Social anxiety can be a difficult thing to deal with. It causes feelings of worry, distress, or fear in social situations, and it often prevents people from taking part in the activities they want to.

One of the main things that cause social anxiety is negative imagery — when someone imagines themselves performing poorly or receiving a negative reaction from other people. And that’s where visualization comes into play: it helps you rack up positive experiences and imagine how great you’ll feel after going out and meeting new people! Instead of imaging a scenario where you’re walking into work feeling anxious, visualize yourself walking into work feeling calm and confident. Visualization is a great way to reprogram your brain and train it to think positively, and in the long run, it could really help you become more socially confident.

Another reason that visualization is so effective is because of how easy it is to do. If you’re feeling anxious about a social situation, try taking five minutes to visualize yourself going out and meeting new people. It takes just a few minutes to imagine yourself having an amazing time, and by doing that you’re training your brain to accept the possibility of meeting new people and enjoying them.

The more time you spend visualizing, the more confident and self-assured you’ll feel. Just like most people, I spent my teenage years worrying about what people thought of me, and that’s a shame. You don’t need to live by those fears anymore: whether you’re worried about meeting people for the first time or you’re already in a new relationship and need to learn how to navigate them all, visualizing can help.

So next time that social anxiety starts to get the best of you, try taking five minutes to visualize yourself meeting new people and becoming confident. The more time you spend doing this, the faster your brain will become a habit and everything will start to feel easy again. Visualizing can be highly effective, but you just need to start using it on a regular basis.

If you’re ready to get started with visualization, here are a few tips to help you make the most of it.

Practice

The more time you spend visualizing, the better you’ll feel. It’s important to take time every day and do at least a little visualizing practice so that your brain can develop into a habit.

Be Specific

Visualization is more effective when you focus on a specific aspect of the situation: if you’re not sure what to visualize, try focusing on how another person will react. Make everything as detailed as possible — by imagining things as much in detail as possible, you’ll eventually become able to picture exactly what’s happening.

Make It A Habit

Eventually, your brain will start to think in terms of visualization. You’ll be able to picture yourself doing it and how great it feels. Make it a habit to visualize every day and your brain will start to do this automatically.

If you’re looking for something that will help you get through your social anxiety, stop worrying about what other people think of you. Try switching things around: instead of focusing on the fear, focus on how great it feels when you realize that your anxiety is getting the best of you and how much better it’ll feel when it’s gone. By imagining yourself overcoming your social anxiety, you can work toward making those positive thoughts a reality! I can’t promise that visualization will completely cure your social anxiety, but it’s definitely one of the most effective tools I’ve tried and I hope it helps other people too.

If you need more help with visualization, check out my free visualization checklist.

How To Use Visualization To End Social Anxiety