What Is Prepaving? The Abraham-Hicks Technique, Step-by-Step

Prepaving is an Abraham-Hicks technique for deliberately deciding how
you want an upcoming event to go – and how you want to feel during it –
before it happens. Instead of walking into your day and reacting to
whatever shows up, you spend a few minutes beforehand imagining it going
well, so you walk in already aligned with the outcome you want. In this
guide you’ll learn exactly how to prepave, step by step, and see a full
worked example you can use before your next meeting, date, or difficult
conversation.

What is prepaving?

Prepaving comes from Abraham-Hicks (Esther and Jerry Hicks). The word
is a blend of “pre” and “paving the way” – you’re paving the road ahead
of you before you travel it, rather than dealing with whatever’s in the
road when you get there.

In practice, prepaving means sitting quietly before an event – a
meeting, a date, a flight, a difficult conversation – and imagining it
unfolding the way you want it to. Not by scripting every detail, but by
deciding in advance how you want to feel going in, and
rehearsing that feeling until it’s familiar. When the actual event
starts, you’re not starting from anxious or neutral – you’re starting
from the vibration you already prepaved.

Abraham teaches that most people do the opposite without realizing
it: they walk into a meeting already braced for it to go badly, or
replay yesterday’s argument before an evening with the same person –
which pre-paves a bad outcome just as surely as prepaving deliberately
paves a good one. Prepaving isn’t a new idea; it’s making a habit you’re
already doing unconsciously, and doing it on purpose instead.

Why prepaving works

The law of attraction responds to your vibration – the feeling you’re
predominantly in – more than to the words you use or the outcome you’re
hoping for. If you walk into a room already feeling anxious, defensive,
or resentful, you tend to get more of that back, even if you’re saying
all the right things. If you walk in already feeling calm, confident, or
appreciative, people and situations tend to meet you there instead.

Prepaving works because it lets you choose that starting vibration
before the situation has a chance to choose it for you. By the
time the real event happens, the feeling you rehearsed is already
familiar – so it’s easier to stay in it, even if something doesn’t go
exactly to plan.

This is also why prepaving is different from just “thinking
positive.” You’re not pretending the event will be perfect. You’re
deciding, in advance, which feeling you’re going to bring into it –
which is something you actually have control over, regardless of what
happens once you’re there.

How to prepave: step-by-step

You only need a few quiet minutes before the event – in the car, in
the shower, or lying in bed the night before.

Pick the event you’re prepaving. A meeting, a date,
a phone call, a flight, a conversation you’ve been dreading – anything
you know is coming.
Notice how you’re currently bracing for it. Be
honest. Are you already expecting it to go badly? That’s useful
information, not something to judge yourself for.
Decide how you want to feel going in. Not “I want
it to go perfectly,” but a feeling: calm, confident, light, appreciated,
in control. Pick one or two words.
Close your eyes and imagine walking in already feeling that
way. See yourself arriving, speaking, and responding from that
feeling. Let the details be loose – the feeling is what matters, not a
script.
Imagine at least one moment of friction going
smoothly. If you know a hard question is coming, or a difficult
moment, imagine handling it from the calm, confident feeling you just
rehearsed – not by scripting a perfect answer, but by staying in the
feeling.
Let it go. Once you’ve rehearsed the feeling a few
times, stop. You’re not trying to force a specific outcome – you’re just
choosing your starting point.
Walk in. If the moment starts to pull you back into
the old bracing feeling, a single breath and a reminder of the word you
picked in step 3 is usually enough to bring you back.

Two or three minutes of this is enough. Prepaving is a feeling
exercise, not a rehearsal script – the goal is a vibration you can carry
in with you, not a performance to remember.

A worked prepaving example

Here’s a real prepaving session before a difficult performance review
at work.

The event: A performance review with a manager who’s
been critical lately.

How I’m currently bracing for it: Defensive. Already
rehearsing excuses. Expecting to feel small.

The feeling I want to bring in: Calm and steady.

The prepave: I imagine walking into the room and
sitting down feeling calm, not defensive. I picture my manager raising a
concern, and instead of my stomach dropping, I imagine myself nodding,
staying steady, and saying “that’s fair, here’s what I’m doing about it”
in a level voice. I don’t need the meeting to be glowing praise – I just
need to stay calm and steady through it, however it goes. I imagine
leaving the room still feeling like myself, not shrunk down.

What actually happened: The review did include some
criticism. But because the calm, steady feeling was already familiar
from the prepave, it was much easier to stay in it during the real
conversation instead of getting swept into the old defensive
reaction.

Notice this prepave didn’t promise a perfect review – it just chose
the feeling to walk in with. That’s the whole technique.

How to do it
in the Law of Attraction Toolbox app

Prepaving works best as a quick habit before anything you know is
coming up – which is easy to forget to do in the moment. The Pre-Paving
Process game in the Law of Attraction Toolbox walks you through it so
you never have to remember the steps.

Pre-Paving Process screen in the app — Pre-Paving Process screen in the
app

Open the app and tap the Games tab, then choose
Pre-Paving Process.
Name the event you’re prepaving – a meeting, a
date, a call, anything coming up.
Pick the feeling you want to bring in. The app
prompts you for a word or short phrase, so you commit to a feeling
rather than a vague hope.
Walk through the guided visualization. The app
takes you through imagining the event from that feeling, including one
moment of friction going smoothly.
Save it. Your prepaves are stored in your history,
so if the same kind of situation comes up again, you can see what
feeling worked last time.
Set a reminder in My Journey → Set
Reminders for anything recurring – weekly meetings, regular
calls – so prepaving becomes a habit rather than something you only
remember under pressure.

No forgetting the steps, no scrambling for a feeling word under
stress – just a guided two-minute reset before anything that matters.
Got something coming up that has you bracing already? Download
the Law of Attraction Toolbox and prepave it in two
minutes.

Already have the app? Open the Pre-Paving
Process game to do this right now.

Common mistakes to avoid

Scripting the outcome instead of choosing the
feeling. Prepaving isn’t about predicting exactly what will be
said or happen – it’s about choosing how you feel walking in. Let the
details stay loose.
Only prepaving the easy parts. If you skip past the
moment you’re actually dreading, you haven’t prepaved the part that
needed it most. Include at least one friction point.
Doing it while still activated. If you’re too
anxious to imagine feeling calm, take a few breaths first, or do a
softer general prepave before tackling the specific event.
Expecting a perfect outcome. Prepaving changes your
starting vibration, not the other person’s script. Some friction can
still happen – the point is how steady you stay through it.
Forgetting to do it. Prepaving only works if it
becomes a habit before things you know are coming – set a reminder
rather than relying on remembering in the moment.

FAQ

What does prepaving mean in Abraham-Hicks’ teaching?
Prepaving means deliberately deciding how you want to feel during an
upcoming event, and rehearsing that feeling beforehand, so you walk into
the real event already aligned with it instead of reacting to it in the
moment.

Is prepaving the same as visualization? They’re
related but not identical. Visualization often focuses on picturing a
specific outcome. Prepaving focuses on choosing and rehearsing a
feeling to carry into a specific, known event – the feeling
matters more than the exact pictured outcome.

How long does prepaving take? Two or three minutes
is usually enough. It’s meant to be a quick habit before anything you
know is coming, not a long meditation.

Can I prepave for something that’s already going
badly? Yes – you can prepave the next interaction even if
earlier ones went poorly. Each prepave is about choosing your starting
feeling for what’s coming next, regardless of what already happened.

What’s the difference between prepaving and
pre-paving? Nothing – they’re the same word. Abraham-Hicks’
original material uses “pre-paving”; it’s commonly written as one word,
“prepaving,” as well.

Start prepaving today

Prepaving is one of the most practical Abraham-Hicks tools because it
takes almost no time and works on anything you already know is coming –
a meeting, a call, a hard conversation. Pick something on your calendar
this week, decide how you want to feel walking in, and rehearse it for
two minutes beforehand. Let the app hold the structure so all you have
to bring is the feeling.

Download
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it on Google Play