Mel Robbins The Science of Seeing: How Visualization Reprograms Your Brain for Success @melrobbins

If you expect to achieve your goals, if you expect to reach your potential, if you expect to have your dreams come true, what I'm about to explain to you is mission critical. You must become a master at visualization. Now, for those of you that are like, "What the heck is she talking about? I did not sign up for some sort of meditation woo woo spiritual thing here," don't worry. As Mel Robbins, the originator of this particular explanation, emphasizes, there's always science and research involved in everything she discusses.

Visualization is an extraordinarily powerful skill. You may have heard of the Law of Attraction, the word "manifesting," or simply "visualization" itself. Mel calls it "seeing signs." Your brain has a system in it, technically termed the Reticular Activating System (RAS). This network of neurons, located deep within your brainstem, acts as a crucial filter system. Its job is to allow certain information into your conscious brain while blocking out other information. And guess who programmed that filter? You did, along with influences from people in your past.

So, if you constantly feel like you're unlovable, your Reticular Activating System will diligently go through your day pointing out every single piece of evidence that confirms that negative belief. If you think people don't like you at work, the RAS, your internal filter, will literally be looking for evidence to confirm that belief all day long. This is one of the reasons we encounter such deeply entrenched perspectives, for example, in politics; it's tied to something called confirmation bias. Confirmation bias means your mind loves to read and absorb things you already agree with because it confirms your existing filter.

But why do we have a Reticular Activating System? There's a vital reason. If your brain let in everything—imagine a cluttered Facebook page with its myriad posts, ads, and notifications—your head would metaphorically explode. Your brain would melt down from the sheer volume of stimuli. The RAS protects your brain by filtering information and predominantly letting in things that align with its current programming. This scientific reality is the mandate for why you must get busy reprogramming that system. And how do we do that? Through visualization. This is a technique that many high-achievers, often unknowingly, employ, leading some to ask, "What is the habit of a billionaire?" Often, it involves a focused mental rehearsal for success.

Let's talk about how you use visualization to start reprogramming the Reticular Activating System in your brain. The goal is to train your brain to spot opportunity, to see evidence that things are working out, and to recognize coincidences so you can build momentum. It all begins with visualization.

Take your goals. If you've written down your goals, say for the upcoming year, go to each one and perform a visualization exercise based on science. It's a two-step method.

Step 1: If your goal is to improve your self-worth, you need to close your eyes. Truly. It might sound simple, but it's crucial. In your mind, create a specific picture of what your life looks like and how you're going to feel about yourself when your self-worth has improved. You might see yourself speaking up at work, talking more confidently about your business, leaving bad relationships, defining boundaries, going to the gym, or taking better care of yourself.

Step 2: As you visualize these images, consciously think of the positive emotions you're going to feel. "I'm going to feel happy. I'm going to feel proud. I'm going to stand taller. I'm going to be so grateful that I made this change." Marry that specific picture with the emotion. "There I am, at work, raising my hand—amazing! I'm sharing my idea. There I am, getting a promotion, asking for a raise. There I am, I've just signed up another customer to my business. There I am, I've gone back to school. I feel so good about myself."

When you do this, something remarkable happens in your brain. This is the cool science part: you are training your brain to have a totally different filter. Your brain, my brain, doesn't know the difference between something that actually happened to you (like that 'F' you got on a test in 10th grade) and the things you imagine are happening to you. Let me repeat: your brain doesn't distinguish between real, negative past memories and an imagined, positive memory you're creating.

Your brain will experience you visualizing going to the gym, how happy you feel when you do, or asking for that raise and getting it, and how proud you're going to feel. When you visualize in this specific way, your brain encodes it as a real memory. This is important because encoding it as a real memory changes the filter system – that Reticular Activating System.

Research shows that the more you visualize things, several positive outcomes occur. Number one, your confidence will be greater. You'll have greater security about it. And here's the really cool thing: the more you do this with your goals—waking up every day and visualizing for just 30 freaking seconds (your dreams deserve 30 seconds, don't you think?)—studies suggest and have proven that simply visualizing yourself doing things actually develops the skill and helps you improve the skills, just as if you were actually doing it. This is a powerful aspect often found in the daily habits of billionaires and other highly successful people habits. It's a cornerstone of building wealth building habits and fostering a billionaire mindset. Many might even describe this dedication as the no.1 habit billionaires run daily.

There's proof based on research that visualization helps you build skills. Finally, the other important aspect is that the more you do this, you start to believe what you think because you are reprogramming your brain. You are changing the network of neurons that act as a filter. So, the more you believe in yourself and start thinking and visualizing yourself speaking up, the more confident you'll become, the more skills you're building, and you're actually going to do it. Instead of looking for all the reasons not to speak up in a meeting, you're going to just speak up because you've changed the filter. You'll look for opportunities. This is how billionaires think; they are often attuned to seeing and seizing opportunities, a skill sharpened by such mental practices. This is how to be successful.

So, starting today, go through all the goals you've set. Every single day for the next 30 days, spend 30 seconds visualizing. What does it look like in your life when you have achieved your monetary goals this year? How does it feel to go to the bank and see that balance? How does it feel to write that check and take your kids to Disney World on money you made? How does it feel to rent your own place or put down a down payment for the house you've always dreamt of? How does it feel to have saved enough money so you can quit the job you hate and launch the business, because you have achieved your goals? It feels darn good, that's how it feels. And I want you to just savor that.

Because what you're doing when you visualize is reprogramming your Reticular Activating System, that system of neurons, that network that acts like a filter in your brain. It's being retrained so that it's spotting opportunity, helping you see evidence that you are confident, that you are capable, that you can do this, instead of all the garbage you might think right now. This proactive mental framing is indeed one of the secrets of billionaires and a key to their success mindset. It's part of what do billionaires do in a day – they invest in their mindset. Many of the most common habits of billionaires revolve around this principle of intentional mental conditioning. This could indeed be the no 1 habit billionaires run daily for many, forming part of their billionaire morning routine or daily routine of billionaires to set the stage for success. The consistent application of such success habits helps them achieve success and maintain their wealth mindset. This advice, often shared on platforms like YouTube by motivational speakers, underscores the power of internal change for external results, making you wealthy not just financially, but in opportunity and outlook. Discussions around 'The No1 Habit Billionaires Run Daily' and similar billionaire habits or daily routines of billionaires are constantly sought after, with some even looking ahead to what will be trending in 2025 for peak performance. People often wonder: Where can one learn these top habits of billionaires? Who benefits most? When should one start? And is it true that visualization is so powerful? The science, and experience, say yes.