Why The Greatest Athletes Practice Visualization And How You Can Use Visualization In Your Daily Life
Emma Heywood is a Clinical Hypnotherapist, practitioner of Rapid Transformational Therapy (RTT), and international performer. She has been on her own mental health journey since she was 12 years old.
Now that the Olympics are over, you may be feeling sad and lost, thinking, “What will I do with all my free time?” Perhaps you’re still feeling the buzz of inspiration by watching the best athletes in the world compete at the highest level. How could you not be inspired by what these athletes do?!
We see these athletes as superhuman. In many ways they are. But trust me they’re human. They experience all the same emotions you experience. They experience fear, anxiety, self doubt, confusion, low confidence, and low self worth.
They do?! I promise you, they do. In my work as a Clinical Hypnotherapist and Performance Mindset Coach, I support athletes to help them overcome these types of mental blocks and to mentally and emotionally prepare for their performances.
At the highest level, the thing that separates the good athletes from the greatest athletes is their mental and emotional strength.
One of the most important mental training skills these athletes do is practice visualization. They know their mind is truly a muscle. The more they train it, the stronger it becomes.
Simone Biles was sharing in an interview that she practices visualization with her therapist. LeBron James was seen practicing breathing techniques, eyes closed, before his gold medal winning game. There was a video of a gymnast miming the movements of his performance before going out and performing for real.
Why do these athletes do this? To create the reality of their performance in their mind before it happens. To emotionally prepare what it will feel like to execute their skills and win.
Visualization is mental and emotional rehearsal. So when the real thing happens, their mind, emotions, and bodies already know what to do. Because they practiced. They prepared.
Your subconscious mind does not know the difference between a real or imagined event. As you visualize, your subconscious mind accepts it as truth. Your subconscious mind takes everything literally.
The problem is you so often think of the worst-case scenarios. These athletes know they HAVE to practice the best-case scenarios. They must rehearse the win in order to win.
Now, we’re not all Olympic athletes of course. However, you can take this practice and apply it in your own life. Are you tired of feeling anxious everyday? Are you tired of thinking of all the things that could go “wrong”? Are you tired of constantly feeling not good enough?
Well, just as easily as you can practice the worst-case scenarios, you are just as capable of practicing the best-case scenarios for your daily life. It takes intention, dedication, and practice. This is what the greatest athletes do.
Maybe you aren’t walking out onto a court, field, or gym floor, but how do you want to walk out when you arrive to work? When you’re about to have that nerve-wracking conversation with your boss or friend? When you’re going on that first date?
Instead of visualizing and preparing for all the possible things that can go wrong, what are all the ways these moments of your life can go right?
Just like these athletes take the time to visualize before they step out to perform, you can also take a few moments to visualize how you want your day to go before you step out and live it.
See what you want to see. See your ideal scenario. See your win. Feel yourself taking that risk, setting that boundary, speaking up for yourself. How do you want to feel? Decide. Call it in. Try it on.
See it, feel it, believe it. Exercise your mental muscle just like these world-class athletes do. They’re just like you. You’re just like them. We’re all humans trying to navigate our lives, our goals, our dreams. It’s your job to show up for them, whatever they may be.
Want some support to practice visualization? Check out one of my go-to tools: “Visualize Your Ideal Day with Self Hypnosis" (it only takes 11 minutes):
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Emma Heywood, Clinical Hypnotherapist, RTT Practitioner
Emma Heywood is a Clinical Hypnotherapist, a practitioner of Rapid Transformational Therapy (RTT), Performance Mindset Coach, and a classically trained actress, performing on stage from North America to Europe. She has been on her own mental health journey since she was 12 years old. She knows what it’s like to struggle with depression, anxiety, and PTSD. She transformed her life using RTT, hypnosis, and the power of her subconscious mind. She went from living a life of trauma and low self-esteem to one of inner freedom, self-worth, joy, abundance, and embodying her purpose. And now she helps others do the same. You too can live a life free from self-doubt, fear, low self-esteem, and anxiety. You too can become the most powerful, liberated, confident version of you yet. Emma will be your guide: see you on the other side.
