Motivational Monday: The Power of Visualization

I am the first to admit that I am not a fan of the Olympics. I have nothing against them, mind you. It’s just not something I have ever really followed. Even when I was younger and more into sports.

But that doesn’t mean there isn’t a lesson to be learned by the athletes who train hard and long to get where they are today. Athletes like American swimming sensation Michael Phelps who won 8 gold medals alone. What an amazing feet that is!

The lesson found here is the true power of visualization. Athletes will tell you, whether they are in the Olympics or not, that mental training goes hand in hand with the physical training. And they can both be equally difficult.

It isn’t good enough to just train your body your whole life if your mind isn’t coming along for the ride.

Ever see a baseball player having a night when they are clearly “on” and then the next day their performance is lackluster to say the least?

Chances are when the player was “on”, he was in his zone–fully focused and mentally committed to the tasks at hand. He probably saw that ball going over the fence just seconds before actually sending it there.

And maybe the second day he was focusing on bills or his relationships or his kids or the weather or the election.

Everyone gets distracted. We all drift off course. We all slip in and out of our “zone” as I like to call it.

But it all comes back to visualization. Athletes in particular are very good at this. They see in their mind’s eye hitting that ball…swimming those laps…catching the throw…swinging that club…thousands, if not millions, of times. Over and over and over and over again.

I remember the first time I took a failing timeslot and made it all the way to #1. I SAW my boss smiling at me and taking me to lunch. I SAW the balloons and the HEARD the applause in the studio.

And you know what? Talk about dejavu. It played out EXACTLY the way I had visualized it. I reached my goal in my imagination before I made it in the real world.

There are great stories along these lines in Jack Canfield’s The Success Principles: How To Get From Where You Are To Where You Want To Be. He writes about American gold medalists who practiced their routines for YEARS and YEARS. And they eventually WON in the EXACT WAY they had daydreamed it in their imaginations.

But we can’t forget why this is. THOUGHTS…ARE…THINGS. And most importantly, THOUGHTS…BECOME…THINGS.

That’s why it’s so important to choose wisely what we think about!

Try to remember that as you start another week. See your goal as already reached. Visualize it. Make it real in your mind and you stand a good chance of making it real in your world.

And even if you don’t have an athletic bone in your body, you, too, can act like an Olympian!