When most of us think about success in life, we automatically fix our minds upon material items of money, cars, clothes, or power. Many successful people indeed have these items at their disposal. However, many of us get blinded by these symbols of success and misplace where successful people actually receive their source of prosperity, abundance, and wealth.

All wealth, abundance, and prosperity in any aspect of life come from our minds. More specifically, our imagination. Many self-help authors and speakers may call this practice visualization.

Napoleon Hill said, “the imagination is the most powerful, most miraculous inconceivably powerful force that the world’s ever known.”

Why is it so powerful? Because if you cannot see the positive circumstances on the outside, you can build it on the inside, as Bob Proctor would say. In other words, if what you see with your eyes is not what you prefer in your life, you can imagine something different and work toward this image in your mind to reproduce it in your reality.

The Elon Musk way

Do you think Elon Musk could have built SpaceX if he didn’t have a vision or imagination? His goal was to create a fully reusable rocket that achieved a vertical soft landing back on earth. They failed numerous times but kept going. He held on to a future vision of the possible.

Now SpaceX is the first privately owned company to send a liquid-fueled rocket into orbit and the first to achieve a vertical soft landing of a reusable orbital rocket stage

This had never been done. NASA couldn’t do it, and neither could many private companies that had billions of dollars of research and development. And just like that, SpaceX achieved what many thought was impossible. And because of this innovation, money is being saved, making it cheaper to send rockets to space. Now NASA depends on SpaceX’s rockets for their space missions.

So, what did SpaceX have that all these other companies didn’t? They had a leader who had a vision and a vivid sense of imagination. Elon built an image of the possible instead of relying on what always had been. Even though SpaceX’s competitors had basically an unlimited budget, they still couldn’t get the job done. Vision mattered more than money. As Sam Walton, founder of Walmart, has said, “capital isn’t scarce; vision is.”

The Oprah Winfrey story

If that example seems extreme to you, let’s take Oprah as an example. A Baltimore TV producer told her that she was “unfit for television news.” Yet, she didn’t become consumed by her external conditions of what was said – she continued to follow the vision she built in her mind of what was possible. As a result, Oprah is one of the wealthiest people on TV.

Imagination is not something to be taken lately. If you think this is child’s play, that’s precisely what it is. Child’s play got Oprah, Elon, and many others rich and successful. Most people use their imagination as kids but never exercise it as they grow. Forcing many of us to rely on what we can see with our eyes for growth, success, and achievement. This results in stagnation because nothing changes unless you do. Change comes from within, not outside in.

Most people unconsciously use their imagination to guide them toward the very circumstances and conditions they don’t want. Why not use your imagination for success, happiness, health, and fulfillment? 

Unfortunately, if you continue to search for success with your eyes – your success is futile. What do I mean by this? Let’s think about this: every successful person you’ve ever heard about had to rely on vision to achieve their goals. They could not rely on their external conditions to pull themselves to success.

Each of them experienced pain, failure, disappointment, and loss. Still, they continued to follow a vision built with their imagination of what could be possible for them despite the negative they may be experiencing in their external conditions.

Pain is simply a teacher

Michael Beckwith famously said, “pain pushes us until our vision pulls.” In other words, pain is an excellent teacher to tell us how we don’t want to experience life. Once you know what you don’t want to experience in life (removal of pain), then you can begin to develop a future vision for yourself. Then, when your future vision of your success and life is created using your imagination – you will be pulled toward it.

This is when your brain’s reticular activating system (RAS) goes into full gear, finding conditions in your external reality that match the vision you’ve developed in your mind. This is when synchronicities, the right people will call, and things start working in your favor because you’re relying on a higher vision that is propelling you toward the very intention you’ve set for yourself.

Even the bible talks about how you must develop a future vision for yourself. More specifically, it says, “where there is no vision, the people perish.” So, if you have no vision, not only do you parish, but so does everyone around you – family, friends, and anyone that may rely on you.

In order to develop a future vision for yourself and begin to be pulled toward new conditions in your life that you may not be able to see with your physical eyes – you must exercise your imagination.

So, let’s do that now. Where do you want to go? Who do you want to become? What type of people do you want to be around and work with? How do you really want your life to be? What’s a big goal you’ve always wanted to accomplish? Do you want to become more confident, peaceful, or develop a sense of calmness in the face of adversity?

Begin to close your eyes and imagine it first, then work every day towards the dream you’ve developed in your mind. This is the true path to manifesting the life you desire despite the external conditions you may be facing.

As the saying goes, “if you don’t have a dream, there is no way to make one come true.”