Success Starts in the Mind’s Eye

“our minds are wired to move toward the images we hold most vividly”

Parashat Haazinu is unique. Instead of prose or law, Moshe delivers a shirah, a song that paints vivid imagery of HaShem’s relationship with Israel. The Torah says Moshe was at the very end of his journey; he would not cross into the Land of Israel. Yet, before his final blessing, he chooses to sing.

“May my teaching drop like rain, my words descend like dew, like showers on the grass, like abundant rain on the herb” (Devarim 32:2).

Parashat Haazinu is Moshe’s farewell song, filled with poetry, and vision. As Moshe stands on the edge of his life’s journey, he doesn’t just look backward at Israel’s past; he projects forward, painting a picture of their potential future, both the heights of success and the pitfalls of failure.

A song is not just words, it is sound, rhythm, and vision. It awakens the imagination. Haazinu moves between metaphors of soaring eagles, nourishing rain, and steadfast rocks. Moshe doesn’t just tell the people what will happen; he shows them in pictures and images.

This is not simply poetic language, it’s a visualization exercise. Moshe compares Torah to life-giving rain, asking the people to see themselves as fertile soil, capable of receiving nourishment and growing into their fullest potential. Success, in this vision, begins with how we picture ourselves.

This is the secret and power of visualization.

Modern psychology teaches that when we visualize success, we activate the same parts of the brain as when we actually perform. Athletes practice this by imagining the perfect swing or shot. Leaders envision future victories before they occur. Visualization programs the mind and heart for growth. Our minds are wired to move toward the images we hold most vividly.

Moshe, standing on the threshold of death, understood this. In Haazinu, he lays out the vision  in vivid pictures through song and imagery. He envisions Israel soaring like an eagle, nourished by HaShem’s abundance and care, but also the stark contrast of forgetting their Source and losing their way. He wants the people to see both paths clearly, so they can choose wisely.

The Torah teaches: “For it is not an empty thing for you, for it is your life” (Devarim. 32:47). The mitzvot are not abstract; they are life itself. To make Torah come alive, we must learn to see ourselves living it, walking into our potential, visualizing the future we are meant to build.

The lesson for us: visualizing success is not wishful thinking, it is a powerful technique to help achieve success. The Torah challenges us to imagine the life we want to live in partnership with HaShem. Just as Moshe framed Israel’s destiny in images of flourishing or withering, we are invited to do the same in our personal lives:

To picture what our relationships could look like if nurtured with care.

To imagine how our careers, studies, or communities could grow if watered with persistence and values.

To see ourselves overcoming struggles, not by denying them, but by envisioning the higher ground on the other side.

When facing challenges, don’t only analyze logically, visualize your best self responding with strength.

When setting goals, don’t just write them, picture the scene of your success, the feeling of accomplishment, the song of joy.

When walking in Torah, don’t only read, see yourself in the story, as though Moshe’s song is about you.

Moshe ends his song by assuring Israel that despite failures, HaShem’s presence and promise endure. That, too, is a vision of success, not perfection, but resilience, return, and renewal.

Moshe may not have entered the land physically, but through Haazinu, he entered it spiritually, by helping the nation imagine their destiny. That is a powerful reminder: success begins in the mind’s eye, painted with the brushstrokes of faith.

So as we take Haazinu to heart, the challenge is this: What picture of success are we holding in our minds and hearts? And are we willing to live into that vision, step by step, like rain slowly nourishing the earth until growth is visible?