Once you know why you’re going to college, imagine your ideal outcome. Let it flow outward from the reason you’re there. Whether you’ve already started college or not, stop and simply write down some attributes of your ideal experience. Describe it in as much detail as you can.
Before I returned to school, I spent hours visualizing the kind of experience I wanted to have. I saw myself being challenged but managing it easily and without stress. I saw myself making new friends. I saw myself having a really great time. Most of all I imagined a very balanced experience — a blend of academics, activities, socialization, and fun. The keyword I used was “richness.”
This was a really important step. I didn’t understand the mechanism at the time, but I was pre-programming myself to succeed. Whenever I encountered obstacles, my ideal vision was so much more compelling that I was always able to find a way to get what I wanted. I became a co-creator of my experience instead of a passive victim of it.
Visualization allows you to make mistakes in advance. If you can’t get a clear visualization, your experience is likely to be just as fuzzy. Debug your visualization until it inspires you.
Real life will of course turn out differently than you visualize. The point of visualization isn’t to predict the future or to restrict your freedom to decide later. The point is to give you more clarity for making decisions right now. Your ideal scene serves as a map that can guide you through the quagmire of options.
