Thank you for this. I've been teaching this process for decades, and yet it's still difficult to do at times, and even more difficult for your students to believe in it wholeheartedly. Keep teaching it... Keep talking about it. People forget how much power they have.
Totally agree that it’s a challenging to believe it and I think the more we share the results and stories the more people will try it on. Thanks for reading!
You are a marvel, Magdalena. I remember I'd sort of broken up with my year long boyfriend and moved interstate. I went to Adelaide. For some reason I walked into a bridal shop, tried on and bought a wedding dress. No man, no engagement.
A year later I got married in it. I just thought, I want to get married and wear that big fluffy marshmallow dress with a gazillion tuelle petticoats. So, I did. My subconscious made it happen, still married, same man 35.4 years later.
Dear Therese: Thank you so much for sharing from your heart! and congratulation on being married for 35.4 years! That's truly remarkable! You are such an inspiration!
Thank you for this. The specificity of the exercise (a sensory-rich narrative addressing a specific issue) is appealing. I did a version of this once in which I wrote my own professional bio, 5 years in the future. I am going to try this one you outline today. I am preparing for an interview and I want to present myself as the creative problem-solver I know myself to be.
such a powerful share about the power of creating dreams like this. everything amazing that has transformed my life started with a vivid detailed outcome as you describe.
In psychodrama, this process is called Future Projection, and it is a very powerful way to work through many problems. It’s easier to “solve” a problem when you are looking “back” at it from a place of success, and then “retrace” your steps. Great for career planning too. (Pick a time multiple years ahead, say 5 to 10 years, write down everything that you really love about where you live and what you are doing, even describing the house/apartment you “now live in,” and then what your favorite thing is about Mondays when you get to work … and then you “look back” at how you arrived at this happy place. You’d be amazed at how powerful this is.)
Dear Jessica: Thank you so much for introducing me to the concept of Future Projection. I will definitely read and lear more about this process - sounds absolutely fascinating!
Thanks for this, Magdalena. As I noted to one of the responses, this has led me to look into the concepts further. What a wonderful gem to discover on a relaxed Sunday morning! I will be following you going forward …
I use something like this in my coaching. I call it the unsolution exercise. I mind-map with the student about their needs, blockers, and accelerators. I skip “solutions” and instead next mind map what it will look like a year from now if their needs are met and they are flourishing. I then flip it around to what will it look like if your needs ARE NOT met and you are languishing. It’s important to envision both where you want to be and where you don’t.
Love this! I’ve used mind mapping for decades, too, and taught it to my kids (now adults with kids of their own), and it was transformative for my son, who had dyslexia. (Tony Buzan, the great proponent of mind mapping, and perhaps the “father” of it, too, had a great focus on kids with reading/writing difficulties, and I read all his books in the struggle to help my son.) But I totally love your “unsolution exercise”!!! The unmet needs are so important.
Mind mapping is a game changer for ADD and dysgraphia, which I have. If you haven't heard of it, the TL;DR is that it is the written form of dyslexia. I tell people that I am "letter order impaired" instead of "I can't spell to (literally) save my life." Yet, because of computers, I've written over 19 books. There is hope.
If I had mind-mapping when i was in high school (even if on paper) I would have been able to actually take notes with far less distraction.
I am so glad that schools have at least begun to be more agile and student focused. When I was young with neurodivergence, ADHD, and dysgraphia, I was just told I didn't work hard enough, was too loud, was too easily distracted, or I was just too stupid. I was a C student as a result, despite the fact that I have always loved learning.
It's wonderful to see your powerful case study, and how you are directly applying it with your own clients. And the name- Unsolution Exercise, is absolutely brilliant.
What is the "Unsolution" approach for career coaching?
Several people have asked me recently about what I mean by the "Unsolution" approach when I'm coaching. The "Unsolution" approach is a design thinking technique I use to focus first on deeply understanding and defining the real needs and desired outcomes before jumping into problem-solving or proposing solutions. For coaching, I use this technique to help my students clearly define their needs, blockers, and accelerators, and then imagine what it will look like if their needs are met and they are flourishing in their career.
Instead of rushing to "fix" a problem, this approach encourages exploring:
Defining Needs Clearly: Clients articulate what they truly need from their work, job, or career—such as autonomy, creative flow, a healthy work environment, or alignment with personal values—without immediately considering specific solutions
Visualizing Success and Failure: Clients describe what thriving ("flourishing") looks like, for example, receiving enthusiastic feedback or feeling energized by their work. They also imagine what languishing or failure would look like, such as frustration or loss of motivation. This contrast helps clarify priorities and goals
Delaying Solutioning: By postponing the discussion of solutions, clients avoid premature fixes that might not address the core issue. Instead, the process ensures solutions emerge organically from a well-defined understanding of needs and outcomes
This method allows for more thoughtful, personalized, and effective coaching because solutions are tailored to actual needs rather than assumed problems. It also helps clients gain clarity on what success means to them, creating a strong foundation for subsequent actions like refining job titles, identifying target audiences, optimizing networking, and planning growth strategies
The "Unsolution" is about defining the problem space fully and authentically first, then using that clarity to develop meaningful, aligned solutions rather than jumping straight to fixes.
Psychodrama is a powerful form of psychotherapy, using role-play and action, developed by the psychiatrist Jacob Moreno (1889-1974) and his wife, Zerka Toeman. (This description is embarrassingly far from doing it justice, I hasten to add.)
I'm only finding this six months after you posted it, but I love the, "How to tell your subconscious exactly where you want to be and how you want to feel, in a good way. Future projecting the life you desire." It sounds too easy, but if you say it's powerful, I believe you. I'm planning my five your plan, and will implement it when my head hits the pillow tonight. Yippee!
Dear Therese: I'm so happy that it resonated with you! and I'm thrilled that you will give it a try! It must mean that it's the perfect and divine timing! I can't wait to hear about your results! Please share with me and the community! Cheering you on, M!
I found this very intriguing, as well. Thanks to the original author, as well as to you, Jessica. As a means of getting started, which can often be woefully inadequate, I did a quick co-pilot query, and got this. From your obvious exposure, would you say it's a good start for building a means of learning the techniques? (Just as an outline; I know AI response is irritate a lot of people, but I find that they're often good outlines for more in-depth study …)
In any event, thanks for triggering my interests, both to you and the original author;
Heavens, I am flattered to think I might have a take on it worth hearing about. I’ve just now had time to read the copilot link (my husband has been in & out of hospital). The copilot (AI?) piece does describe the bare bones of psychodrama, but in my *extremely* humble opinion, to learn psychodrama one needs to be in a training group with a director who is qualified to teach psychodrama, and that is no small thing. (In Scottsdale, Arizona, where I lived for many years, there used to be a world-class Institute for Psychodrama Training, but I don’t think it exists any more.) At the end of the copilot link, it describes what I know as the process of doing an “auto-drama.” Sort of a self-directed psychodrama. I do this all the time! I’m writing in my journal about a thorny issue, and I’ll switch into Director mode, and have quite enlightening exchanges with the various parts of me that are confused or distressed, and have those parts “talk” to each other. It’s a great way to get clarity, for example, on something that has pros and cons. Part of you is urging you forward, and another part is hesitant. In an actual psychodrama, with a director, one would choose something in the room (or, in a group, somebody) to represent the “Pro” side and something/somebody else to be the “Con” side, but you can do this on paper. I’m always astonished, astonished, at what insights I get from this. It’s as if all the spaghetti tangles of muddle in one’s head get laid out in neat lines, and the cause of clarity is advanced.
I just stumbled on this thread and appreciate your input. It reminded me of a workshop I did decades ago in Psychosynthesis founded by Roberto Assagioli.
Though it's over a year later, I hope all is well with your husband now. 🙏
Dear Linda: Thank you for your kind and generous words. The name of the exercise is Future Scripting; and it took me only (lol) 5 years to come up with it. I hope you give it a try and share your results with me and the community. Cheering you on, M
My need is personal, and it may be too trivial even to worry about, but My need is time, not money. I am retired, I recently moved with my husband to a community, and I thought I would have loads of time to learn a form of art; I want to make friendship cards decorated with Celtic art.
My life is complicated by by the fact that we are both being treated for cancer, which means more than 100 medical appointments per year before we even think about the ordinary checkups, vaccinations, and old people "stuff."
I, nevertheless do have free time, and when I use it to learn new art skills or to try out card-making, I feel as if I could fly.
But far too often, I fail to use available time wisely. I don't want to ignore my husband or my friends, but I seem not to have the character to use wisely the time I do have.
I hope your example will help me to think differently about time and my "dream." I will set aside 20 minutes and see what happens.
Dear Katherine: My heart goes out to you! Thank you so much for reading and such a powerful, honest, authentic share! What you said about the need for time really resonated with me! I do hope you will give it a try and share with me and the community your experiences! Would love to hear/read about your experience! Cheering you on! M
Katherine, maybe it will help you to know one other person in the same circumstances. I am retirement age, my wife and I have lots of doctor appointments. I do all the cooking and laundry. I want to produce creative output, a training course in my case. I struggle to make use of the open spots in my day.
I don’t have a solution of my own for you. I just wanted you to know I think your struggle is normal.
I am going to take the 20 minutes right now to write out what success feels like. What do I have to lose?
I have changed my attitude and behavior in the past when challenged with exactly those words, “What do you have to lose?”
I really really enjoyed reading this and have never found an article breakdown so succinctly. I have seen the RAS work for me and I have written down previous year that this was the year we would buy our home that we were renting. This was the year we would celebrate our twins Bday big 10 in Denmark and Sweden. I wrote it all down into present moment. I have witnessed the power in doing detailed visualization. The problem is too many people get stuck in the what ifs and not what's possible. Thank you for such a beautiful share!
Dear Humaira: Thank you for reading! And yes, you are so right - it does work, however as humans we do get stuck in the what if's and second guessing ourselves. Congratulations on purchase of your home and I would love to read/hear more about your successes!
Dear Teri: Thank you for reading and Dear @Mary Bates - thank you for the introduction! It's super interesting to hear that you've done the process and that it worked so well for you. Would love to hear more about your success with this approach!
You might also find that if you sit down and write out or describe the problem EXACTLY, nothing left out, both sides of it, (a problem to be a problem always has two opposing sides), you might find that it magically solves that way, too.
I have had friends who got their perfect mate this way also. Just sit down and write out exactly what traits/qualities you want in your mate. Several ladies have told me he showed up soon after!
This is awesome! Thank you for being so specific about the exercise, your problem, and the results you got. And for backing up your personal experience by citing research studies. So helpful, and a welcome change from the (probably) AI-generated broad generalizations about manifesting, goal setting, etc. that seems to be rapidly spreading on Substack (and everywhere else)!
Dear Wendi: Thank you for reading and I'm so glad it resonated with you. I'm slightly obsessed (lol - ok, maybe more than slightly) with this topic and have researched and read many books and studies on that topic - b/c I love it so much! So it makes me so happy to know that it's doable and it makes sense to my readers!
Inclusion is the new age replacement for exclusion. We're all reaching for the same reality, and describing it with varying vocabularies, yes. Great comment. 👌
Dear Manuel: Thank you for reading and I love your take on this for sure it's a consideration - the how. I would love to hear about your success stories.
Whenever you combine uncompromising belief with action the universe (GOD) delivers. We are literally co-creators in our own reality. Think of the passage in the bible when Peter begins to walk on water. He then sinks and asks for help from Jesus. Why did he sink because he stopped believing what he was doing was possible. Its a good lesson for us all. He was taking the action without belief. Some believe and don’t take action. You need to do both.
Love this approach. I’m trying it out. Catastrophising can be such a time and energy sink. It seems to go along with being someone who sees systemic interactions. You show a way for that envisioning to be put to better use.
I actually started doing this too, without realizing what I was doing. With my books, I've started sitting to plan ask writing out questions, and those would would either lead to more questions or actually help me figure out the answer because I'd think about already written down things and what I was seeing in my head for that story, and then my brain just form a connection or idea to answer the question.
I need to do this for other areas of my life now that I know it's not just tied to writing my books! Thank you for writing this!
Dear Michelle: Thank you for reading! I'm so happy to hear that you've actually started doing it with your books! That's fantastic! Congratulations! And I can't wait to hear about your successes in other areas of life when you applie it! Would love to read how it's working out for you!
This is such a powerful shift. The most unexpected breakthroughs I’ve seen often came after someone changed how they looked at the problem, not the problem itself.
I really, really want to believe this is true, but the only study actually linked was about DATA visualization for improved speed at solving defined reasoning problems, not about mental visualization for abstract or open ended problem solving. The conclusions don't even relate to your topic beyond using the word visualization. The others referenced aren't cited at all. The most significant NYU study on this topic I could find comes from Dr. Gabriele Oettingen, and she concluded that positive visualizing is often actually counterproductive. I didn't see anything about skepticism there, but I did find an fmri study about “seeing signs” and the likelihood that skeptics have a better developed area is the brain used to inhibit the natural tendency to attribute meaning to random images. This all makes it very hard to lend credibility to the idea that this is neuroscience backed and not just a new flavor of “the secret.” I would honestly love it if you could provide sources to help quell my skepticism.
Dear Meg: I totally get your skepticism! Thank you for being a sceptic! Like you, science resonates with me greatly. Here is a link the all the research/science that supports this: https://magdalenaponurska.notion.site/ . It took me only 15 years (lol) to condense this into simple steps, but at the high level it's based on what's happening in our brains when we do mental rehearsal, visualization, then engage in the physical act of writing and then embody what we wrote down and take small actions. I focused on intersections of mental rehearsal, visualization, writing by hand, brain waves, identify transformation and various diffrent concepts that are happening when we engaged in this exercise. I hope this helps! Cheering you on! And please share your experiences with me and community if you decided to try it on. Happy New Year!
OMG thank you SO MUCH for responding to provide a full list of citations! I'm about to geek out so hard on some peer reviewed studies! 💖Happy New Year!
ETA, as a gentle suggestion, you might consider editing the post to replace the first link (the word "studies") to this list, as it would definitely help skeptical "show me the data" types give you a fair shake!
UPDATE: Your article was so compelling that I did the exercise IMMEDIATELY. And then I did the exercise again on Thanksgiving.
Throughout the next 10 days, I experienced unpredictable synchronicities and a whole new realm of joy, freedom, peace, calm, and confidence. It all unfolded EXACTLY as a created it in the exercise. It is really unbelievable, and I am SO grateful to you!
You are on to some serious MAGIC here...thank you so much for sharing this with the world!!
Dear Tom: WOW. Congratulations on taking action immediately and congrats on all the amazing and magical results that you've got out of doing the exercise! Keep going! Cheering you on, M!
Dear Veronica: Thank you so much for reading, trying it out and I can't wait to hear/read your success story! I know you will create something totally amazing with it! Cheering you on! With love, M.
Really enjoyed this article. I use methods similar to this in my Creative Coaching practice. Your article does a great job of capturing the what, why, and how:). Thank you.
Dear Alysia: I'm so glad it resonated with you and super happy that you are already using it for your Creative Coaching practice. Congratulations! I'm sure your clients love it!
Thank you for this. I've been teaching this process for decades, and yet it's still difficult to do at times, and even more difficult for your students to believe in it wholeheartedly. Keep teaching it... Keep talking about it. People forget how much power they have.
Totally agree that it’s a challenging to believe it and I think the more we share the results and stories the more people will try it on. Thanks for reading!
You are a marvel, Magdalena. I remember I'd sort of broken up with my year long boyfriend and moved interstate. I went to Adelaide. For some reason I walked into a bridal shop, tried on and bought a wedding dress. No man, no engagement.
A year later I got married in it. I just thought, I want to get married and wear that big fluffy marshmallow dress with a gazillion tuelle petticoats. So, I did. My subconscious made it happen, still married, same man 35.4 years later.
Dear Therese: Thank you so much for sharing from your heart! and congratulation on being married for 35.4 years! That's truly remarkable! You are such an inspiration!
Thank you. It's so good to hear from you. Great article.
Thank you so much! So happy to reconnect with you!
So am I.
What a great story! Thanks for sharing it!
Thank you so much!!!
Thank you for this. The specificity of the exercise (a sensory-rich narrative addressing a specific issue) is appealing. I did a version of this once in which I wrote my own professional bio, 5 years in the future. I am going to try this one you outline today. I am preparing for an interview and I want to present myself as the creative problem-solver I know myself to be.
Hope you nail that interview. Best of luck.
Thank you so much!!! I’m super excited!
This is great! How often do you do this? Daily or weekly for different topics?
I would envision, for myself, this will be a weekly process. And do unique take on different life topics.
such a powerful share about the power of creating dreams like this. everything amazing that has transformed my life started with a vivid detailed outcome as you describe.
In psychodrama, this process is called Future Projection, and it is a very powerful way to work through many problems. It’s easier to “solve” a problem when you are looking “back” at it from a place of success, and then “retrace” your steps. Great for career planning too. (Pick a time multiple years ahead, say 5 to 10 years, write down everything that you really love about where you live and what you are doing, even describing the house/apartment you “now live in,” and then what your favorite thing is about Mondays when you get to work … and then you “look back” at how you arrived at this happy place. You’d be amazed at how powerful this is.)
Dear Jessica: Thank you so much for introducing me to the concept of Future Projection. I will definitely read and lear more about this process - sounds absolutely fascinating!
Thanks for this, Magdalena. As I noted to one of the responses, this has led me to look into the concepts further. What a wonderful gem to discover on a relaxed Sunday morning! I will be following you going forward …
I use something like this in my coaching. I call it the unsolution exercise. I mind-map with the student about their needs, blockers, and accelerators. I skip “solutions” and instead next mind map what it will look like a year from now if their needs are met and they are flourishing. I then flip it around to what will it look like if your needs ARE NOT met and you are languishing. It’s important to envision both where you want to be and where you don’t.
Love this! I’ve used mind mapping for decades, too, and taught it to my kids (now adults with kids of their own), and it was transformative for my son, who had dyslexia. (Tony Buzan, the great proponent of mind mapping, and perhaps the “father” of it, too, had a great focus on kids with reading/writing difficulties, and I read all his books in the struggle to help my son.) But I totally love your “unsolution exercise”!!! The unmet needs are so important.
Mind mapping is a game changer for ADD and dysgraphia, which I have. If you haven't heard of it, the TL;DR is that it is the written form of dyslexia. I tell people that I am "letter order impaired" instead of "I can't spell to (literally) save my life." Yet, because of computers, I've written over 19 books. There is hope.
If I had mind-mapping when i was in high school (even if on paper) I would have been able to actually take notes with far less distraction.
My son has dysgraphia, and we’ve been fortunate enough to live in a school system that recognizes this neurodivergence (he also has Autism and ADHD).
He is permitted to do video presentations on subjects where writing would completely overwhelm him. It’s been a game changer.
I am so glad that schools have at least begun to be more agile and student focused. When I was young with neurodivergence, ADHD, and dysgraphia, I was just told I didn't work hard enough, was too loud, was too easily distracted, or I was just too stupid. I was a C student as a result, despite the fact that I have always loved learning.
I’m right there with you! Super happy that more and more schools, organizations and institutions are more willing to accept neurodiversity.
It's wonderful to see your powerful case study, and how you are directly applying it with your own clients. And the name- Unsolution Exercise, is absolutely brilliant.
What is the "Unsolution" approach for career coaching?
Several people have asked me recently about what I mean by the "Unsolution" approach when I'm coaching. The "Unsolution" approach is a design thinking technique I use to focus first on deeply understanding and defining the real needs and desired outcomes before jumping into problem-solving or proposing solutions. For coaching, I use this technique to help my students clearly define their needs, blockers, and accelerators, and then imagine what it will look like if their needs are met and they are flourishing in their career.
Instead of rushing to "fix" a problem, this approach encourages exploring:
Defining Needs Clearly: Clients articulate what they truly need from their work, job, or career—such as autonomy, creative flow, a healthy work environment, or alignment with personal values—without immediately considering specific solutions
Visualizing Success and Failure: Clients describe what thriving ("flourishing") looks like, for example, receiving enthusiastic feedback or feeling energized by their work. They also imagine what languishing or failure would look like, such as frustration or loss of motivation. This contrast helps clarify priorities and goals
Delaying Solutioning: By postponing the discussion of solutions, clients avoid premature fixes that might not address the core issue. Instead, the process ensures solutions emerge organically from a well-defined understanding of needs and outcomes
This method allows for more thoughtful, personalized, and effective coaching because solutions are tailored to actual needs rather than assumed problems. It also helps clients gain clarity on what success means to them, creating a strong foundation for subsequent actions like refining job titles, identifying target audiences, optimizing networking, and planning growth strategies
The "Unsolution" is about defining the problem space fully and authentically first, then using that clarity to develop meaningful, aligned solutions rather than jumping straight to fixes.
What is psychodrama?
Psychodrama is a powerful form of psychotherapy, using role-play and action, developed by the psychiatrist Jacob Moreno (1889-1974) and his wife, Zerka Toeman. (This description is embarrassingly far from doing it justice, I hasten to add.)
I'm only finding this six months after you posted it, but I love the, "How to tell your subconscious exactly where you want to be and how you want to feel, in a good way. Future projecting the life you desire." It sounds too easy, but if you say it's powerful, I believe you. I'm planning my five your plan, and will implement it when my head hits the pillow tonight. Yippee!
Dear Therese: I'm so happy that it resonated with you! and I'm thrilled that you will give it a try! It must mean that it's the perfect and divine timing! I can't wait to hear about your results! Please share with me and the community! Cheering you on, M!
I found this very intriguing, as well. Thanks to the original author, as well as to you, Jessica. As a means of getting started, which can often be woefully inadequate, I did a quick co-pilot query, and got this. From your obvious exposure, would you say it's a good start for building a means of learning the techniques? (Just as an outline; I know AI response is irritate a lot of people, but I find that they're often good outlines for more in-depth study …)
In any event, thanks for triggering my interests, both to you and the original author;
https://copilot.microsoft.com/shares/aKJ59CvfnPmfEBnEmYyjf
Thank you so much for sharing this! I found it very interesting! I'm curious about Jessica's take on this?
Heavens, I am flattered to think I might have a take on it worth hearing about. I’ve just now had time to read the copilot link (my husband has been in & out of hospital). The copilot (AI?) piece does describe the bare bones of psychodrama, but in my *extremely* humble opinion, to learn psychodrama one needs to be in a training group with a director who is qualified to teach psychodrama, and that is no small thing. (In Scottsdale, Arizona, where I lived for many years, there used to be a world-class Institute for Psychodrama Training, but I don’t think it exists any more.) At the end of the copilot link, it describes what I know as the process of doing an “auto-drama.” Sort of a self-directed psychodrama. I do this all the time! I’m writing in my journal about a thorny issue, and I’ll switch into Director mode, and have quite enlightening exchanges with the various parts of me that are confused or distressed, and have those parts “talk” to each other. It’s a great way to get clarity, for example, on something that has pros and cons. Part of you is urging you forward, and another part is hesitant. In an actual psychodrama, with a director, one would choose something in the room (or, in a group, somebody) to represent the “Pro” side and something/somebody else to be the “Con” side, but you can do this on paper. I’m always astonished, astonished, at what insights I get from this. It’s as if all the spaghetti tangles of muddle in one’s head get laid out in neat lines, and the cause of clarity is advanced.
I just stumbled on this thread and appreciate your input. It reminded me of a workshop I did decades ago in Psychosynthesis founded by Roberto Assagioli.
Though it's over a year later, I hope all is well with your husband now. 🙏
I am going to look and read his work! thanks so much for the recommendation!
I wonder if it is an interesting process deciding what the parts are, and whether they tend to be the same gang or change up.
You could just add our create any part you want, couldn't you? Not just parts that you either observe or presume to exist.
What is the name of the 20 min exercise?
Did you come up with this? Sounds brilliant.
Dear Linda: Thank you for your kind and generous words. The name of the exercise is Future Scripting; and it took me only (lol) 5 years to come up with it. I hope you give it a try and share your results with me and the community. Cheering you on, M
My need is personal, and it may be too trivial even to worry about, but My need is time, not money. I am retired, I recently moved with my husband to a community, and I thought I would have loads of time to learn a form of art; I want to make friendship cards decorated with Celtic art.
My life is complicated by by the fact that we are both being treated for cancer, which means more than 100 medical appointments per year before we even think about the ordinary checkups, vaccinations, and old people "stuff."
I, nevertheless do have free time, and when I use it to learn new art skills or to try out card-making, I feel as if I could fly.
But far too often, I fail to use available time wisely. I don't want to ignore my husband or my friends, but I seem not to have the character to use wisely the time I do have.
I hope your example will help me to think differently about time and my "dream." I will set aside 20 minutes and see what happens.
Dear Katherine: My heart goes out to you! Thank you so much for reading and such a powerful, honest, authentic share! What you said about the need for time really resonated with me! I do hope you will give it a try and share with me and the community your experiences! Would love to hear/read about your experience! Cheering you on! M
Katherine, maybe it will help you to know one other person in the same circumstances. I am retirement age, my wife and I have lots of doctor appointments. I do all the cooking and laundry. I want to produce creative output, a training course in my case. I struggle to make use of the open spots in my day.
I don’t have a solution of my own for you. I just wanted you to know I think your struggle is normal.
I am going to take the 20 minutes right now to write out what success feels like. What do I have to lose?
I have changed my attitude and behavior in the past when challenged with exactly those words, “What do you have to lose?”
Cheering you on!
I really really enjoyed reading this and have never found an article breakdown so succinctly. I have seen the RAS work for me and I have written down previous year that this was the year we would buy our home that we were renting. This was the year we would celebrate our twins Bday big 10 in Denmark and Sweden. I wrote it all down into present moment. I have witnessed the power in doing detailed visualization. The problem is too many people get stuck in the what ifs and not what's possible. Thank you for such a beautiful share!
Dear Humaira: Thank you for reading! And yes, you are so right - it does work, however as humans we do get stuck in the what if's and second guessing ourselves. Congratulations on purchase of your home and I would love to read/hear more about your successes!
Thank you @Mary Bates for introducing me to this article. You're right, Magdalena and I would probably be good friends.
i've done this process before, and yet I keep forgetting that it exists and how well it works. Thanks for the reminder!
Dear Teri: Thank you for reading and Dear @Mary Bates - thank you for the introduction! It's super interesting to hear that you've done the process and that it worked so well for you. Would love to hear more about your success with this approach!
You might also find that if you sit down and write out or describe the problem EXACTLY, nothing left out, both sides of it, (a problem to be a problem always has two opposing sides), you might find that it magically solves that way, too.
Dear RobertL Thank you so much for sharing a diffrent approach! I love reading and exploring various angles and deeply appreciate your approach!
I have had friends who got their perfect mate this way also. Just sit down and write out exactly what traits/qualities you want in your mate. Several ladies have told me he showed up soon after!
This is awesome! Thank you for being so specific about the exercise, your problem, and the results you got. And for backing up your personal experience by citing research studies. So helpful, and a welcome change from the (probably) AI-generated broad generalizations about manifesting, goal setting, etc. that seems to be rapidly spreading on Substack (and everywhere else)!
Dear Wendi: Thank you for reading and I'm so glad it resonated with you. I'm slightly obsessed (lol - ok, maybe more than slightly) with this topic and have researched and read many books and studies on that topic - b/c I love it so much! So it makes me so happy to know that it's doable and it makes sense to my readers!
I know manifesting is mentioned. And how this is the opposite. I would argue this is how you manifest.
Inclusion is the new age replacement for exclusion. We're all reaching for the same reality, and describing it with varying vocabularies, yes. Great comment. 👌
Dear Manuel: Thank you for reading and I love your take on this for sure it's a consideration - the how. I would love to hear about your success stories.
Whenever you combine uncompromising belief with action the universe (GOD) delivers. We are literally co-creators in our own reality. Think of the passage in the bible when Peter begins to walk on water. He then sinks and asks for help from Jesus. Why did he sink because he stopped believing what he was doing was possible. Its a good lesson for us all. He was taking the action without belief. Some believe and don’t take action. You need to do both.
Love this approach. I’m trying it out. Catastrophising can be such a time and energy sink. It seems to go along with being someone who sees systemic interactions. You show a way for that envisioning to be put to better use.
Dear Tim: Thank you for reading and I would love to read/hear about your success when you try it out!
I actually started doing this too, without realizing what I was doing. With my books, I've started sitting to plan ask writing out questions, and those would would either lead to more questions or actually help me figure out the answer because I'd think about already written down things and what I was seeing in my head for that story, and then my brain just form a connection or idea to answer the question.
I need to do this for other areas of my life now that I know it's not just tied to writing my books! Thank you for writing this!
Dear Michelle: Thank you for reading! I'm so happy to hear that you've actually started doing it with your books! That's fantastic! Congratulations! And I can't wait to hear about your successes in other areas of life when you applie it! Would love to read how it's working out for you!
This is such a powerful shift. The most unexpected breakthroughs I’ve seen often came after someone changed how they looked at the problem, not the problem itself.
I couldn't agree more with you, Chris! The power of reframing it totally magical! Thank you for reading!
I really, really want to believe this is true, but the only study actually linked was about DATA visualization for improved speed at solving defined reasoning problems, not about mental visualization for abstract or open ended problem solving. The conclusions don't even relate to your topic beyond using the word visualization. The others referenced aren't cited at all. The most significant NYU study on this topic I could find comes from Dr. Gabriele Oettingen, and she concluded that positive visualizing is often actually counterproductive. I didn't see anything about skepticism there, but I did find an fmri study about “seeing signs” and the likelihood that skeptics have a better developed area is the brain used to inhibit the natural tendency to attribute meaning to random images. This all makes it very hard to lend credibility to the idea that this is neuroscience backed and not just a new flavor of “the secret.” I would honestly love it if you could provide sources to help quell my skepticism.
Dear Meg: I totally get your skepticism! Thank you for being a sceptic! Like you, science resonates with me greatly. Here is a link the all the research/science that supports this: https://magdalenaponurska.notion.site/ . It took me only 15 years (lol) to condense this into simple steps, but at the high level it's based on what's happening in our brains when we do mental rehearsal, visualization, then engage in the physical act of writing and then embody what we wrote down and take small actions. I focused on intersections of mental rehearsal, visualization, writing by hand, brain waves, identify transformation and various diffrent concepts that are happening when we engaged in this exercise. I hope this helps! Cheering you on! And please share your experiences with me and community if you decided to try it on. Happy New Year!
OMG thank you SO MUCH for responding to provide a full list of citations! I'm about to geek out so hard on some peer reviewed studies! 💖Happy New Year!
ETA, as a gentle suggestion, you might consider editing the post to replace the first link (the word "studies") to this list, as it would definitely help skeptical "show me the data" types give you a fair shake!
Thank you so much for this suggestion! And done! Happy New Year!
Wonderful! I'm so glad!
UPDATE: Your article was so compelling that I did the exercise IMMEDIATELY. And then I did the exercise again on Thanksgiving.
Throughout the next 10 days, I experienced unpredictable synchronicities and a whole new realm of joy, freedom, peace, calm, and confidence. It all unfolded EXACTLY as a created it in the exercise. It is really unbelievable, and I am SO grateful to you!
You are on to some serious MAGIC here...thank you so much for sharing this with the world!!
💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕
Dear Tom: WOW. Congratulations on taking action immediately and congrats on all the amazing and magical results that you've got out of doing the exercise! Keep going! Cheering you on, M!
What a fabulous Post and exercise! I’m doing this tonight. I’m so happy it’s doing so well!
Dear Veronica: Thank you so much for reading, trying it out and I can't wait to hear/read your success story! I know you will create something totally amazing with it! Cheering you on! With love, M.
Really enjoyed this article. I use methods similar to this in my Creative Coaching practice. Your article does a great job of capturing the what, why, and how:). Thank you.
Dear Alysia: I'm so glad it resonated with you and super happy that you are already using it for your Creative Coaching practice. Congratulations! I'm sure your clients love it!
This is exactly what I’ve been looking for but never had the words to name, thank you!!
Dear Erika: Thank you for reading and I'm so happy that it resonated with you! I can't wait to hear/read about your successes using it.