Visualization can feel a bit “out there,” but it’s a secret weapon used by top athletes like Michael Phelps and LeBron James to focus on their future goals. In this episode, Marissa Hyatt leads a guided visualization exercise designed to help you reconnect with your dreams, clarify your goals, and step into the future you’ve been waiting for. Whether you’re new to visualization or already a fan, this is your moment to dream big for 2025.
Key Takeaways
- Visualization Works: Top performers use it to create the future they want.
- Your Focus Shapes Your Path: Life follows the direction of your thoughts—so focus on what you do want.
- Start Small: Begin by visualizing the week ahead, then dream bigger for the year to come.
- Gratitude Anchors Growth: Ground yourself in thankfulness to fuel your forward momentum.
Resources
Watch on YouTube at: https://youtu.be/8CmoOsSlNvw
This episode was produced by Sarah Vorhees Wendel of VW Sound
Creators & Guests
Host
Ken Freire
From the Big Apple to Middle Tennessee, Ken Freire is the Director of Memberships at Full Focus and the co-host of the Focus on This podcast. Ken has been in ministry for 15 years. He has always been passionate about leading and developing individuals to see their God-given potential and purpose in life. He loves speaking, coaching, and scaling companies. He’s been married for 12 years and is the father of four energetic little kids. In his spare time, he loves to read books on theology, leadership, and spiritual development. He also loves Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
Host
Marissa Hyatt
Born and raised south of Nashville, Marissa is the Chief Marketing Officer at Full Focus. She is super passionate about helping people get outside their comfort zones, find their own power, and achieve their dreams. In her free time, she enjoys cooking for friends, baking sourdough bread, and hiking. She geeks out on natural wellness, skincare, personal growth, gardening, and traveling.
What is Focus on This?
Start loving Mondays! Marissa & Ken give you practical tips and proven strategies for increasing your focus so you can be more productive than ever before. Based on the proven Full Focus method used in the Full Focus Planner™, they'll help you banish distractions and get the right stuff done so you can start loving Mondays again. They also speak with guests and listeners who share their own productivity tips to help you make the most of every day. It's the most productive podcast on the internet!
[00:00:00] Well, we have a little bit of a different episode today for you guys. This is something that we've never done on the show before, but I thought it would be really a great time of year to do this. So rather than a typical episode where I'm walking, you know, through some content with Ken, we're actually today going to be walking through a guided visualization exercise.
[00:00:25] Now, before I lose you, if you're driving, if you are listening to this while cleaning your house or on a walk or anything where you're not in a position to sit quiet with your eyes closed, don't worry. It's not that kind of a visualization. You can do this no matter what you're doing right now. If you are in a position to sit down and be quiet, great, but it's not a requirement to listen to this episode.
[00:00:49] Trust me. You're going to get something out of it, even if it isn't sitting down and being quiet. So we're going to actually focus on the. This next year and helping you [00:01:00] start to dream and visualize what you want out of the coming year
[00:01:09] Welcome to another episode of focus on this the most productive podcast on the internet so you can banish distractions Get the right stuff done and finally start loving mondays I'm your host marissa hyatt and you'll notice again that this week. I am solo And I am going to be guiding you guys through an incredible visualization for dreaming bigger for the next year.
[00:01:34] When we created our life focus retreat, which is where we help you create a plan for your next 10 years of your life for the next decade, we help you dream. We help you create a vision for what that can look like. One of the things that I really wanted to incorporate into that experience were guided visualization exercises.
[00:01:53] This has been such a powerful tool for me as I have dreamed about the future, as I've tried to [00:02:00] figure out what kind of goals I want, as I've tried to release negative or habits that I want to just be done with, or even limiting beliefs. I have found that guided visualizations, which is similar to like a guided meditation, if you've done anything like that, But it's just where you have somebody who helps you walk through, get you in a place of relaxation and a place of visualization.
[00:02:24] They have been such a powerful tool in my toolkit. And so we decided to incorporate them into our life focus retreats earlier this year. And based on that feedback, people had said that that was some of their favorite part of those retreats. And so I thought, why not bring it to you guys here on focus on this?
[00:02:43] I'm sure that you have things that you're starting to think about as you start dreaming for the future. And so I thought this would be a fun way for us together to Really get you set up for the new year.[00:03:00]
[00:03:06] No matter where you are or what you're doing I just want to invite you to start noticing The space that you're in. So this could be the room that you're sitting, if you're driving, the car that you're driving, if you're walking, maybe it's where you're walking if you're in a park or on a street. Just kind of looking around and noticing what you see.
[00:03:28] You can notice what colors you see, what materials you see, and just start to notice. You can start to take inventory. So like I said, what colors, what kind of materials. What noises do you hear? Do you hear cars? Birds chirping? Maybe the hum of your air conditioning or your car? Noticing what you smell.[00:04:00]
[00:04:00] Just noticing. Just taking inventory. And maybe noticing the temperature. In the room or the space that you're in if you're outside and you feel the sun On your skin or against your clothes feeling that that temperature now if you're in a space where you can close your eyes This is a great time to go ahead and do that Just getting in a comfortable position if you're in your car kind of situate yourself to where you feel comfortable Definitely do not close your eyes if that's you Or if you're walking, just feeling into your body, just grounding, just noticing your body.
[00:04:46] Now, I want you to go ahead and take a deep breath in, inhaling and exhaling,[00:05:00]
[00:05:00] and as you It's just really inhaling that deeply all the way down to your belly. And when you get to the top, just hold it, hold it. And you can sip in a little bit more air and a more and hold it. And when you're ready, just sigh it out.
[00:05:26] Let's do that one more time. So we're going to inhale through our nose. Inhaling deep into our belly, deep into your belly, filling your lungs, expanding and holding that at the top, just for a few seconds, feeling that oxygen, and when you feel ready, you can exhale through your mouth and with a deep breath, deep sigh.
[00:05:54] Just release it, just let it go. [00:06:00] And as you start to bring your awareness to this present moment, I just want you to take inventory of how you feel, what kind of day you've had, just grounding into this moment, arriving here, feeling where you are and who you are today. In this space,
[00:06:27] just noticing.
[00:06:31] And as we move into visualizing our future, we're going to start small. So I just want you to think about this next week, this week ahead, and visualizing what you have, your to do items, the things on your calendar, the things that you're looking forward to, and just kind of moving through this week, [00:07:00] thinking about how you want to feel this week.
[00:07:02] This week, if there's any things that you want to take time for, that you want to prioritize,
[00:07:12] maybe some people that you want to connect with and really just moving through this week day by day by day. And as we go through the week, now we're going a little farther out and a little farther out. We're in the new year, moving through the months, January, February, March, April, May, into the summer, June, July, August.
[00:07:42] Just back into the rhythm, September, October to the holidays, November, December, and bring yourself all the way to December 31st, 2025, arriving at that date [00:08:00] one year from now. from now and just arrive here. Let's go ahead and take another deep breath
[00:08:10] releasing. We are one year into the future.
[00:08:18] Now asking yourself, what do I want to be true about my life today? One year in the future, December 31st. What do you want to be true about your life? What do you want to be able to say when you're looking at your friends and at your family about the year that you just had,
[00:08:44] really allowing yourself to dream here. Often we get so caught up in the how of how we're going to make it all happen. And in this moment, just give yourself permission to [00:09:00] dream. To release. Any of the how, any of those beliefs that may be creeping up that say this year isn't any different. You can't do it.
[00:09:12] Just releasing, noticing and releasing, noticing and releasing.
[00:09:25] And as feelings may come up and thoughts come up, just noticing and saying thank you and releasing those. And coming back to December 31st, 2025, what do you want to be true? What do you want to be true about your life? What do you want to be true about how you showed up this year, about [00:10:00] the kind of person that you are now that you've experienced the last 12 months of your life?
[00:10:10] What do you want to be true?
[00:10:17] And just giving your brain, your heart, yourself space to dream.
[00:10:30] And if you're kind of struggling to think about what you want to be true, that's okay. That's normal. That's okay. You don't have to force this. We can start to bring to mind the various domains of our life.
[00:10:47] So we can start to think through things like our money. What do you want to be true financially for you today, a year in the future? [00:11:00] What kind of financial state do you want to be in? How much money do you want to have in the bank? How much money do you want invested? What kind of income do you want to be earning?
[00:11:16] How do you want to be giving financially?
[00:11:23] Maybe calling to mind your work life, your career.
[00:11:31] What do you want to be true about your work a year from now in the future? What do you want to be true?
[00:11:43] How do you want to feel every day that you show up to work? What kind of purpose do you want to feel about the type of work that you do?
[00:11:55] What kind of mindset do you want to bring into your day each day? [00:12:00] Maybe there are some things that you want to accomplish a promotion Or something specific that you're looking to achieve this year. What do you want to be true about your work? When it comes to your body, how do you want to feel today, a year in the future in your body?
[00:12:25] Really feeling a sense of health and vitality, a sense of confidence. What kind of habits do you have now? What kind of activities are you participating in? How are you treating your body? How are you seeing your body? What kind of love do you have towards your body? What kind of gratitude do you have towards your body?
[00:12:52] And before we move on, no matter where you are, no matter what you're doing, I want to invite you to place your hand over your heart [00:13:00] and have a moment of gratitude for your body. Your body has been blessed. Brought you all the way here, all the way into the future. Through these past 12 months, it's carried you, it's helped you live and just have a moment and just say quietly or out loud.
[00:13:21] Thank you, body. Thank you, body. Thank you, body. As you feel deep into your heart, thinking about the relationships that you have in your life, your family. Your romantic relationship, your community. What do you want to be true within all of these relationships? Maybe thinking about your love life, whether you're single or married or somewhere in between.[00:14:00]
[00:14:00] What do you want to be true about your love life a year from now? What do you want to be true about your family life a year from now? Whether you have kids or not, siblings or not, maybe even a chosen family. What is true for you today? A year in the future in your community. How are you showing up in your community?
[00:14:28] Maybe where is your community? Who is your community
[00:14:39] now moving through to your hobbies? What kind of hobbies do you have?
[00:14:48] Maybe you tried some new things this year. You got over that sense of imposter syndrome and just allowed yourself [00:15:00] to play, allowed yourself to try something new.
[00:15:07] Now moving to your mind, how did you grow this year? What knowledge did you gain? And lastly, your spirit. How are you spiritually connected now? A year in the future, December 31st, 2025, how are you spiritually connected? Are you part of a spiritual community? Do you have spiritual practices? Do you have a deeper sense of purpose?
[00:15:39] As you take inventory of all of these areas of your life, I want you to take another deep breath, just inhaling really deep through your nostrils, All the way through your lungs, your chest, all the way down to your belly, [00:16:00] and then releasing. You may be having some emotions come up or some thoughts, some beliefs.
[00:16:07] Maybe you feel a little bit distracted, just arriving back in this moment, just coming back to the breath, coming back to the moment
[00:16:18] and just thinking where you are now on December 31st, looking back at the last 12 months, full of gratitude, full of gratitude for yourself and For how you showed up for how you prioritized yourself this year, that truly this is and has been your best year ever. And I want you to visualize that you are with some of your closest friends and family members, the people in your life who you feel deeply supported by and just visualize yourself saying, Celebrating with them, [00:17:00] maybe clinking some glasses or listening to music, having conversation, laughing, just celebrating the success, the abundance that you've had this year.
[00:17:21] Just really thinking through all that came to be, all that came to fruition in 2025. What an amazing year it's been. What an amazing year it's been. How lucky you are. To have lived it, to have been part of the last 12 months.
[00:17:52] Now, as you rewind the clock all the way back, all through those months, all the way back, all the way back, all the way back to the [00:18:00] present moment, to today, to whenever you're listening to this episode, to today, right now, in this moment, and if you're closing your eyes or whether you're softly gazing in front of you, just having a moment of quiet gratitude for this version of you in this present moment, who has the courage to dream, who has the courage to dream for a bigger, brighter, more abundant future for yourself in the current reality you're in
[00:18:38] now, no matter what is happening in your life, no matter what your circumstances are, where you are. Think of three things that you're grateful for in this moment. It could be the fact that you have clothes on your body. It could be that you have [00:19:00] work that you care about, maybe a hot meal, maybe just hearing the birds chirping outside.
[00:19:09] It can be small or big, but just really feeling Grateful feeling that deep sense of gratitude Feeling that in your heart center as deep as you can and as you're thinking about the things that you feel grateful for Notice this feeling in your body
[00:19:36] and I want you to imagine the color yellow that this color is It's the color of gratitude, gratefulness, and notice that pouring out of your heart and just wrapping its arms around you, radiating from the inside [00:20:00] out, all the way up to your mind, to your brain. lubricating your entire brain with this golden glow all the way down through your heart, through your lungs, down to your belly, all the way down your legs, to your feet, just enveloping you with gratitude.
[00:20:28] With joy, with possibility
[00:20:34] and knowing that this feeling of gratefulness is always available to you whenever life feels challenging or discouraging. You can always come back to this golden light radiating from your heart, full of gratefulness for the life that you get to live.[00:21:00]
[00:21:00] Now, as you think about the year ahead, the next 12 months, bring to mind some of what you visualized and just remind yourself. All of these things are possible. If you really can dream it, you can achieve it. It is all inside of you. All the resources you need are right inside of you.
[00:21:30] Now, as you think about the next year,
[00:21:36] bring back to mind that color yellow, that sense of gratitude, and just envelop Wrap the entire year with that sense of gratitude.
[00:21:50] You get to live this one life. You get to decide how the next 12 months unfold for you. [00:22:00] Nobody else gets to decide that for you. It's up to you.
[00:22:09] Now, before we wrap up, I want to ask you, what are three things that you can do today To move towards that future. What are three things that you can do today to move towards that future that future that you've created?
[00:22:30] Just bring to mind what those three things might be
[00:22:38] Really thinking through what are three things that can be really really small Or maybe a little bit bigger. What are three things you can do today to move towards that future?[00:23:00]
[00:23:14] Now, when you have those three things in mind, let's go ahead and take one last deep breath. And this time I want you to take the deepest breath that you've taken all day. So as you inhale, I want you to scoop as much air as much oxygen as possible all the way down, deep, deep, deep in your belly. Hold it, hold it, hold it, hold it, sip in a little bit more air and a little bit more.
[00:23:42] And when you're ready, sigh it out, sigh it out, release, release, release.
[00:23:54] And when you feel ready, if you're closing your eyes, I want to invite you to open your eyes now. When you [00:24:00] feel ready, just softly.
[00:24:15] And before we wrap up, just know everything that you just dreamed, that you just saw for your future. That is possible. That is available to you. Life is offering that to you. You are able to create the life, the next 12 months that you want, all those things that you thought are available to you, you have every single thing that you need deep inside of you to make that happen.
[00:24:49] And I cannot wait for you to experience these next 12 months to live this big life that's inside of you and get all the way to December [00:25:00] 31st, 2025, full of gratitude, celebrating with the people that you love. What an incredible year it's been. Hopefully that is. Helpful and powerful process for you. I want to invite you to revisit this.
[00:25:17] Anytime that you feel you need to dream a little bit bigger, maybe you feel stuck as you're creating your goals for 2025, or you're just feeling a little bit uninspired and want you to come back to this, revisit this.
[00:25:35] And if you haven't yet, I want to encourage you and invite you to your best year ever live. This is our two day virtual live event that is happening January 3rd and 4th. It is all online. So no matter what part of the world you are joining us from, you can join. You don't have to travel to get there. And [00:26:00] this is our two day goal achievement goal setting event.
[00:26:04] This is the two most important days with yourself out of next year. This will change the trajectory of your next 12 months. You'll be able to walk away from this event, not only having put to bed 2024, The ups, the downs, the beliefs that you've experienced, you'll be able to put those to bed. You'll be able to extract the things that you need to, the, the learnings, the lessons that you learned this year, and then you'll be able to really dream again for 2025.
[00:26:37] We'll have visualization exercises similar to this. You'll walk away with a clear set of goals for yourself for the next 12 months. And better than that, you'll walk away with a plan to actually achieve them. I would love for you to join us at that event. It's going to be fantastic and I am so excited about it.[00:27:00]
[00:27:00] And you can find out more at fullfocus. co slash best year ever. And I hope to see you in January.
[00:27:14] Thanks for joining us on focus on this. This is the most productive podcast on the internet. So please share it with your friends. And be sure to join us in the Full Focus Cleaner community on Facebook so you can benefit from the creativity and encouragement of people chasing big goals and dreaming big, just like you.
[00:27:34] Now, we will not be here next week because of the holidays, but we'll be with you the week after. So until then, stay focused.