Imagination: An Actual Superpower

The Hotel Grimsel Hospiz in Switzerland, near the Furka Pass at the base of the Oberalp glacier.

Your imagination is an actual superpower. When I say that I am not exaggerating and that his not hyperbole. Imagination is shockingly powerful when you learn to use it, and most people simply don’t know how. When you learn to use your imagination, you can get rich, solve relationship problems, and have a great life. You can literally solve any problem.

How To Use Your Imagination

There is an actual method to use your imagination. It’s not random. Consider your imagination like your own personal guidance, AI, or whatever you want to call it, that can generate an image in your mind, giving you the answer to any problem.

Step 1. Identify What You Want to Know

First, identify a problem or situation that you would like to have answered. Perhaps you may want to know how to improve a particular relationship. Maybe you want to make more money. Perhaps you want to enjoy life more. It doesn’t matter what you want to know; just be honest about what you want.

Step 2. Imagine a Person Who Has It

Second, use your imagination to envision what a person who already has what you want would be doing. How would they feel? How would they think? How would they act? This image is the ideal you. It is the “preferred you.” It is the you that you wish you were, and in truth, who you actually are. If you struggle imagining this, I offer some tips below.

Step 3. Pay Attention to the Imagined Actions

Third, take it a step further by focusing even more specifically on what that person would do if they were in your shoes in your specific situation. In essence, you can take this person back in time to the you you are now, or maybe imagine a future where they are suddenly put into your shoes. This allows you to see how to bridge that gap between you and your life, and the you that you want to be.

When you finish this process, you should have a list of actions that you can take to be the person that you want to be. This is your recipe. This action plan is your instruction manual.

Step 4. Follow the Recipe

Lastly, you have to act that way. You have to take those actions. You have to follow the recipe. Your imagination provided you with a believable plan. Do it.

When The Answers Just Aren’t Coming

As you do this. You may encounter issues. Maybe the answers do not come as I have promised they would. Or maybe they do, but you find that you’re not following the recipe, and you are not taking those actions. For example, maybe you decide that working out is what you want to do, but you don’t do it.

A lack of success in using and applying your imagination is generally due to your own resistance. In general, you will find that the images do not come easily, or you are not taking the actions. Perhaps you wondered, “How do I deal with this relationship?” but nothing comes to mind. Or maybe you see a path, but you find that afterwards, you are not taking the actions. In either case, there are solutions, again, using your imagination.

Focus on Feelings First

One approach is to focus on the feelings. Ultimately, you want to know what actions to take, but there is a process by which those actions become clear to you and can become clearer. Ideas for action are attracted by thoughts. Thoughts are attracted by feelings. In other words, if you want to have clearer actions, you need to have clearer thoughts, and to have clearer thoughts, you need clearer feelings. Remember, your mind is not a biological computer; it is a satellite dish. It is a receiver. You tune your mind to a specific channel with your feelings.

Decide what you want. For example, yesterday, I wanted to see how to enjoy my life more. So I simply stated to myself “I enjoy my life.” Then I focused on the feelings and thoughts of a me that enjoys my life. I felt satisfied, accomplished, and happy. I saw myself smiling. I enjoyed being proud of my work and doing quality work. I focused more on the people in my life.

Update Your Wants

If you find you have a clear list of actions and you’re not taking them, you can again use your imagination, but make an update. Ask yourself, “What would the ideal me do if they were not doing what they wanted to do?” Use your imagination to solve that problem.

There are many other things that you can do if you find that the ideas and actions are not coming clearly. For example, I wanted to eat a more carnivore-based diet, but I wasn’t succeeding. The reason I was failing because I was forcing myself. I saw it was a diet I believed in and wanted to follow, but not because it excited me.

I then updated my desire to be “How can I follow the carnivore diet and not only enjoy myself but enjoy myself even more?” I then had all sorts of ideas. I realized that I could order and learn to cook different types of meat. This ultimately included things like brisket, pulled pork, ribs, and sausages. I realized that the kids wanted pizza I could get wings. I realized that I could even get fast food, like a Chipotle burrito bowl with just steak, cheese, and sour cream. I found many things that I could enjoy that fit my desires, and I succeeded.

I even realized that I could allow myself to fail. I realized that I could commit to eating all three meals a day as a carnivore, but allowing myself to snack on whatever I wanted if I wasn’t full.

But it all comes back to accepting my failure to act, updating my wants, and then using my imagination to find an answer that fit my wants.

Imagine Someone You Admire

Another approach to generating ideas is to use a role model. Is there someone you admire? Are there multiple people that you admire? Imagine what they would do in your situation. How would they deal with it? What would they do? How would they deal with the inability to act? Would they have a problem? Why not?

Imagine Someone Similar

You can also imagine someone more similar to you. Because they are not you, it may be easier to think without self-judgment. In my case, I find it helpful to imagine other fathers that I know, and if they wanted the same things that I wanted, I can ask myself, “What advice would I give them?”

Imagine a Stranger

You can even use a stranger. Look at some random person and ask yourself what advice you would give them if they wanted what you wanted.

Imagine Someone You Hate

Perhaps you dislike someone; you can imagine what advice you would give them if they were in your shoes. What should they do? Sometimes, that hatred for someone else can fuel your desire to find an answer and simultaneously to act.

Is it Really Impossible?

If ideas are still not coming, you can also ask yourself, “Are you really saying a person under any circumstances can’t have what you want? Are you saying it’s impossible to imagine a person who has what you want?”