The Power of Your Imagination

Are you locked in a bad job, a bad marriage or bad a location? If so, you might feel like you are in prison. The stress and depression can be unbearable. Even waiting in long lines, traffic jams or boring meetings can feel like jail. How can you keep your sanity?

Fortunately, you can improve your mood in any uncomfortable situation! Your imagination is one of your powers.

“Imagination is a good thing, not a bad thing. With daydreaming, for instance, a person can convert a not-too-pleasant existence into something livable.” — L. Ron Hubbard

That’s right!

Instead of feeling frustrated while sitting in a traffic jam, just have a daydream about your next vacation, a fun activity or your favorite person.

You can lay in your hospital bed for hours, with nothing to do, and enjoy a daydream about a wonderful shopping trip. You even enjoy each day in jail while imagining a day at the beach, a hike in the mountains or a game of golf.

Your imagination reduces your stress and lightens your mood. Instead of just “enduring life,” you enjoy life.

Imagination is so powerful, you can take this tool to do much more than make bad conditions more bearable.

“Imagination could be classified as the ability to create or forecast a future or to create, change or destroy a present or past.” — L. Ron Hubbard

Read these three stories of Bill, Liz and Charles who used the power of their imaginations.

Bill Destroys a Piece of His Past

After being married to Bill for 10 years, Julie has an brief affair with an old boyfriend. She breaks off the affair and tells her husband Bill what she did.

Months later, Bill tells his friend, “I’ve tried, but I just can’t forgive her. I want us to have a wonderful marriage, but all I can think about is her lying in a motel bed with her old boyfriend.”

Bill’s friend, who knows the power of imagination, says, “Bill, use your imagination to fix this. Imagine she never had the affair.”

Bill does this. “Okay. Julie never even saw this guy. It never happened. She was shopping.” He closes his eyes and puts his imagination to work. After spending a day working on this he calls his friend and says, “Fantastic! I feel better about Julie. I can forgive her now. We can move on!”

Of course, Bill knows Julie was unfaithful, but the past incident no longer ruins his marriage. He used the power of his imagination to destroy this past.

Liz Changes her Boss

Liz works for a nasty, mean boss who constantly yells at her. “Liz! I told you to clean my bathroom. Get to work you stupid cow!” “You don’t deserve to work for me.” She feels like crying whenever he yells at her.

So, Liz uses her imagination to change the present. “I’m going to imagine my boss is five years old and I let him think he’s really important.”

Now, when the boss yells at Liz, she secretly smiles at his tantrums. She no longer feels like crying as he’s just a silly boy. Liz uses her imagination to change the present.

Charles Starts a Company

After three years of learning to build phone apps, Charles is still broke. “I work hard as a hardware repair guy at ABC Computers, but I just can’t get a raise or move ahead. And I don’t want to fix computers for the rest of my life!”

Charles uses his imagination to create a future. “I will create a new app that millions of people will pay to use. It will be valuable, but inexpensive. It will become very popular and will make me wealthy.”

He daydreams about his new app every day. He thinks of several new ideas. He imagines how each part of the app would work. Using his imagination, he even builds a future app business. “I’ll hire June as she’s a brilliant artist and Chris as he’s a terrific programmer. We’ll meet each week and increase our income each year. We’ll have a lot of fun!”

Charles sees his future needs to start with app design work, so he arranges to get transferred to the ABC Computers’ app design team. His new boss recognizes his creativity and she gives him exciting new projects. Charles enjoys his new work a great deal. His pay doubles within a few months.

Charles keeps imagining his own app business and works on it at home every night. He talks about it with Jane and Chris. Everyone imagines an amazing future. They are on Charles’ exciting path to success and everything falls into place.

Charles uses the power of his imagination to change his future.

Twelve Ways to Use the Power of Your Imagination

1. Feel Happier

Mentally see yourself smiling and feeling good. Try it right now. Imagine you will feel energized and happy in 60 seconds.

2. Improve Your Business

If you run a business, constantly imagine how you can provide a better service or a better product. As you turn these imagined improvements into reality, you increase your income.

3. Improve Your Performance

A great way to increase your income as an employee is to do the same thing. Imagine getting more work done than ever before. Imagine ways your work becomes more valuable. Imagine your boss being so delighted with you that you get raises and promotions.

4. Change Your Body

What do you want to change about your body?

— If you are ill, imagine the disease going away.
— If you have a layer of fat you don’t like, imagine it disappearing.
— If you wish to look more attractive, use your imagination to make it so.
— If you wish you were shorter or taller, had more hair, had more energy, looked younger or whatever, simply imagine the change.

As you maintain your imaginary appearance, check your mirror every day. Look closely and see the improvements.

If you keep at it, don’t be too surprised if your body actually changes!

5. Increase Your Productivity

Your imagination can make you more efficient. Try this: List all the tasks you want to complete today. Before you start, take a few seconds to imagine yourself completing everything on time.

When you imagine the successful completion of a task, plan or goal, you are not easily sidetracked. You know how to make progress. It’s like having a mental road map to follow.

6. Break a Bad Habit

For example, you want to quit smoking cigarettes. So you create a future where you do not smoke. You see yourself enjoying a wonderful dinner in a fancy restaurant with no urge to light up. You see yourself working all day with no cigarette breaks. You watch your lungs clean up.

7. Dump Mental Baggage

Whenever an experience in your past bothers you, use your imagination to change it or destroy it.

For example, when you were a child, a girl named Wanda teased you about your big nose. She made you hate your nose and it still bothers you. You think you should get a nose job.

So you imagine a different past. In your new memory, Wanda is your best friend and she admires your natural beauty.

You enjoy this imaginary memory for a while and then bang! You feel no need to change your nose. In fact, you like your big nose!

8. Improve Your Understanding of Others

Use your imagination to understand how others feel. For example, your neighbor’s barking dog wakes you up every night, but you don’t know how to talk to your neighbor about the noise. So you imagine that YOU have a barking dog. Your neighbor wants YOU to keep YOUR dog quiet. How would you want your neighbor discuss this with you? You decide on a great solution.

Use your imagination to understand how your spouse, children, parents or friends feel. For example, you want to improve your marriage, so you imagine what it’s like to be your spouse. How does it feel to be married to YOU? What must you change about your behavior to improve the marriage? You use your imagination to change the present.

9. Solve Problems

Write down a problem you currently face. Make a list of possible solutions. Imagine how each solution will work. Select the solution that appears to work best in your imagination.

10. Resolve Fears

For example, you are terrified of speaking in public, but need to give a talk to your group. You see a future where everyone boos and throws rotten tomatoes at you.

You use your imagination and change this future. You see everyone fascinated with your talk and grateful for the information.

Then, just as you imagined, you get on stage and notice the audience is smiling and interested in what you have to say. You feel no fear.

11. Increase Your Income

Imagine various ways your income can increase.

“One year from now I’ll be strolling down the street with money falling out of my pockets.”
“I see my side job income going up every month until it becomes my biggest source of money.”
“What would be a terrific new income source for me?”
“I see rich people, who are so happy with my work, that they insist on giving me extra money.”
“The most enjoyable part of increasing my income is going to be ___”

12. Improve Your Future

Perhaps the best use of your imagination concerns your future. What do you really want to happen? What will your future be like if everything goes well? Imagine this future.

You can imagine any future you like: happiness, money, health, justice, peace, love, prosperity and more.

Summary

You have an unlimited number of ways to use your imagination to change your past, improve your present and create a successful future. Use your imagination to discover them!