A Simple Brain Hack That Will Change Your Life
Do you feel jealous when you see others achieving the very things you dream of? You're certain you’d be capable of so much more, if not for the inertia keeping your life stagnant.
As a singer, musician, music teacher, and business coach – for years, I was stuck in the same, frustrating traps.
My professional and personal journey had taken me from singing at the Apollo Theater to residing in a Gypsy caravan in France to recording five original albums as an independent artist in New York City. Every step of the way has been an adventure.
But the life of a professional musician is not an easy path. My financial management was lousy and I didn’t have clarity on what I wanted to do with my musical career. I’d land big gigs performing at the Kennedy Center and the Rainbow Room at the top of 30 Rockefeller Plaza, yet felt that I had to struggle as an artist to have integrity. I was haphazardly chasing my dreams without really knowing what they were.
Everything changed when I decided to stop going in circles.
I discovered visualization and used it to break through my own limiting beliefs that kept me playing small.
I started investing in my own self-improvement, found incredible mentors, and began the rewarding process of changing my life. Since then, I’ve launched my own business, recorded the most innovative album of my career, more than tripled my income, and created my own month-long artist residency in Cuba.
Today, I use my experiences and research to help my clients realize their dreams and unlock their true potential. A core part of my coaching curriculum is my visualization workshop, crafted from months of trial-and-error experimentation. All of these exercises have been personally effective in rebooting my life and taking my career to the next level.
I am a diehard believer in the power of visualization. I’ve experienced the impact it’s had on my life, and watched it transform my clients, helping them to clarify their goals, revamp their careers, and reconceive what they believed was possible. I know it can do the same for you. Here’s how:
What is visualization, anyway?
Don’t worry, this isn’t your mom’s New Age-y incense cure. Visualization is the scientifically-proven method of imagining your deepest desires and working intently to conjure them in your mind’s eye. With hard work, visualization can eventually transform the architecture of your subconscious mind, priming you to succeed beyond anything you ever thought was possible.
Why all the focus on your subconscious mind?
According to biologist Bruce Lipton’s research from Stanford University, the subconscious mind controls anywhere between 95-99% of your brain’s activity, influencing your thoughts, feelings, actions, and imagination. What’s more, while your conscious mind can only process 40 bits a second, your subconscious mind can process an incredible 40 million bits per second. What if you could use all that brainpower to help you get what you want? Imagine the possibilities!
How can you use visualization to hack your subconscious mind?
Your subconscious mind is a powerful engine of activity, but without direction, that engine can chug along in circles and keep you stuck. Proven by years of neuroscience research, visualization is a highly-effective way to channel the energy of your subconscious mind, and make it work for you.
Visualization works because your mind doesn’t substantially distinguish between imaginary experiences and real experiences. That means simply picturing eating a slice of pizza can conjure the same neural activity as actually eating it (unfortunately, it won’t taste as good!). That means visualizing yourself doing something you’re afraid of, or achieving a goal that seems impossible, can prime your brain to actually do those things.
For examples, let’s say you dream of singing your electronic music in concert for a packed house at a hip concert venue. For this exercise, you would focus on visualizing every detail of that experience: start with arriving at the venue and testing out your mic and synth, which have been set up by the stagehand. You’d imagine how confident you feel as you warm up backstage with the talented band you’ve hired to accompany your vocals. You would try to picture the final sip of water you drink, the sounds of the crowd cheering as you walk out on stage with your shoulders back. Then, you’d imagine yourself taking a deep breath, nodding to your bassist, and beginning the song at just the right tempo. As you produce this kind of vivid imaginary experience in your mind’s eye, your brain begins signaling your neurons to behave as if you're actually putting on that kick-ass show. As a result, your brain will construct new neural pathways for carrying out your visualization.
If you visualize your sold-out concert every day for a week, your brain will begin to adopt these visualization as memories and learned behaviors that reverberate through your unconscious brain at lightning speed. This primes your conscious brain to behave like a talented electronic music star-- all without ever leaving your bedroom! Habitually forming mental images of you living out your deepest desires will lead to stronger motivation and build your confidence, which will help you to take action to make this situation a reality and behave in the manner you’ve envisioned.
How can you get started today?
Think of visualization as boot camp for your subconscious mind. Why wait even a day to start training yourself for success?
If you’re sick of leading a life that is less than what you’re capable of, it’s time to take action.
That’s where I come in. Visit my site, where you can snag my free workbook that will kickstart your visualization journey. It’s chock-full of exercises that will help you build the most effective visualizations, and get those dreams churning in your subconscious mind.
That’s the invaluable first step in making your subconscious mind work for you. With consistent work and dedication, you’ll find that visualizations can help transform your perspective. I know I did.
But I didn’t do it alone.
On my journey of self-transformation, I’ve been lucky to have the aid of a business coach and several incredible mentors whose wisdom, perspective, and experience were critical to my growth. They gave me strategic guidance, acted as sounding-boards when I felt stuck, and held me accountable for achieving my goals.
I learned that it’s impossible to truly change your life without help. No matter how determined you are, there’s only so much you can do on your own.
I hear you and I’m here for you. My business, life, and music coaching sessions have helped my students do everything from become professional songwriters signed with Sony BMG Entertainment, to winning the Apollo Theater’s Making A Star Competition, to garnering 70K plays on Soundcloud in two days after a release. Just imagine what we could accomplish together!
You deserve to live the life of your dreams. Don’t settle for one that’s adequate, or merely tolerable. Take the first step in recreating your life, today!
