When you’re creating something brand new, like a product, a marketing strategy, or a team structure, don’t look to the past for evidence that you’ll succeed.

You won’t find evidence if it’s new for you.

But neuroscience can help.

fMRI scans show the same areas of the brain light up when you remember the past or imagine the future.

Your brain can’t tell the difference between memory and imagination.

There are two ways to use this:

1. Create Evidence. Visualize the outcome you want by creating movies in your mind and pulling the future to you in the present. Olympic teams and professional athletes use visualization techniques because they work. Infuse your images with positive emotions – feel in the present the way you want to feel in the future. Confident. Focused. Happy. Fulfilled.

The resulting imprint in your brain is just as powerful as evidence from the past and a lot more useful since the only limit is your imagination.

2. Rewrite Memories. We tend to remember things that went wrong in the past so that we can avoid them in the future. This “proof” from the past limits what we believe is possible. Change the script. Each time you access a negative memory, you have the opportunity to edit it to rewrite the ending and/or change the meaning. To scratch the record.

Instead of remembering an event as a failure, amplify the parts that went well, appreciate the effort, and notice what you learned. See yourself feeling clear and focused about what to do next.

The next time you start something new, focus your mind first.

Create the future by using visualization and interpret the past in ways that serve you.