? Who is around you? How do you feel?
You can also go a little further and mentally rehearse how you might approach a particular moment. Perhaps there's a conversation you'd like to have, a decision you're considering or something new you'd like to try.
Notice what comes up as you explore it. You don't need to change every thought or feeling. Just give yourself some space to become familiar with the experience.
Then consider whether there's one small step you could take in your everyday life.
Because the purpose isn't to stay in your imagination. It's to use that space to explore possibilities and support the choices and actions you take outside of it.
At PIVOTERS CLUB, we look at both the internal and external sides of change. Visualization and mental rehearsal are two of the practices that can help us work with our internal experience while we're exploring what we want to do differently.
Sometimes, before we take a step into something new, it helps to spend a little time getting familiar with the possibility.
Research and further reading
If you'd like to explore the research mentioned in this article, here are the original publications:
Pascual-Leone et al. (1995) — Modulation of muscle responses evoked by transcranial magnetic stimulation during the acquisition of new fine motor skills. Published in the Journal of Neurophysiology.
Read the studyToth et al. (2020) — Does mental practice still enhance performance? A 24 Year follow-up and meta-analytic replication and extension. Published in Psychology of Sport and Exercise.
Read the researchPham and Taylor / related mental simulation research review (2021) — Synthesizing the effects of mental simulation on behavior change: Systematic review and multilevel meta-analysis. Published in Psychonomic Bulletin & Review.
Read the study
When we think about making a change in our lives, we often focus on the things we need to do differently. The decisions we need to make, the steps we need to take and the things we need to put into place. But there's another side to change that we don't always pay as much attention to: how we experience it internally.