17 Ways to Visualize Your Highest Self and Start Showing Up as Her

It’s really easy to feel totally stuck in this world. To feel like you’re not living up to your fullest potential.

Maybe you feel like you’re just not your best self. You’re struggling with all the crap that comes along with life.

You’re not alone, and I have some encouragement for you! Your best, highest self is just waiting to be unlocked!

After reading this post, you’ll learn how to connect with and visualize your highest self by implementing one of the practices in this post which will allow you to feel like you’re finally living up to your fullest potential.

This post may contain affiliate links which means I’ll receive a commission if you purchase through my links, at no extra cost to you. Please read full disclosure for more information.

Practices to Visualize Your Highest Self

The whole process of visualizing your highest self can be a little intimidating, especially if you’re new to it. But you can channel, or connect to your best self with any of these simple practices.

1. Work on Goal Setting and Tracking

Visualizing your highest self has a lot to do with investing in your personal development.

One way to grow is to set goals and track your progress toward them. Setting goals is one thing, but the execution is where the magic happens.

You’ll feel closer to your highest self if you’re actively working on your goals! Try out a goal journal!

| Related reading: The 4 Tips You Need to Know to Intentionally Set and Achieve Your Goals

2. Focus on the Long-Term

Stepping into your highest self isn’t an overnight process, as with any other topic within personal development.

Know that it’s a long-term project! Go in knowing that connecting with the best version of yourself doesn’t have a finish line. 

Simply focus on the small steps forward toward your best self. That progress is enough!

3. Try Guided Meditation

You can successfully visualize your highest self by dipping your toes into meditation.

My new year’s resolution for 2022 was to meditate more. I started with 2 minute guided meditations a few times a week, and then slowly increased the length.

Incorporating more stillness and self-reflection into your life is helpful when you’re trying to step into a better version of yourself. And meditation is a super helpful tool to dig a little deeper and begin the process of consistent self-reflection.

Pro tip: To incorporate consistent meditation, try habit stacking and stick the act of meditation onto something you already do consistently.

I meditate right on my workout mat after my workouts!

4. Use Positive Affirmations

These are simple statements that are uplifting and meaningful, that are directed at yourself.

Examples of positive affirmations are:

• I am strong.

• I can do hard things.

• Today, I will try my best.

When I don’t believe in myself, I find it helpful to recite a positive affirmation like a mantra. 

And when you’re working on visualizing your highest self, a big part of growing into that person is believing in yourself! You can work on this by incorporating positive affirmations into your self-talk.

Affirmations are totally free, but if you need some inspo, check out affirmation cards!

5. Stop Criticizing Yourself

There’s no way you can become the best, highest version of yourself if you’re always being so hard on yourself.

I’m willing to bet that you’re quick to criticize yourself, your efforts, your appearance, or your successes (or “lack” of). But probably slow to criticize your best friend, sister, or mom.

Why is that? I challenge you to be as nice to yourself as you are to those you love for just one week.

This kindness and gentleness toward yourself will make it much more feasible to visualize your highest self and become her!

Self-Talk

I’m all about positive self-talk and have already written in depth about it on the blog.

But it’s worth mentioning here because changing your inner dialog to a healthier one is crucial for your journey to embodying your best self!

You’ll get a lot more done, meet more goals, and have an easier time doing it if you’re not so critical of yourself.

6. Be Positive

Being a positive person when things go wrong in your life is actually a big part of visualizing your highest self.

If you actually want to become the best version of yourself, you have to be able to see the world through a positive lens.

How? When you feel negativity coming on, challenge that negativity! 

Say you woke up late and you start slamming things and stomping around to get ready. Notice your actions and make a conscious effort to adjust your behavior.

7. Connect with Nature

It may seem odd, but getting out into nature can play a huge part in you stepping into the best version of yourself.

I find that being outside, putting away my phone, closing my eyes, and breathing in fresh air allows me to really feel what I’m feeling. It allows me to think clearly and reflect.

And reflection is important when it comes to visualizing your highest self. Reflection is where you can notice tendencies, adjust, and feel renewed energy to grow and create new, helpful habits that will serve you well as you strive to improve yourself as a person.

8. Do Things That Bring You Joy

You’ll find this practice in many of my “how to” posts because it’s always relevant!

You can visualize your highest self and become the best version of you only if you make intentional time for activities that you genuinely enjoy!

If you’re always focused on growth and “trimming the fat” of old habits that don’t serve you well, and you forget to leave time for play, you’ll run yourself into the ground.

The best life is one that’s filled with balance! Balance between work and play.

Action Step: Make a list in your phone of activities that you can do that are just plain fun and exciting to you. They don’t have to be productive at all! 

Here’s your reminder that doing these “just-for-fun activities” is NOT a waste of time. It’s a wonderful investment in balance and a step toward your highest self.

9. Practice Mindfulness

Being mindful simply means trying your best to be present. To live in the present moment.

I say “try” because you’ll always be working on it. 

But making an effort to turn your headspace toward the direction of presence is an excellent way to work toward visualizing your highest self.

You’ll be able to become the best version of yourself if you don’t get caught up in thinking about the past or worrying about the future. 

The best, most fulfilling moments in life are the ones where you’re most present in the moment. The ones where you’re fully tuned in to what’s at hand.

Action step: Every time you notice your mind wandering somewhere it “shouldn’t” be or somewhere you don’t want it to go, gently bring your attention back to where it “should” be.

10. Stay Grounded

Staying grounded is similar to practicing mindfulness.

I think the difference is that staying grounded encompasses your actions too.

Staying grounded means staying focused on your goals. 

Sure, it’s absolutely about keeping your emotions level, but it’s also about keeping your actions focused toward growth and not getting sidetracked by the distractions of life.

Action Step: At the start of each week, jot down a few actions you can complete that week that will keep you on track toward what you’re working toward. Sunday nights or Monday mornings over coffee are great for this!

11. Implement Rest, Breaks, and Self-Care

There’s really no way to visualize your highest self and become her if you don’t incorporate rest into your routine.

It’s wonderful to be a go-getter and have lots of drive and motivation and work really hard, but it’s not so wonderful to work yourself into burnout.

I did this when I was in the first few years of growing this blog. I worked long hours every day working on all the things that make a blog successful. I didn’t really give myself any days off! And I eventually started to resent the work I used to love!

You MUST work in time for rest. I give myself “relax nights” and full days off weekly. Do what your life and your schedule can allow, even if it’s just 20 minutes a week of quiet time.

You can also work in little 5-minute breaks throughout your day to stretch your legs, give your eyes and brain a break, and refresh yourself.

| Related Reading: “Nothing time,” and freeing up your calendar for more YOU time

Rest and breaks are only one part. I want to challenge you to do one small act of self-care today. Maybe you keep it going and do something small weekly, or even daily!

Bonus: Self-Care 30-Day Calendar

If you want to try out a super simple, short, small self-care activity every day, try this month-long self-care calendar challenge!

Make sure to check your promotion and junk folders to find it!

12. Implement Boundaries

Putting personal boundaries in place is a seriously effective strategy to ensure you step into the best YOU.

I’ve talked about setting boundaries before, and I believe they are incredibly effective in allowing you the space to grow!

You can set boundaries with yourself:

• I will not have more than two drinks at social events.

• I will wake up at 6:00 AM three days per week to work on xyz.

AND you can set boundaries with others:

• I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t text me about work-related things after work hours.

• Please don’t stop by unannounced.

13. Practice Compassion

Practicing compassion with both yourself and others can be very tricky! This includes being patient, gentle, and kind.

Act compassionately toward yourself and those around you and you’ll feel more encouraged and open to step into the best version of yourself.

You feel better when you’re kinder to others! You feel like you’re doing the right thing, which can create a snowball effect. You’ll find it more natural to be compassionate because it feels so good!

14. Make a Vision Board

This is such a fun way to visualize your higher self! A vision board is simply a physical or digital collage of images and/or words that represent what you want out of life moving forward.

It’s fun and beneficial to make a vision board at the start of a new year, but you can make them any time! And you can make them themed, too! 

You could create a vision board specifically outlining your career goals, or your family or health goals.

They even make kits for creating a vision board:

15. Celebrate Wins and Reflect on Your Past Accomplishments

Just as we talked about setting and tracking goals, it’s JUST as important to celebrate when you accomplish something!

I love celebrating the small wins in my life because it gives me so much motivation to keep working. When I remember to celebrate small wins, I get less caught up in and dragged down by the monotony of working on something.

When you’re trying to visualize your highest self and become her, it’s helpful to not only celebrate small wins along the way but drum up extra motivation by reminiscing about past accomplishments.

It’s encouraging to think back on things you did well and goals you achieved. It’s a reminder that you’re a “higher self” than you were 5 years ago!

16. Let Go of Limiting Beliefs

Beliefs you hold about yourself that are untrue, damaging, or hurtful can absolutely take up residency in your mind and hold you back from making strides toward your personal development.

Action Step: Do your best to limit your negative self-talk. Negative self-talk can lead to negative thoughts becoming beliefs.

17. Step Outside of Yourself- Spend Time with Loved Ones

When it comes to personal development, there’s lots of focus inward. And that makes sense!

But I think that there are many factors in growth. Support from and time spent with loved ones is also part of growing as a person. Think about the value of deepening your relationships.

Not only do you sharpen your communications skills when you spend time with others, you grow in your ability to relate and show compassion.

Time spent with loved ones often reveals other perspectives and new angles. Plus, if you’re spending it with the right people, this time will renew and refresh you so you can visualize your highest self and feel supported to go become her!

What Does It Mean to Visualize Your Highest Self?

I try to give you what you come here for FIRST. So I gave you all the tips up front, how kind of me, right?! 😉

Now I want to chat about what “visualizing your highest self” even means. Let’s put some concrete thought to it.

To visualize your highest self simply means to acknowledge and desire your fullest potential.

Your highest self is simply the best version of yourself. And “best” is relative. You’ll always be working on yourself and growing, as it’s a lifelong process with no real finish line.

Becoming your best self is ongoing. You never really “get there.” But that’s not meant to be discouraging! It’s meant to help you realize you’ll always be growing and improving.

| Related Reading: 6 Personal Development Books that will Totally Change You (in a seriously good way!)

When you visualize your highest self, you are focusing on all the things you can do to grow in various areas of your life (personally, relationally, and in your career and health).

You focus on the ways you can step into a better version of yourself, then you take action to become that better version! It’s not that the current version of you is “bad” or unworthy, though!

But there’s always room to improve and grow as a woman, right?!

Who is Your Highest Self?

Your highest self is your motivator! The idea that you can grow and evolve and change for the better should motivate you to do so!

Your future self, the one who’s taken on challenges, overcome obstacles, and achieved goals is the one cheering you on to keep pushing forward in the present day.

Let the fact that you’ve already grown into an incredible woman (maybe from an insecure preteen or shy young girl) encourage you to keep growing! 

| Related Reading: 7 Tips for Becoming More Independent + 16 Activities to Become a Strong Independent Woman

| Related Reading: How to be a Confident Woman: 6 Killer Ways to Build Confidence

Future you is your cheerleader to motivate you today.

Understanding Your Highest Self

To understand who your higher self is, it’s important to get clear on who you want to be and what you want to become.

(I read a book that helps with discovering who you are and understanding where you want to go in life, and it was SO good!! It’s called “How Are You Really?” by Jenna Kutcher.)

If you don’t know what your goals are, it will be pretty dang hard to work on yourself!

Start by asking yourself (or journaling) questions like:

• Where do I want to be in 5 years?

• What are my goals for specific areas of life such as health, personal, family, career, school, etc.?

• What do I want to feel in the next 6 months? 1 year? (do I want to feel more relaxed, more fulfilled, more joy, etc.)

Get clear on what you want. Write it down in a journal, planner, or vision board. Know what you’re working toward. And then create a plan to get there!

| Related: Create a plan to work toward your goal!

| Related Reading: 34 Best Books on Finding Your Passion so You Can Live Out Your Purpose in Life

How Do You Find Your Highest Self?

You find your highest self by being committed to the practices above.

Becoming your best self is a lifelong process with no definitive finish line.

You find her by actually working on yourself. You find her by changing your bad habits and replacing them with good ones.

You become her by sticking to a healthy routine, taking care of your mind and body, and being honest about your progress toward goals. 

| Related Reading: How to take care of your body

Execution is the name of the game here. Don’t sit around and desire change, getting upset when nothing changes. You need to do more than just want change. You have to create change by using the practices above!

How to Show Up as Your Higher Self?

You start to show up as an elevated version of yourself when you stick with just one of the practices above. Don’t try a bunch at once because you won’t fully stick to them all.

Pick one practice and work really hard at it. Then recognize and outwardly notice the small growth you see. 

How We Lose Our Connection to Our Higher Self

You can feel distant from the best version of yourself when you lose sight of what you want. When distractions from the world creep in, you can forget what the end goal is. You forget to keep growing.

Sometimes, you become complacent in your situation. Maybe your job is not challenging you, but it’s easy and comfortable. Or you feel fine staying in and avoiding social plans because you don’t want to work through your insecurities.

Complacency and distractions pull us away from our desire to level up.

How to Regain Our Connection to Our Higher Self

When you find that you’ve lost your connection to your higher self, you can absolutely get it back!

Not all is lost. You’re bound to go through some peaks and valleys on your journey to visualize your highest self and become her.

Circle back to your desires for your life. Remember your goals. Pull out that journal page where you scribbled down your aspirations. Hang up the vision board that fell off the wall and behind your dresser.

Accept that your progress has been stunted or stalled and move ON! You’re normal and it’s okay.

Remember why you started.

Benefits of Being Connected to Your Higher Self

Ever heard the phrase, “in the groove” or something along those lines?

Have you ever experienced the feeling of seamlessly and flawlessly working on something? It feels so right, the time doesn’t feel like it’s passing, and it’s coming along so easily?

That’s why you should want to be connected to your higher self. When you are, your efforts and goals are aligned.

Journal Prompts to Help You Visualize Your Highest Self

Save this post for later so you can come back to these journal prompts or grab your journal now!

• Who do I want to become? Describe her in detail. How does she dress, what’s her routine, where does she live, what does a typical day look like for her?
• Who do I greatly admire? What specifically do you admire about them?
• What do I need to work on to be a better version of myself?
• Who am I right now and who will I be in 2 years if I keep everything as is. Who will I be in 2 years if I make some big changes soon?

Highest Self Quotes

• “Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.” – Carl Jung
• “The Higher Self is whispering to you softly in the silence between your thoughts.” – Deepak Chopra
• “Find your vision, and let it guide you in all that you do. If you lack vision, look inside yourself. Draw on your natural gifts and desires.” – John C. Maxwell
• “If you need to convince others that you’re happy, then you have not found real Joy. If you need to impress others with material objects, then you do not understand true Wealth. If you need to correct others, then you have not looked in the mirror. If you need to put others down, you have not connected to your Higher Self. Know Yourself. Be Honest with Yourself. Don’t be a teacher or judge, be an… Example.” – Eric Allen

Confidence and Motivational Quotes

• “Show up messy. Show up imperfect. But just keep showing up.” – Jenna Kutcher
• “I have to realize that every time I begin to lose confidence, it’s NOT because I am insecure but because I simply FEEL insecure. And there’s a difference.” – Jordan Lee Dooley
• “There are no mistakes if you take failure as feedback.” – Megan Batoon
• “Even if you don’t have time to do the ‘full’ thing (a long workout, cleaning your whole bedroom, etc.), just do what you can right here, right now. It doesn’t have to be ‘perfect’ to count.” – Kate Eskuri
• “Believe in yourself! Have faith in your abilities! Without a humble but reasonable confidence in your own powers, you cannot be successful or happy.” – Norman Vincent Peale
• “Believe you can and you’re halfway there.” – Theodore Roosevelt
•  “Experience tells you what to do; confidence allows you to do it.” – Stan Smith
• “Knowing how to be solitary is central to the art of loving. When we can be alone, we can be with others without using them as a means of escape.” – Bell Hooks
• “Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.” – John Wooden
• “Why should I care what other people think of me? I am who I am. And who I wanna be.” –Avril Lavigne

FAQ

Who said “visualize your highest self and start showing up as her”?

“Visualize your highest self, then start showing up like her or him.” – Anita Quansah London

How do you visualize the best version of yourself?

There is no one-size-fits-all answer.

Honestly, visualizing feels a little “woo woo” sometimes. I’m kind of new to it, and have only been introduced to it a few years ago.

I lead my girls through visualization practices at Jump into Joy, and they love it.

You can visualize on your own, or go through a guided one on YouTube.

Visualizing simply means closing your eyes, relaxing, and picturing yourself actually doing a certain thing.

To visualize your highest self could mean intentionally practicing visualization where you relax, close your eyes, and spend time there. 

Or visualizing your highest self could simply mean seeing where you want your future to go and working toward it. 

There’s really no wrong way!

Who coined the term “higher self”?

I’ve taken a little bit of a different approach to the meaning of “higher self” in this post. I focus less on the traditional roots from Sanskrit (the language of India and Hinduism) and more on what your higher self means for young women in today’s world.

If you’re looking for the traditional roots, read this: Yogapedia’s article on the Higher Self

Let’s Bring it Home

The goal here was for you to learn how to connect with and visualize your highest self. You can do that by implementing one of the practices at the top. 

Trying out one or a few of these tips will allow you to feel like you’re finally living up to your fullest potential.

Let me know in the comments which practices you’ll try out first!

Related Reading:

19 Easy Ways to be More Patient With Yourself

6 Personal Development Books that will Totally Change You (in a seriously good way!)

How to be a Confident Woman: 6 Killer Ways to Build Confidence