Often used in personal development, the magic wand is a powerful tool against fears and negative beliefs: it relies on visualization positive of an ideal situation. Life coaches readily use this exercise to ward off rumination about failures and worries.
The magic wand creates an anchor that allows you to find meaning, serenity and build the foundations of a better future. For what ? Because when we start dreaming, we end up saying that we might be able to realize part of the dream.
A magic wand for a better world
The magic wand consists of imagining the world of your dreams, the most wonderful possible future for the planet and its inhabitants? It’s a powerful positive energy to move the world forward!
This little reflection exercise allows you to find meaning, a direction in life that will broaden your horizons. It involves focusing on yourself, your life and even the world around you. It allows you to dream of possible avenues of evolution and to think about the paths that attract you.
This writing exercise allows you to exercise your imagination and creativity to find new ideas and identify opportunities.
Start by thinking about your own little world, which includes your place of residence, your neighborhood, your city, your region… Imagine that a good fairy entrusts you with her magic wand to transform everything you want in your world:
- What exactly would you like to change and why? Drop your magic wand, grab your pen and describe your ideal world…
- Now think about what it would take to transform the world like that. And above all, can you think of something you could do to move towards this change?
- If so, explain what you would do. If not, explain why this is not possible.
Free your imagination to find meaning
The goal of the exercise is to completely free your imagination, without barriers or constraints.
Your style of expression does not matter, nor do your possible spelling and grammar errors. You can write everything, as if there were no financial constraints… It’s a game: you dream of a better world and an ideal environment.
You understood me well, what matters is your vision of things. Thanks to it, you have the possibility of more easily considering what place you wish to occupy in this ideal world and what roles you could play to do your part in its construction.
For some lucky people, this vision of the ideal world can reveal a vocation, even a reason for being. Your reason for being is your main source of meaning and motivation when you get up in the morning. It is she who can guide your choices and your goals in life. It is also what can influence your behavior and create meaning on a daily basis in your life or work.
Meaning is a major component of well-being and one of the six pillars of PERMA-V model defined by Martin Seligman, the father of positive psychology.
The magic wand in the professional environment
You can also use the magic wand in a professional environment by bringing together employees around a snack, each equipped with a notepad and a pen. We then ask the audience: “If you had a magic wand, what would be the company (or the office or the shop or the factory) of your dreams? How would your working day be organized? What would change in terms of the daily tools you use, the premises, the decoration, the equipment, the communication, the teamwork, the management, the internal functioning of the company?
Research in positive psychology shows that people who have succeeded in giving meaning to their personal or professional activities are both more optimistic and more satisfied with their existence. They are happier!
And it works at any age: when they have found meaning in their lives, students are more interested in their studies and submit better quality homework. It even seems that the quest for meaning guarantees better health and greater longevity…
Unfortunately, this only concerns a third of young adults between 18 and 30 years old. Giving meaning to your life remains an exception. An all the more motivating reason to take part in this little exercise.
Rather than focusing on the hobbies or passions of an individual, the magic wand starts from the world or from an environment much larger than oneself (the city, the neighborhood, the company, etc.). It invites us to think about problems that need practical solutions. All these problems necessarily have a social or collective dimension which feeds and increases this notion of meaning.
