The MORI62 method: imagine, prepare, act, give thanks, let go

A morning recording to imagine the life you want and prepare for the hard part. An evening recording to give thanks and let go. Here is each step, and what the research does and does not say about it.

By Kent Shi, founder of MORI62 · Published October 29, 2026

The MORI62 method is two guided audio recordings a day, rooted in Christian prayer. In the morning you picture a life you would love, bring that desire to God, and then rehearse the next real step and what might get in its way. In the evening you return to give thanks, tell God honestly how the day went, and leave the outcome with Him.

The method rests on one idea that shows up both in psychology and in the Christian tradition of prayer. Picturing the dream alone is not enough. What helps is picturing the dream, then the work, the obstacles and the next step, and then doing that step.

The morning, step by step

Open MORI62 before you open your phone’s feed or your inbox. Press play, turn the phone face down and close your eyes. The morning recordings run about fifteen minutes.

1. Step out of the noise. No feed and no inbox. A few minutes of quiet first.
2. Bring your desire before God. Name what you actually want. Money, love, work that matters, a home. Get specific.
3. Experience the future. Live inside that life for a few minutes. A scene, with the people in it.
4. Return to today. Name the obstacle, the decision or the thing you have been avoiding.
5. Rehearse the hard part. Picture yourself beginning. The call. The application. The honest conversation. Two uninterrupted hours of real work. Include the discomfort, and an answer you do not want.
6. Then do it. The recording ends. You make the call, learn the thing, improve the product or accept the no. The recording cannot do this part.

The evening

Return and rest. Imagine the good future again, and enjoy it. Thank the Father for what was good today. Be honest about what was not. Tell Him what you want. Listen. Leave the outcome with Him, and sleep.

One example

The business idea is still in a notebook. In the morning you picture the life it could pay for. Then you rehearse calling one potential customer and hearing them say no. After the recording, you call one person before you open your inbox. They decline, and they tell you why: they cannot tell what they would be paying for. That night you thank the Father, write down the question they asked, and leave the rest with Him. Tomorrow’s call starts with a clearer answer.

This example is invented to show the shape of a day. It is not a customer story.

Why picture the steps, and the dream too

In a well-known study, college freshmen spent a few minutes a day before a midterm picturing either the grade they wanted or themselves studying for it. The students who pictured the studying studied more and got better grades.¹ A review of that research program put it plainly: picturing the process of reaching a goal helped people make progress, and picturing only the successful finish did not.²

Other studies found something stronger. People who enjoyed daydreams about an ideal future put in less effort over the following weeks and months.³ Those studies measured daydreams rather than assigning them, so they show a link and not a cause. In four later lab experiments, students asked to picture an ideal outcome showed a small drop in energy, measured by blood pressure, compared with students who imagined it in other ways.⁴

So MORI62 keeps the vivid picture, because desire matters and imagining a good life is a gift. But every morning moves on from the picture to the obstacle and the next action.

Why name the obstacle

Psychologist Gabriele Oettingen calls it mental contrasting: picture the wish, then the real obstacle in the way.⁵ Adding a plan of the form “if this happens, I will do that” is called an implementation intention. An early meta-analysis of 94 tests found that if-then plans helped people reach their goals, with a medium-to-large average effect.⁶ An independent meta-analysis of the combined method, across 21 studies and 15,907 people, found a smaller effect and warned that the true effect may be smaller still.⁷ In one randomized trial with 77 fifth graders, the children taught this method improved their report card grades, attendance and conduct more than children taught to think positively.⁸

One honest consequence: when you face the obstacle squarely, you may decide a goal is not worth it, or not yours. The research expects that. So does Christian discernment.

Rehearsal helps. Doing helps more.

Rehearsing a skill in your head does improve performance, but the average effect is small.⁹ In sport, imagery added to real practice beat real practice alone.¹⁰ That is the role MORI62 gives rehearsal. It prepares you for the call. It does not make the call.

Learning from a failed attempt

Most real attempts fail at first. The evening is where you look at that honestly. You do not pretend a no was a yes. You ask what the no taught you, thank God for what was good, and decide what tomorrow’s attempt will change. A failed attempt that teaches you something is worth more than a perfect plan you never test.

Gratitude and surrender

Gratitude practice gives a modest lift in well-being. In one meta-analysis it did about as well as other good activities and did not reduce anxiety.¹¹ Another concluded its unique benefits “may be overemphasized.”¹² MORI62 does not sell gratitude as therapy. In the evening it is simply prayer: thanking God for what was good.

Surrender means leaving the outcome with God after doing your part. The Catechism asks Christians to put themselves “confidently into the hands of Providence for whatever concerns the future,” and adds, “Improvidence, however, can constitute a lack of responsibility.”¹³ Surrender and responsibility belong together. Scripture puts it this way:

“In nothing be anxious, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus.”

Philippians 4:6-7, World English Bible¹⁴

Why 62 days

Sixty-two is the length of the program. It is not a scientific threshold. In one study of new daily habits, the time to reach a habit ranged from 18 to 254 days,¹⁵ and a 2024 review found medians of 59 to 66 days with wide variation from person to person.¹⁶ MORI62 counts 62 dates on which you finished a recording, in a row or not. Missing a day does not reset anything.

What the method cannot do

• It cannot guarantee an outcome. Imagining a future does not compel God, other people or the world.
• It cannot do the work for you. The recording ends and the attempt is yours.
• It is not therapy, medical care or financial advice.
• Most of the studies above used students and short follow-ups. They show average effects, not promises.

For the faith side of this, read Christian visualization and imaginative prayer. For the research on vision boards, read Vision boards versus process rehearsal.