Visualizing Success
Visualization is recognized as a powerful tool to improve performance and help you reach your goals. For visualization to be effective, you need to make your imagined scenario as detailed as possible.
So, first, ask yourself what you want to achieve? Do you want to hit more three-point shots on the basketball court? Do you want to make more putts outside of 20 feet? Do you want to be more comfortable giving a presentation in front of an audience? Or, of course, do you want to pass the bar exam?
Once you have your scenario in mind, you’ll then want to envision as many sensory details as possible that will help you achieve that scenario. Think about the feel of what you’ll be holding and the sounds and smells of what’ll be around you.
For example, hear the basketball swishing through the net from 23 feet away. But think about the number of hours in the sweaty gymnasium that led to that point.
Picture the golf ball rolling into the hole with the perfect number of revolutions. But also remember the number of putts you made on the practice green.
Listen to the audience applaud in unison as you wrap up your presentation. But also recall the numerous times you’ve gone through the script in your head and in front of the mirror.
And place yourself in a courtroom, being sworn in as an attorney, in October. But also recall all the lecture viewing, note taking, question answering, essay writing, and other work required that got you to that point.
Visualize the end scenario but also visualize the specific details that are necessary to achieve that result. Whenever you use visualization, your focus should be on the details of the process, the technique, and the actions that will lead to that successful outcome—and not the outcome itself.
If you practice the process, the technique, and the actions that are required for a successful outcome—and trust that process and technique—then your visualized outcome will likely result.
In Boost!: How the Psychology of Sports Can Enhance Your Performance in Management and Work, internationally recognized professor Michael Bar-Eli takes the lessons he’s learned from sports psychology and discusses how mental preparedness and psychological awareness are the keys to thriving in any environment.
He also discusses the importance of visualization.
In Boost!, the author wrote about “Pistol” Pete Maravich, who was an NBA basketball player in the 1970s and early 1980s. Maravich was always focused on the process rather than the outcome. In fact, when Maravich practiced shooting long-distanced shots, he would look away before the ball reached the hoop.
Coaches were perplexed by Maravich’s habit of looking away, but he explained that his focus was on the process of making his shot. As long as he had the right technique down, Maravich said, then he did his job and the ball should find the hoop. And it usually did.
Maravich retired in 1980, the same season that the NBA introduced the three-point line. Maravich’s long-distance proficiency finally gained legitimacy and recognition, with him hitting two-thirds of his tries from behind the three-point arc.
So, when you’re visualizing yourself getting sworn in as an attorney, remember to focus on your technique and trust the process that will be preparing you for the bar exam. The visualized scenario will likely follow.
