Visualization
Before anyone thinks that this is fact based, it is not. This is my opinion and only my opinion. Although my opinion does come from experience, a lot of experience.
When I was growing up, I was a very athletic kid. Basketball was by far my favorite sport. I lived and breathed basketball. My lunchtime recesses where spent playing KnockOut, my evenings were spent shooting baskets in the driveway, sometimes until way past 10pm when I am surprised none of the neighbors yelled at me. And when I wasn't playing basketball I was watching basketball. My goal was to get better, to shoot better, dribble better, pass better. My dad was a big supporter of my enthusiasm and he found a way to help me get better while also getting me to bed earlier, visualization. My dad had me visualize my Free-Throws. He had me visualize every part of my shot, the feet, the ball, the three dribbles I always did. He had me visualize the backboard and the rim and the power I needed to make the shot. It worked, every night I visualized and everyday it got easier. Even now, twenty plus years later, I can walk up to the free throw line and still see every part of my shot a second before it happened.
Visualization is something I learned early in life, I learned it for basketball but as I got older and realized that visualization wasn’t going to get me a draft pick for the first female NBA star, I began using it in other areas. I have used it for test taking and tennis, I used it for interviews and public speaking, I used it for running and childbirth. The power to close your eyes and see yourself succeeding is amazing. You don’t need anything but a calm mind. There are no gimmicks or devices, there is no accountability or coaching, there is just you and your imagination and your dream. All you have to do is imagine yourself succeeding.
There are a few things I have learned about visualization. First of all, thinking about the different ways you can succeed is a great way to build confidence in your dreams, but also it is a positive way to see yourself. So often we try to self-sabotage our dreams. We tell ourselves that we aren’t good enough or we don’t deserve this thing. So often people around us will tell us horror stories of how people have failed attempting smaller feats. People will indulge in your doubts and push you further from making them a reality. But the whole idea of visualization, as I learned it, is to never image failing.
I want to see my moments of success before they happen and it is up to me to make it that. The ball will always go in, the speech will always be amazing, the test will always be an A+. Visualization is to create your dreams and I want to dream in color. I want to see my successes far beyond the basketball court or the desk. I want to feel success. I want to see every single part of my success, from my outfit, to my facial expressions, to the people watching, to the feeling I get when I know the ball is going in right as it leaves my fingertips. And I have learned to visualize the moment I am done. The moment I put my pencil down and walk out of the classroom. The moment I gather my papers and walk away from the podium.
During my workouts, when I am going for a one rep max on a lift, or when I am pushing myself past a limit I had previous set, there is this moment of pure bliss. My mind is completely quiet. As I stand up in a deadlift or stand up out of a squat or pull myself over the bar. There is a moment when everything is gone. It is one of the main reasons I love my style of training, I love that moment. But I also believe that I reach that moment because of visualization. Before I stand up to the bar in a deadlift, I watch my feet take their stance, I take my arms overhead and take my lifting breath. Then I lift the bar and when I’m visualizing it, I always have a smooth lift. When it is time to actually step up to the bar, I have already completed the lift and my mind can enjoy the ride because my mind and body have already agreed that it’s a great lift.
Visualization is its all in your head. You can make it what it is. You can believe in it or you can think it’s silly. But give yourself a quiet space and let your mind begin to create and see where it goes. If you start to go towards failure, it’s yours to change. And there is no harm in trying it and seeing where it takes you. Like my dad taught me, as you are going to be at night let your successes be the last thing you think about before you fall asleep.