Before learning how to visualize for success, it's important to understand why you should visualize for success. To understand this, you have to understand how we, as humans, process reality.
Reality is largely subjective, based on our senses. For example, you and I see the world very differently than a fly sees it. The reason a fly is drawn to a spider web is that, to their eyes, it looks beautiful and is filled with different colors. To them, it's almost like a rainbow. To us, it's just white silk. Different eyes process reality different.
But we use more than our eyes to take in reality. It's also what we smell. How we feel. What we touch. What we taste. Now here's the kicker – our brain doesn't make much distinction between whether our senses are stimulated by the actual real world or through visualization. In other words, if you rehearse a certain action perfectly in your mind, with enough sensory power, it will be just as good as if you physically performed that action. You'll create the same connections, and build the same amount of confidence.
This is not theory. A famous study was done on a group of high school students. One group practiced physically shooting free throws. Another group did not shoot free throws at all, but mentally rehearsed shooting free throws. After doing this for a few weeks, they tested both groups. Guess who performed better?
The visualization group.
We know that practice doesn't make perfect – only perfect practice makes perfect. The great thing about visualization is that it allows you to practice perfectly, because you are using your mind to create your results.
However, you must visualize in a specific way to achieve this. To learn how to do this, click here.
The Proper Way To Visualize for Success
Remember that we process the world around us through our senses? However, when most people visualize, they only use one sense – their sight. What happens is that your brain doesn't really internalize the images you create, and you don't receive much benefit.
The first thing you need to do is to enhance your visions. Don't just rely on sight alone. Here's what you do.
First, focus on a vision of you playing at your best, or playing your perfect game. What does it look like? What are the expressions on your face? How many times do you bounce the ball before you serve it? Start with vision to fill in the details. Use as many details as possible.
But don't stop there. Next, as you work on your vision, ask yourself – what do I feel like? Is there a feeling of excitement in my stomach? Is my mind in complete balance with my body? Do my muscles feel tense, or do they feel warm and ready to move at a split second's notice?
Now ask yourself this – What do I smell? Perhaps it's the smell of a brand new tennis ball, fresh out of the can. Or maybe it's that certain smell of the towel you use to wipe off your sweat? It could even be a smell from the foliage around you, or the smell of the court.
Go through each of your emotions, and fill them in and experience them. This is how you make your visualization real. You trick your mind into believing you're actually there because you're experiencing ALL the senses you would if you're really there.
Finally, after you've used all your senses and made the experience as real as possible, tweak your vision. What happens if you make the colors brighter? If you make the images appear larger than they really are? Does this enhance the pleasure you experience when having your vision?
You should create a vision so pleasurable that you'll want to access it almost constantly. And when you find yourself dong that, then you will be visualizing for success.
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