Let's bring order to concepts warped by social media and incorrect promises.
Visualization, wish maps, plan unloading practices, diaries, etc. Are they necessary, do they work, and how much magic is there really.
/ will write based on the facts of the brain and neurobiology /
Visualization is based on this fact:
1) The brain processes the entire spectrum of both external and internal sensations in the same way. For it, there is no difference between fiction and reality. Everything you spin in your head triggers the same biological processes of hormone production, nervous system response. No matter how much these thought-forms are tied to reality.
It's up to you to figure out what direction to think in. Your brain will do the rest.
2) We always have a lot of thoughts in our heads. Most of them constitute a shifting whirlwind, unstructured and impetuous. If there is no common image of the future, the Future is ugly. The image can be verbal, visual, gustatory, consist of sounds or smells.
The image of the future (clear to you, but free in variations) is the direction of your attention
3) The brain is like a google search engine - what query you put in the search bar, by that analogy it pays attention to the information in space. If there is a focus - then the attention is set on it. If there is no focus, attention will be drawn to what is more visible/narrower/popular/closer to the body/closer to the trigger/etc. You're definitely not driving your reality here.
Where there is attention, there is energy. Where there's energy, there's results
4) Organizing thoughts in your head is a difficult thing. But if you think about it, consciously put together Desire, Benefit, Repeated thoughts about it, Feeling of possession, Feeling of happiness from it, then it is not difficult to understand what you need in life.
Any goal setting should be accompanied by emotion. The best idea is to think about goals from a "I already have this" perspective. Feel it. If you feel like you have the result, you're probably going in the right direction
5) Putting thought-forms into words is materialization. We live in the material world, and in order for our desires, which cannot be touched, to become densely manifested in life (tangible, measurable, influential), they must be labeled. To unload them somehow from the chaos of other thoughts in the head. And apply them to yourself, first in your head.
Moving from being unconsciously on the waves of life - to being consciously aware of where you are sailing
6) Imagination is a cognitive function of the human brain. It has been scientifically proven that it forms new neural connections in the brain and gives birth to synapses that might never have been born due to living only in one's reality.
A river will never flow into a plateau if there is a channel nearby. Prepare the channel you need in advance, so that thoughts can flow there easily.
7) Each new neural connection is an additional, new way to live your life, as well as space for your unforeseen choices. Developing Neuroplasticity. Expanding Reality.
Leaving room for the unknown is trust in life. Understanding the limits of your desires is trust in yourself.
8) The brain reacts not to the modulus, but to the gradient. It is interested in whether there is a positive trend or a negative trend in us. It is not interested in the subject. Accordingly, it will be greatly pleased and greatly frustrated by a gain/loss, an achievement/loss... and this has to do with motivation and emotional background. By putting this context into your desires, it is much easier to determine exactly what you need.
Don't struggle and force yourself to believe in fairy tales, it won't work. Use the properties of the brain to your advantage, form a natural motivation.
9) We are how we place ourselves in the world. We place ourselves by our own judgments, thoughts, plans and, of course, actions. Undervalued, overvalued, adequate, whether we want more - it's all born in our head, and only there. The base of self-value.
No one but ourselves knows exactly what we need. And in what format. Therefore, your desire map and your plans should not be formulaic. Individuality, authenticity is important.
10) There are 2 circuits of thinking - one is the Wandering Mind and the other is where Awareness, Attention, Mindfulness manifests. The Wandering mind generates thoughts and insights. The Focused Mind achieves results, but everything is predictable and logical there.
Desire maps first focus the brain on specific points, and then it is necessary to let go of the thought, so that the wandering brain quietly in the process of life recognizes everything that can be attributed to the previously programmed goal. Generated ways of achievement from what is available.
As you can see, no magic. Consciously unloading your desire to come "to something..." through life. Packing you yourself into these events, feeling them, applying them to yourself emotionally. Playing it out in your head. No control over exactly how it will happen. Calm letting go, no need to think about it now.
Periodic re-reading and revision of plans is important. Updating when necessary. Fixing the changes point by point and the joy of the feeling of approaching. Or rethinking if there is no joy.
And it is imperative that you proactively respond to opportunities that bring you closer to the image of the future.
Actions!
Ps. Affirmations can be done too, but only along with action and mindfulness.