The Power of Visualization
Having a toolbox of powerful techniques to achieve our goals is so useful. These techniques are not just to navigate through life but also to thrive, to experience joy everyday and to achieve our goals.
One of those techniques is Visualization, which basically means to see yourself performing a task in whatever shape of form you would like to see yourself. It means to imagine yourself, to put yourself into your conscious mind.
Without realizing what I was doing, I used this technique throughout my whole life, at school, work and particularly in sports. I remember those Cooper Tests that we used to do at school when I was a teenager. I used to imagine myself running as fast as I could and jumping in the exact sequence we were told to. Before the test, I used to see the whole process in my mind, in order to be ready to perform exactly the same way I had imagined. Also, when I was doing my MBA at London Business School I was part of the Tough Rugby team. I have always been an athlete but I had never played rugby before so I asked the coach, what is the point of this game? What am I supposed to do to score a try? He explained to me and I started to visualize the act of scoring a try in every single practice and game. It was so vivid in my mind that I was always “hungry” to run and score the same way I had always imagined it…
And now, more recently, before I have to give a presentation I visualize myself speaking gracefully, enjoying the talk and connecting with the public. It helps me relax and envision the success of the talk.
Olympic athletes at PyeongChang 2018 also practice visualization. There is an alpine skier who says that she uses visualization techniques for both races and business. She talks vividly about how she visualizes herself skiing effortlessly, flawlessly, without thinking about the outcome, just enjoying the ride perfectly and it works for her! She goes beyond that and says that she needs to visualize it with her five senses: she feels it, sees it, hears the crowds, tastes and even smells the experience! The idea here is to be fully immersed in the experience as it turns out in your mind so that you know in advance what it means to be there, so that you can replicate it later on in real life and it doesn’t feel foreign to you.
We can also see Lindsey Vonn – one of the greatest skiers of all times, winner of four World Cup overall championships, amongst other titles— visualizing her race minutes before she starts skiing. While she is visualizing she even moves her arms and upper body as if she is already going downhill…so impressive to see how concentrated she is right before competing.
Carolina Marín, Badminton World Champion from Spain also says: “Puedo porque pienso que puedo”, which means “I can because I think that I can”. This is the proof that what you put in your conscious mind is four times more powerful then what happens to you.
So let’s imagine ourselves performing! Everybody can do it. It works for all domains: sports, arts, music, business, etc. When? Right before performing the real task or, also, I find that right after meditating is a good time to visualize. With meditation we have taken all the noise from our minds and there we are, peacefully visualizing our journey, feeling it with all five senses…so powerful.
And a little gift for you today: a fantastic smoothie recipe for you to start the day:
Ingredients:
• 1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
• 1 large handful greens (kale and/or baby spinach)
• 2 tbsp ground flax seed
• 2 tbsp collagen powder
• 1 tbsp raw hemp seeds
• 1 tbsp almond butter
• ½ cup organic blueberries
• ground cinnamon, to taste
Add all ingredients to the blender, blend until smooth!
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Virginia