Future pacing is a form of mental visualization that helps link positive changes or resourceful states to upcoming situations or specific events, such as a sports performance or a challenging conversation.
Typically, this technique is applied at the end of an NLP session to make sure the improvements made during the process transfer effectively into real-life scenarios. It’s often easier to demonstrate resourceful behavior when there’s no immediate pressure or threat, so future pacing helps test whether those changes will hold up when they really count.
The method involves the NLP concepts of association versus dissociation and anchoring. By mentally rehearsing and vividly imagining situations where you want your new resource or behavior to emerge, you can check if the desired response comes naturally.
For example, picture yourself coming home to find disorder around the house—does your newfound calm and patience activate automatically? What thoughts run through your mind? How do you breathe? How do you physically feel?
If you are guiding someone else through this process, observe carefully: Are they calm and patient in their expression? How is their posture and breathing? Is their voice relaxed or tense? Compare this with how they reacted previously.
Testing Changes with Future Pacing
- Identify four future scenarios that would typically trigger the old, unhelpful behavior (for example: a messy living room, an upsetting phone call from a teacher, a disappointing interaction with a colleague).
- Mentally step into the first scenario. Engage all your senses—see, hear, feel (physically), smell, and even taste the environment as if you are actually there, experiencing it from your own perspective (associated state).
- Notice if your new resourceful response is present. Are you reacting in the way you want?
- Decide if any adjustments or refinements are needed to improve your response.
- Repeat this process for the remaining three scenarios.
- Finally, return your focus to the present moment and picture yourself from an outside perspective (dissociated) living in the future, fully embodying these positive changes.
Anchoring Resources to Specific Contexts
A similar approach can be used not just to test changes but to actively anchor helpful states to real-life cues.
- Begin by setting a resource anchor through NLP anchoring methods or by eliciting a desired state.
- Choose four future situations where you want this resource available—examples might include a job interview, an upcoming presentation, or asking someone out.
- While activating your resource anchor, imagine yourself entering the first scenario. Use all your senses to experience it vividly and from your own viewpoint.
- Visualize yourself responding perfectly, demonstrating the state or behavior you desire.
- Reflect on whether you need to strengthen the anchor or try a different one—patterns like the Circle of Excellence can help enhance this process.
- Repeat the same steps with the other three situations.
The more vividly and realistically you can immerse yourself in the imagined situations and the more strongly you can access your resource state, the more effective this technique will be.