Why You Should Visualize Your Worst Nightmare

Have you incorporated visualization into your career goals? Another word for visualization is “positive thinking.” And it’s true that focusing on the best possible scenario can assist you in actually making that goal a reality. But there’s another side to the coin: failure. Luckily, visualization can still help.

If you’re scared of failing at something, imagine the worst possible scenario–and how you would react to it. How would you feel? And more importantly, what exact steps would you take to climb out of the mess? It’s probably not as bad as you think.

Productivity expert Tim Ferriss calls it “fear-setting.” He claims it’s the “most powerful exercise” he does each month. In Ferriss’s case, he realized that his worst nightmare was really only going to temporarily impact his life on a scale of 3 or 4. But if things went well, his life would be permanently changed to a 9 or 10.

When you visualize the worst case scenario and compare that to the best case scenario, it might help you take a leap of faith. You may become a more “risky” person, but you can feel confident knowing the risk is worth it–and possibly minimal at best. This exercise can be applied to smaller every day decisions or big life changes. Seriously imagine: what’s the worst that could happen?

Image via Matt Reinbold/Flickr.