Daydreaming vs Visualizing: What’s the Difference?
Daydreaming is unstructured thoughts.
Visualizing is structured thoughts.
It’s easy to confuse the 2.
The main difference is structured vs unstructured.
Visualizing gets a good rep while daydreaming gets a bad rep.
When we visualize, others say:
‘Good! This is a person who knows what he wants.’
When we daydream, others say:
‘Get your head out of the clouds and be more practical!’
Visualizing and daydreaming feed off each other.
The more you daydream with discipline, the better you visualize.
We just want to make sure we are daydreaming correctly.
How to Daydream Appropriately
Daydreaming is when you let your mind wander.
We are not trying to control it.
All you need to do is observe the thoughts.
The problem is that most people never observe their thoughts.
That’s what I call being in Lala land.
I think being in Lala land is fine every now and then.
It’s hard to focus all the time.
If you want to daydream, then just let your mind wander anywhere and occasionally observe.
At times, you can tighten the control a bit.
Rather than letting your mind wander wherever, you can target your mind on a certain part of your life:
‘What should I do about my upcoming job interview?’
A general question allows you to brainstorm and think of random things.
A lot of the ideas will be fluff.
Every now and then, you’ll get a great idea.
This is an idea you can take seriously when visualizing.
How to Visualize
With visualizing, we want to start off light before we get too hectic.
Many get too excited with visualizing and try thinking too many thoughts.
Instead, try to recreate an image of something simple.
Like an apple.
When you can think of an apple, you can make the apple move.
This is you working out the visualization muscle.
With visualizing, we have purpose.
We want to see a particular thing.
‘Quick question Armani, are visualizing and brainstorming the same thing?’
Not quite.
Brainstorming and visualizing both have a purpose.
But for brainstorming, we are searching for ideas…
While with visualization, we already have the idea, now we are just trying to clarify the image in our mind’s eye.
The more you clarify the image, the more your body will feel emotions.
Clarity makes the nervous system tingle.
How I Daydream and Visualize
In the morning, I go for a walk.
During this walk, I visualize.
I envision my future, what I want, what I don’t want, and more.
I make my future self crystal clear in my mind’s eye.
All the data that I collect from my day-to-day life gets fed into my visualizing session to help me see that I’m not too far from my destiny.
I know where I am and where I want to go.
After, I come back, and I take a dark shower.
I shower with the lights off.
During then, I daydream.
I let my mind go wherever it wants.
‘Why do you take a shower with the lights off, Armani?’
Because when the lights are off, my eyes are not distracted by other sensory information.
I’m just alone with my thoughts.
During these daydreaming sessions, I get tons of ideas for blogs, conversation topics, YouTube videos, and more.
Where a lot of people will consider daydreaming a waste of time, the ArmaniTalks business couldn’t survive without it!
The Magic of Starting Off Light
One person’s overthinking is another person’s daydreaming session.
Overthinking is a form of daydreaming.
You are surrounded by a bunch of thoughts dealing with things that may have happened or are yet to happen.
You’re letting your imagination do the work.
The problem is that you aren’t aware.
Instead, you’re reacting.
This is why it’s important to start off light with daydreaming.
We don’t want things to be too complex.
Just let your mind wander and observe.
At times, you want to share what you noticed.
For me, I’m lucky.
Since I run a content business, I am forced to articulate my thoughts from daydreaming sessions out loud and hit publish.
But for people who don’t create any content, it may be tough.
Try journaling out your thoughts.
This allows you to see a mind-body connection.
Journaling allows you to see that you are not a passive observer of your mind.
Rather, you can directly interact with it.
Try This Challenge
Set a timer to daydream for 5 minutes.
Just let your mind go wherever.
Notice 1 thought which stuck out a lot.
From there, set 1 minute to add clarity to that thought.
Imagine the thought that stuck out in your daydreaming session was about you switching industries.
Rather than being an engineer, you will now pursue your business fulltime.
During your visualizing session for the 1 minute, you want to add clarity to that thought:
- Are you quitting your job with grace?
- What does your first day working on your business look like?
- Where are you working on your business from? Indoors or are you renting out an office space?
This exercise teaches you the concept of collecting a thought and deepening it.
After you do this exercise, you’ll notice the difference between daydreaming and visualizing.
Daydreaming Fuels Visualizing
Creative people daydream a lot.
Daydreaming allows creative people to explore the infinite possibilities out there.
A lot of the ideas during daydreaming will be silly.
Other ideas are silly now but may be practical in 10 years.
And other ideas are perfectly applicable right now!
During daydreaming sessions, you will get a lot of creative insights.
Set boundaries for your daydreaming sessions so you don’t overthink.
Example:
- During this road trip, I’m going to listen to music and daydream.
- During my shower, I will daydream.
- For the next 15 minutes, I will lie on my couch and let my mind wander.
One person’s mind wandering is scary anxiety, while another person’s mind wandering is fun daydreaming.
The main difference lies in their awareness.
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– ArmaniTalks 🎙️🔥
