Use visualization to learn a new skill

Neuroplasticity is the ability of the brain to continuously create new neural pathways. When we repeat a skill that we are trying to master, we strengthen the neural networks that represent that action. The same happens physically in the brain whether we perform the action, or simply visualize it—Your brain cannot tell the difference between an action you performed and an action you visualized.

In the study two groups of volunteers were presented with a piece of unfamiliar piano music. One group received the music and a keyboard, and was told to practice. The other group was instructed to just read the music and imagine playing it. When their brain activity was examined, both groups showed expansion in their motor cortex, even though the second group had never touched a keyboard.

 Albert Einstein, who is credited with saying that “imagination is more important than knowledge,” used visualization throughout his entire life.

 Achieve your goals by keeping your mouth shut

 Psychology tests have proven that when you tell someone your goal, and they acknowledge it, you are less likely to do the work to realize that goal. This is because your brain mistakes the talking for the doing—that is, the gratification that the social acknowledgment brings tricks your brain into feeling that the goal has already been accomplished. The satisfaction you experience in the telling removes the motivation to do whatever it takes to actually make it happen.