I'll use visualization because that's the term that has generally come to describe using the mind and emotions as tools for consciously creating a positive reality. His imagination resembled the wings of an ostrich. It enabled him to run, though not to soar. We project ahead in our imagination, imagine what the situation will be like, imagine the way we would like it, and imagine all the things that might go wrong. Therein lies the rub.
Many people create their own negative reality through negative visualization.
Negative visualization is the process by which it comes about. We worry so much about something that we create an image of failure, terror, rejection, and destitution. Then we set about to fulfill our vision. The reality seldom turns out as bad as we imagined. We're relieved, then, when the other shoe finally drops and we discover catastrophe is merely disaster.