When I called out those things and heard them echo back, I jumped up and down. I fist pumped the air. I whooped for joy. Seriously. Anyone watching me must’ve thought I was crazy. But I didn’t care—the excitement was real! I was getting emotionally connected to my goal. I was getting it into my body. I was stepping into the future.
This is a powerful tool for a lot of reasons.
- Your brain doesn’t know the difference between what’s real and what’s imagined. Seriously. When you imagine an action, say, throwing a softball, the exact same areas in your brain light up as when you actually throw a softball. That’s why the most successful athletes in the world use visualization to step into the future. In doing so, they’re training their minds and their bodies for the real thing. 3
- It shifts your perspective, and that shifts your emotion. Albert Einstein once said, “You can’t solve a problem from the same consciousness that created it. ” Yet we try to do that all the time! We often start working toward our goals from a place of negativity, of doubt and fear and overwhelm. That’s a huge handicap. It’s like starting a race from fifty yards behind the starting line. I want you to start working toward your Pearl from a place of positivity and empowerment—because that will open up new channels of energy, creativity, and motivation.
By stepping into the future, you’re seeing your goal from your most successful, most fulfilled self—and that’s huge. That version of yourself can give you advice and encouragement on what to do, and help pull you toward them—so your future becomes your present.
- Tapping into that future self fires up your passion. It makes you care. Passion is a huge motivator, and I’m guessing that since you’re reading this book, you’ve got a lot of it. When I was stuck in my slump before One Life to Live, my passion had gotten buried underneath doubts and fears and limiting beliefs. But by getting excited, my passion came back to life. It made me want to take action, and it helped me transform my negative beliefs into positive ones that would serve me. It made me see that I was willing to do whatever it took to make my dream a reality.
Awakening your passion—or, simply, getting excited—doesn’t just have an emotional benefit. It’s physical. When you’re excited, your brain releases chemicals that physically ready you for action. Those chemicals suppress the drives to do things that aren’t urgent, like going to the bathroom and snacking—which means you’re less likely to procrastinate. It literally primes your body and mind for taking action. (This is why the next Moti-Minute is a great one to do a LOT, especially right before you take action toward your Pearl. Use this if you tend to get distracted—it will help you stay focused and productive. )
- Stepping into the future also starts to prime your brain to look for opportunities, coincidences, and pathways that might otherwise stay hidden. It opens up your imagination to the possibilities ahead of you. And, according to the Harvard neurologist Srini Pillay, tapping into your imagination activates the action center in the brain.
According to Pillay, your posterior parietal cortex is your brain’s GPS. All you have to do is program your destination into it, and automatically it starts mapping out ways you can get there. 4 So don’t make the mistake of punching in a destination you don’t really want. Let’s make sure we give it a clear, vivid destination that you love—and then let it go to work for you!
How can you program your brain’s GPS? By focusing on your Pearl. That’s what we’re going to do in today’s exercise.
We’re going to visualize. We’re going to emotionally connect to our goal. We’re going to get excited, tap into our passion, and program that GPS in our brains.
There’s one more benefit of this I want to share with you. (I know, there are almost too many to name!) Studies show that when you envision your future self—and I mean really envision, not just give a passing thought—then you’re more likely to make decisions that are good for your future self.
In one study, researchers used imaging software to create older versions of the faces of young participants. Then, they split the participants into two groups, and interviewed both groups around their life goals. The first group answered questions while looking at their current face. The second group answered questions while looking at the future version of themselves.
After the interview, the participants were asked what they would do if they were given $1, 000. The second group—those who had seen their future selves—decided to save twice as much for retirement as the first group, who chose to spend it on more immediate pleasures. 5
This makes sense because, in general, we’re tempted to do what feels good short term, not what benefits us long term. We might eat a big bowl of ice cream because it’s pleasurable in the moment—even if it goes against a long-term goal of losing a few pounds. If your future self were standing there in the room with you—if they really felt real to you—you’d probably be less likely to indulge.
That’s why we’re emotionally connecting to our goals, and that’s why we’re going to imagine that you are your future self. We’re stepping into the future, so we can tap into that powerful energy, and learn from it, so we can make it our present reality.
Remember to go into this exercise—and all the exercises we do—with a sense of lightness and fun. If they feel weird, that’s okay. Don’t let that stop you—just keep doing it anyway. There’s nothing to lose. We’re just taking a peek into a future possibility. No pressure, no judgment. Take a risk. Go all in. Remember, the universe is rooting for you!
As we move through the rest of this process, keep coming back to this feeling of pride and lightness. Connect with it, bring it into your body and let it guide you. The more you do, the more connected you are to your Pearl, and the more you’ll invite it into your life.
Great job!
Before you go, I have one more thing for you. This might seem small, but it’s an important step on the path to that beautiful future you just stepped into.
I want to ask you to commit to your Pearl—for real, to make a deep, internal commitment. Later on down the road, you can draw on this commitment to help you push forward. You can draw on the strength of this moment, as well as the excitement, hope, and possibility you just created.
Will you commit to your Pearl goal?
I invite you to say it out loud (even if it feels silly!). I might say something like “I, Sonia Satra, commit to creating a new Moticise program in the next six weeks. ” You can word it however you want. The important thing, as usual, is to feel it!
Okay, now let’s get it into our bodies, too—so our whole selves will go along for the ride.
Stand up. On the floor in front of you, imagine a big circle. In that circle is the path to your Pearl. Now, on the count of three, commit—and jump forward, landing with both feet in the circle.
Physicalizing your commitment sends messages to your brain and body that you’re really doing this. This is not a dress rehearsal—this is the real thing. I know, I know; it might sound childish. Who cares? Do it anyway!
I once had a client at a coaching event who almost didn’t do this part. Like Amy, she was also working toward mending an estranged relationship. This client went through all the steps of the process, and then when I asked her to commit to her Pearl by jumping into a big imaginary circle, she hesitated. The whole group jumped except her.
“Let’s do that one more time, ” I said, walking over to her. This time, I held her hand as she jumped—and she did.
Afterwards, she came up to me. She looked awed, as if she’d just seen something unbelievable.
“Sonia, ” she said, “that last part, that jumping in and committing—that made all the difference. I went through the whole Mindset Reset process, thinking I was all in. But then I realized I wasn’t. Most of me was, but not my whole self…I needed that extra visual. Now I’m all in. ”
I should mention here that both this client and Amy went on to build strong, loving relationships with the people they’d been estranged from. Amy’s daughter Zoe even began coming to visit so frequently that Amy converted her home office to a bedroom, which she calls “Zoe’s room. ” Zoe got married last summer, and Amy was right there with her. They talk all the time and, yes, they’re planning that trip to Italy as I write this.
If you feel resistance around committing, ask yourself: Am I just uncomfortable because this is an unusual thing to do? (That’s fine!) Or am I uncomfortable because the goal I’ve chosen isn’t quite right?
If it’s the latter, then by all means, modify your Pearl until you’re ready to commit to it. Make sure it’s specific and meaningful, and don’t forget to emotionally connect with it using the Moti-Minute. Then, say it out loud. Commit to it for real.
I applaud you, because naming and committing to your goal really are half the battle—and you’ve just done both. You are so much closer to your Pearl than you were an hour ago! Congratulations, and I can’t wait to see where this exciting new journey takes you.
Let’s keep moving!