Your present self-image was built upon your own imagination pictures of yourself in the past which grew out of interpretations and evaluations
which you placed upon experience. Now you are to use the same method to build an adequate self-image that you previously used to built an inadequate one.
Set aside a period of 30 minutes each day where you can be alone and undisturbed. relax and make yourself as comfortable as possible. Now close your eyes and exercise your imagination.
Many people find they get better results if they imagine themselves sitting before a large motion picture screen- and imagine that they are seeing a motion picture of themselves. The important thing is to make this picture as vivid and as detailed as possible. You want your mental pictures to approximate actual experience as much as possible. the way to do this is to pay attention to small details, sight, sound, objects, in your imagined environment. One of my patients was using this exercise to overcome her fear of the dentist. She was unsuccessful, until she began to notice small details in her imagined picture-the smell of the antiseptic in the office, the feel of the leather on the chair arms, the sight of the dentist's well-manicured nails as his hands approached her mouth, etc. Details of the imagined environment are all-important in this exercise, because for all practical purposes, you are creating a practice experience. And if the imagination is vivid enough and detailed enough, your imagination practice is equivalent to an actual experience, insofar as your nervous system is concerned.
The next important thing to remember is that during this 30 minutes you see yourself acting and reacting appropriately, successfully, ideally. It doesn't matter how you acted yesterday. you do not need to try to have faith you will act in the ideal way tomorrow. Your nervous system will take care of that in time-if you continue to practice. See yourself acting, feeling, "being," as you want to be. Do not say to yourself, "I am going to act this way tomorrow." Just say to yourself-"I am going to imagine myself acting this way now-for 30 minutes-today." Imagine how you would feel if you were already the sort of personality you want to be. If you have been shy and timid, see yourself moving among people with ease and poise-and feeling good because of it. If you have been fearful and anxious in certain situations-see yourself acting calmly and deliberately, acting with confidence and courage-and feeling expansive and confident because you are.
This exercise builds new "memories" or stored data into your mid-brain and central nervous system. it builds a new image of self. After practicing it for a time, you will be surprised to find yourself "acting deliberately," more or less automatically and spontaneously-"without trying." This is as it should be. you do not need to "take thought," or "try" or make an effort now in order to feel ineffective and act inadequately. Your present inadequate feeling and doing is automatic and spontaneous, because of the memories, real and imagined, you have built into your automatic mechanism. You will find it will work just as automatically upon positive thoughts and experiences as upon negative ones.
