10 ways to harness the power of visualisation

1. Think postive
Shana says: "Your subconscious is working 24 hours a day. Like a marinade on chicken, if you go to sleep with negative thoughts, the next day will taste bitter."

Visualise it: Shana advises thinking positively before going to sleep and hitting the snooze button when you wake up, to give yourself a few moments to visualise how you want your day to go.

2. Achieve your goals
Shana says: "You often hear people say things like, ‘I'd love to live in Bali', or, ‘I'd love to start my own company'. These dreams are not unrealistic, they are just unrealistic to the person saying them."

Visualise it: Make your pipedream a reality by thinking about how you will achieve it and how it will feel when you do. Shana says, "Visualise what you can see, hear, taste and smell. Make it real. If you don't feel it, you will never realise your goal."

3. Overcome anxiety
Shana says: "Anxious about a contract signing or meeting a friend? In your mind you've created an outcome based on its success, which attaches fear to the thought of failing, which in turn creates anxiety and can stop you performing at your best."

Visualise it: You can't be anxious about the past, so imagine the event and the perfect outcome, then picture yourself 15 minutes afterwards, to trick your subconscious into thinking its already done.

4. Calm your children
Shana says: "Have you ever noticed that when you're stressed your children are at their most taxing?"

Visualise it: "When you are aware of your own state you have the power to change it. If you are in a panic, your children will feed off that energy. Perceive excitement and your children will reflect it. Project love and understanding and enjoy love and understanding in return."

5. Convert action to feeling
Shana says: "Changing your physiology can change your mental state."

Visualise it: Just standing up straight will make you feel stronger, says Shana, but having a "power move" - such as punching the air (in private), or giving a friend a high five - can be motivating.

6. Get on at work
Shana says: "If you clash with someone in the workplace, toughening up to beat them will only result in you feeling out of control and disloyal to your own values."

Visualise it: Bullies are often not as confident as they appear - ask yourself what emotional need is motivating your colleague's behaviour, and imagine how that feels. Shana says, "By projecting positivity, you will change their state of insecurity."

7. Change your belief systems
Shana says: "We have restricting thoughts about ourselves installed in us by others. Some may not be valid, but are still stopping you from achieving great things".

Visualise it: Audit your limiting beliefs by asking yourself what you want. Then listen out for your limiting beliefs, for example, ‘Don't be silly, you can't run your own business.' "Delete this thought," says Shana. "If you believe it, you can achieve it."

8. Overcome failure
Shana says: "If you see failure as something you can never do again, rather than a chance to learn and grow, you've already failed on a much grander scale."

Visualise it: If you come up against stumbling blocks en route to your goal, you should assess where and why it went wrong, according to Shana. Then use your internal sat nav to find a new route that avoids the pitfall. Stumbling blocks are there to teach you something.

9. Make the right choices
Shana says: "How many times do you have a gut feeling that turns out to be true? We need to trust that our intuition will make the right decision on our behalf."

Visualise it: When you are unsure about a decision, play it out, says Shana. "Fast forward by one month, six months... Where are you? Who are you? If it doesn't feel right, ask yourself why."

10. Control your destiny
Shana says: "If someone else was to live your life for a week, they would live it differently. How you live it is down to you."

Visualise it: Shana advises thinking about your life as a book - you have the whole story up until this point, so what happens next? She says, "Is your character the villain of the story? The victim of the piece? The inspiration? What legacy does she leave? Live your life without fear and without limiting beliefs. Happiness, achievement and inner peace await you in the final chapter."

Sign up for Shana's ‘It's All About You' workshop for women later this month www.lifeeffectivecoaching.ae