As a natural scientist, I am fascinated not only by evidence-based practises, but also by practise-based insights. In my view, the latter are more holistic and particularly interesting when it comes to unique complex systems, such as human beings.
đź’ˇIn my coaching practice, I have observed a phenomenon which is related to imagination. It could be described as follows: the more we think about or explore a personal future scenario, the more likely it is to happen in a similar way. This seems to apply to worst-case scenarios as well as best-case scenarios and all scenarios in between.
It presumably has to do with what I would call the conditioning of consciousness through imagination. More specifically, the conditioning of susceptibility or receptivity towards billions of stimuli we are exposed to every day:
By expecting or imagining a personal future scenario, we create a “mental context” that has a significant influence, without any further deliberate action [for more on the influence of “real context”, see the exciting research by Dan Ariely: Predictably Irrational, The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions, 2009]. The new “mental context” then sensitises to the recognition of corresponding stimulus patterns, which in turn influence our behaviour.
It is crucial to point out that the hypothesis described here is linked to probability and similarity of actual outcomes. The psychologically based phenomenon thus differs clearly from the concepts of the New Thought movement, which refer to manifestation (e.g. the law of attraction), metaphysics, spirituality, etc.
đź’Ž đź’Ž đź’Ž An important coaching move in the systemic solution-focused approach is the invitation to the creative and detailed description and imagination of a preferred personal future. The practise-based evidence for its effectiveness was discovered and studied by Insoo Kim Berg and Steve de Shazer. The application of this exploration is very helpful, and coachees experience it as inspiring, encouraging and joyful!
