Setting Goals with Imagination

Setting goals with imagination can be a powerful tool to help you achieve your aspirations. According to an article on LifeHack, using your imagination to change and improve parts of your life requires planning, practice, and technique refinement. 

However, set against carefully crafted goals, you can transform the world around you. If you're not familiar with ways to use your imagination to turn your life around, it's time to discover the power of that little pot of gold nestled in that grey matter between your ears.

Goal setting and pursuit are not the only forms of future-oriented thinking relevant to mental health. Szpunar et al.’s (2014) “taxonomy of prospection” defines four modes of future thinking: 

• Prediction (estimating the chance of a future event occurring).

• Intention (the mental act of setting a goal), planning (organizing the steps necessary to reach the goal).

• Simulation (imagining a future event or state and the resulting mental representation). 

Planning and representing what might happen in the future involves thinking about the future. People simulate and evaluate the possibility of meeting friends, romantic partners, and even their future selves. Also, people plan and simulate buying things and completing tasks.

Here are some tips to help you set goals with imagination:

• Visualize your goals: Imagine yourself accomplishing your goals. This will help you tap into your deepest desires and aspirations and feel a surge of excitement and enthusiasm that propels you to take action.

• Write down your goals: Writing down your goals makes them more tangible and helps you stay focused on what you want to achieve.

• Create a plan: Create a specific action plan for each goal. This will help you break down your goals into smaller, more manageable steps.

• Read your goals daily: Reading your goals daily and visualizing yourself accomplishing them can help you stay motivated and focused.

• Reflect on your progress: Reflect on your progress to see if you are on target. Revise your action plans if needed.

Remember, your imagination is undoubtedly one of the most powerful change agents that is 100% governed by you. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging studies, researchers have found that those areas of the brain that help you imagine visuals are highly similar to those that allow you to see them in reality. 

They documented that approximately 90% overlapped with the most active frontal and parietal regions. So, go ahead and use your imagination to create a better future for yourself!

References

Using Imagination to Change Your Life: LifeHack. (https://www.lifehack.org/884063/using-imagination-to-change-your-life)

Szpunar K. K., Spreng R. N., Schacter D. L. (2014). A taxonomy of prospection: Introducing an organizational framework for future-oriented cognition. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA, 111(12), 18414–18421. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1417144111

Why Imagination is Necessary for Setting Goals: Prosperity of Life Insider. (https://www.prosperityoflifeinsider.com/single-post/why-imagination-is-necessary-for-setting-goals)

Goal Setting for Students and Kids: Positive Psychology. (https://positivepsychology.com/goal-setting-students-kids/).