Proper Visualization – How to Optimize Your Brain with NLP
Most people believe they know how visualization works. But between 'just imagining' and effective mental training lie worlds. In this podcast episode, we reveal Stefan Landsiedel and Marian Zeferer, how to truly use your brain to achieve goals faster, control emotions, and generate motivation. Learn how to NLP submodalities specifically change your inner images and feelings – just like top athletes, entrepreneurs, and artists do.
The World of NLP is the largest NLP platform in the world. You can test it free for four weeks and learn how to use visualization and mental training professionally.
Table of Contents
What does visualization really mean?
Visualization is much more than just 'imagining something'. It is a targeted work with the sensory channels of your brain. While many simply think about their goal, professionals consciously and systematically use mental images: They change size, color, perspective, and movement to specifically enhance or diminish emotions. This creates a measurable difference in motivation, focus, and performance.
Modern brain research shows: The brain hardly distinguishes between imagination and reality. When you vividly imagine a goal, you activate the same neural networks as when actually experiencing it. This is where the power of NLP lies – you learn to consciously shape and control these processes.
Understanding and using submodalities
In NLP, the subtle differences in our inner perception Submodalities are called. These are the sub-properties of your sensory impressions – whether an image is bright or dark, near or far, loud or quiet. These details determine how intensely you feel something.
Visual, auditory, and kinesthetic submodalities
Submodalities can be divided into three main categories: visual (seeing), auditory (hearing), and kinesthetic (feeling). When you learn to change these deliberately, you can directly influence feelings, motivation, and thought processes. Making an image brighter, closer, or more dynamic usually increases its emotional impact.
Why small changes have a big impact
Even minimal adjustments massively change your experience. A goal image that you make large, bright, and colorful automatically feels more attractive. An anxiety image that you make smaller, darker, and further away immediately loses intensity. This simple control is the heart of many NLP techniques.
Exercise: Activate Your Inner Cinema
Close your eyes (unless you're driving) and think of a beautiful experience. Remember: Where were you, what did you see, hear, feel? Make the image larger, brighter, more colorful. Feel how the emotions intensify. Then shrink it, move away from it, and observe how the feeling weakens. This way, you can directly experience how submodalities work.
Visualization in Practice
The application in everyday life is diverse. Top athletes use visualization to perfect movements. Managers, musicians, and speakers use mental images to prepare for performances or reduce stage fright. You can also vividly imagine your goal regularly – this programs your subconscious for success.
Example from competitive sports
An athlete visualized his run daily – however, he saw himself small and colorless from the outside. Only when he learned to see himself large, close, and in color did his state change. He regained confidence and effortlessly achieved his goal. This shows: Not what you imagine, but how how you imagine it makes the difference.
Application in everyday life
You can also work with submodalities in your professional or private life. When you think about upcoming tasks, make the inner images friendly, bright, and dynamic. If you feel stress, reduce the volume of the inner voice or change the perspective. This way, you program your brain for calmness and focus.
How to Train Your Imagination
Visualization is a skill that you can train – like a muscle. Many say: 'I can't imagine anything.' But that's not true. Anyone who remembers a friend's face or the color of their car is already visualizing. With regular practice, it becomes clearer and stronger.
Simple exercise for training
Look closely at an object near you. Close your eyes and imagine it as detailed as possible. Open your eyes, check the details, and repeat the whole process several times. You will notice that your inner images become sharper and more colorful – a great training for your mental cinema.
Advanced exercise: Goal visualization
Take a personal goal and imagine that you have already achieved it. Make the image large, bright, and vivid. See yourself happy, hear the voices, feel the success. The more often you repeat this, the more strongly your brain anchors the state – and your behavior automatically aligns with it.
Become the Director of Your Inner Film
In your mind, a permanent film is running – you are the director, cameraman, and lead actor at the same time. With NLP, you learn to consciously control this film: You can re-edit scenes, change colors, adjust soundtracks. When you shrink negative thoughts and amplify positive ones, your emotional world changes immediately.
The goal is self-control: Instead of passively reacting to external circumstances, you actively shape your inner experience. This gives you mental strength, calmness, and inner freedom.
Conclusion: Activate Mental Power with NLP
Proper visualization is not a coincidence, but a trainable skill. With NLP, you learn to deliberately shape your inner images to build motivation, resolve fears, and control emotions. You become the conscious director of your thinking and feeling – and thus the creator of your reality.
If you want to deepen these techniques, test the World of NLP four weeks free of charge. Learn with an inspiring community how to optimally use your brain and unlock the full potential of your mind.
Frequently Asked Questions about Visualization with NLP
What does visualization mean in NLP?
Visualization in NLP is the targeted use of your inner images, sounds, and feelings to consciously control your experience. It is not just about 'imagining something', but about consciously shaping your mental representations – such as size, brightness, or perspective. These subtle differences, the so-called Submodalities, directly influence your emotions and motivation.
What are submodalities in NLP?
Submodalities are the properties of your inner perception – so the fine differences, how you see, hear or feel something. For example: Is your inner image bright or dark, near or far, big or small? These parameters determine how intensely you experience a memory or idea emotionally. In NLP, you learn to deliberately change them to control feelings and behavior.
How can I visualize better with NLP?
Start with simple exercises: Recall a positive experience and deliberately change its properties – make the image bigger, brighter, closer, and in color. Observe how your feeling changes. This way, you train your ability to consciously shape your inner images and influence emotional states. Regular practice is the key to strong visualization.
Why is visualization so effective?
Your brain hardly distinguishes between imagination and reality – therefore, your body reacts similarly to both. When you vividly imagine a success, you activate the same neural networks as when actually experiencing it. This insight makes visualization a powerful tool in mental training, in sports, in business, and in personal development.
How do I use visualization for motivation and success?
Clearly and emotionally envision your goal – big, bright, colorful, and vivid. Add appropriate sounds, movements, and feelings. This combination activates your subconscious and focuses your attention on success. Many top athletes, entrepreneurs, and artists use this method to build mental strength and manifest goals.
Can anyone learn to visualize?
Yes, absolutely. Every person uses inner images – when remembering, planning, or dreaming. The difference lies in the awareness and clarity of these representations. With NLP exercises, you can train and refine your imagination – like a muscle that gets stronger with each use.
How does NLP help with mental training?
NLP provides you with tools to consciously influence thoughts, emotions, and physical states. By working specifically with submodalities and anchors, you can reduce stress, strengthen focus, and build self-confidence. This makes mental training with NLP concrete, measurable, and practical.
What does "director of your inner film" mean?
You decide what plays in your mental cinema – which images you make big or small, which sounds you make louder or quieter. NLP teaches you to take over this inner direction so that you can defuse negative representations and strengthen positive ones. This way, you actively control your thinking, feeling, and acting.