Visualization is creating a mental picture of something in your mind's eye. Visualization techniques are important because they help make the future become more clear. Seeing yourself already achieving your goals makes your brain believe that attaining that goal is possible. Focusing consistently on any given goal will enable you to manifest it far sooner than if you do not focus on it at all; focusing brings the goal closer to you.

Have you attempted visualizing, but have found it difficult or impossible to do? Try this. Pick up a photo and study it closely; then close your eyes and tell me what you see. If you see anything resembling the picture, you are visualizing. It's that simple. If this doesn't work, or if you want to improve your visualization skills, take the same picture and while looking at it, close your eyes, then open your eyes and close your eyes again. Do this as many times as possible for a few minutes. Soon you will be seeing the picture, and you will not know if your eyes are opened or closed, this will allow you to visualize better than before. Practice this technique often. You can focus on anything: people's faces, pictures, buttons, anything. Get creative and have fun with it.

When visualizing, it's important to view the action from the first person, that is see yourself achieving your goal through your own eyes, rather than watching yourself from the outside. This method is very powerful because this is the way you already see and experience everything.

Less powerful is viewing your goal from the third person perspective, seeing yourself achieving the goal as if you were watching a movie. It still works, but it's not as effective as viewing from the first person perspective.

Make visualization fun, the more real your image is, the better this works. Make the image not just a still picture, but a full-length movie starring you. Replay it over and over, seeing yourself as the hero, achieving your goal. Create background music, pump it up, make it feel real, and have fun with it. This is how you want to see your goal, in vibrant Technicolor on an IMAX screen, not in dim, dreary, out-of-focus scenes shown on a shoebox-size theatre in the multiplex.

Your goal is to create a picture located somewhere in your mental image frame. When you close your eyes and see the image of your goal, determine where your mind is locating the picture: top, bottom, right, upper left, etc. Now, recall an important goal you have already accomplished, and find out where that goal is located in your mental image frame.

So now you have two goals in mind: one you've already achieved and one you want to achieve. Note every little detail about these goals. Where are they located? What are the colors of the images? Are they big, bright, and clear or are they small, blurry, and distant? How do these images feel to you? Does one make you feel happy, excited, and thrilled? Does the other make you feel depressed, lethargic and unmotivated?

Once you have noted every detail about the two images, take the goal that you have not yet achieved and give it the same qualities as the goal you have achieved. Make it bigger and brighter; move it to the same location as the image of the already-achieved goal; make it feel the same by inserting every detail. Adjusting your mental image of the current goal to mirror the one that you have already achieved makes your new goal seem easier and gives you the feeling that you have already achieved it.

Physically act out your goal in action moves. For example, with your eyes closed, envision yourself buying a new home, walking through every detail. First, you get on the phone and talk to your realtor; later you shake his or her hand (yes, pick up an actual phone and really shake a hand). Greet the realtor and explain, in detail, what you want your house to look like. Take them to the house you want to buy, this means really walking in place and explaining the details out loud, using lots of gestures.

I know this seems silly, and you may feel like a kid play acting, but this is a great visualization technique, not to mention a great stress reliever. Go through all of the motions and experiences, as if they were really happening. Notice your emotions, and have fun with this!

Allow yourself 10 to 30 minutes every day or every other day for visualizing your goals. Set aside time to rest and remove yourself from everything else going on. Find a quiet, uninterrupted area to perform these techniques. Remember, the more you focus on your goals, the sooner you will achieve them.