What is visualisation and how can you use it to elevate your career as a DJ/producer?
You’ve probably already heard the concept of visualisation whilst scrolling through motivational Instagram reels or in online conversations with top mindset coaches and entrepreneurs. But what actually is visualisation and what can it do for your career in electronic music as a DJ/producer?
I’m so glad you asked! Because, honestly, it can take your music production or DJing career to the next level.
What is visualisation?
In dictionary terms, the basic meaning of visualisation is ‘to form a mental image.’ However, there’s a little more to the ACT of visualisation than that.
The act of visualisation is to create an imagined vision in your mind of a specific goal, or a dream existence as if it were happening. As if you as your future self are inhabiting that moment.
For example, let’s say you’re a House music producer. You collaborated with one of your favourite vocalists and together released a brand new soulful house tune at the beginning of summer. The track blew up. It became the song of the summer after being played by legendary names in dance music such as Roger Sanchez and Louis Vega. Now, you’re dressed in your best outfit, ready to head on stage and accept an award at the DJ Awards for ‘Best Newcomer’ in Ibiza surrounded by industry professionals and friends.
That’s a visual that we’d all love to live!
Why is visualisation so powerful?
There is scientific evidence that shows when you create a mental image of performing an outcome, the same parts of your brain that engage when you physically perform the activity are stimulated. To the brain, the mental image is just as significant as the real life interaction. It doesn’t see the difference. Crazy, right?
“If my mind can conceive it and my heart can believe it – then I can achieve it.”
How will visualisation help me as a DJ/producer?
So, now for the fun part. How can visualisation help you as a DJ/producer to level up your career in the dance music industry and reach your desired goals?
Increased motivation to set and take action on your goals. By repeatedly living and inhabiting the goals that you want to achieve in as much detail as possible. From the feelings of pride around a successful release, or the excitement of a headline festival slot. You are reminding your subconscious of your WHY as a DJ/producer. Therefore, you become more motivated and focussed on reaching your goal because it feels within reach and in alignment with your intrinsic values.
Better understand what’s required to reach your goals and/or the type of person you want to show up as. Once you’ve built the internal buzz for reaching your goal you can start to work backwards and ask yourself questions such as:
‘What do I need to do in order to achieve this goal?’
‘The person collecting that award, how are they acting? What personal skills and characteristics are showing up?’
From there, you can start to break down the action steps in order to take you from where you are now to where you want to be. That House music producer that you envision at the award ceremony, what did they need to do and overcome to get to that point?
They had to start networking to meet the right people to listen to their music and to collaborate with. They had to overcome procrastination and accept the feelings of ‘failure’ in order to identify their weaknesses in finished tracks so that they could improve. They had to spend their time wisely and take care of their mental and physical wellbeing to help them show up as the best version of themselves.
Is this how you are showing up right now, or do you need to do some internal work?
Can decrease stress. Visualising an outcome or an end goal with a deep self-belief of success can bring out an undeniable sense of faith within yourself. A comforting ability to see the bigger picture during times of stress and anxiety because you have built such a strong and aligned faith that everything will be okay and you will receive what is yours in the end. It can also help reduce pre-event anxiety or nerves by essentially allowing you a space to have a ‘practice run’ of a live DJ set or an artist interview.
I’ve got to try this out! What are the best ways to practice visualisation to help elevate my dance music career?
Like any mindstyle work, everyone will find a different way that suits them. Here are a few ways to get started and find what works for you.
Meditation. Combining meditation with visualisation is a great way to really get in touch with your senses and the specifics of what it feels and looks like to reach your dance music career goals. Either self-lead or using audio guided meditations, you can truly live your deepest desires through your inner eye. Connecting with your subconscious in such a way embellishes it with the greater goals you are striving for so that you can show up and make decisions in a way that aligns with this.
Create a vision board. So many people swear by vision boards both in their personal lives and professionally. It’s something that I use too! You collect images and words that create a collage of what you would like your life to look like into one board. Perhaps you’re a techno DJ and you include images of dream festivals that you’d love to play one day, labels that you’d like to release with, and maybe some places that you’d like to visit with financial freedom. Having this board set as your laptop wallpaper or printed out and hung in your studio space is a visual reminder to your brain of what you are striving for and what is going to become.
Write to your future self. Have you heard of the famous Jim Carrey story? As a young man he wrote himself a check for 10 million dollars for ‘acting services rendered’ and dated it for 10 years in the future. With the full belief that he would achieve this, he carried it around in his wallet and when 1995 came around, he had landed a part in the film Dumb and Dumber with a nice fee of...you guessed it...10 million dollars!
If you have a financial goal in dance music then maybe this too is something that you can apply. Or, for goals in general. Write a letter to your future self telling them how proud you are of all that they have achieved and date it for when you should open it. By putting pen to paper you make your visions tangible so that your mind has even greater attachment and belief in the final outcome. Even if it’s just a little scrap of paper in your wallet!
I hope you feel empowered to really start visualising and believing in yourself as a creative in the electronic music industry. If you have any questions on visualisation or an example of a time that you successfully manifested a visual image into real life, then we’d love to hear about it and you might just help to inspire your fellow DJ/producer friends! Share in the comments below!