Motivation: Visualizing Your Goals

Believing in yourself, believing that you can leap barriers and achieve your goals, is the ticket to success. One of the most powerful tools for building self-confidence is visualization.

This easy technique involves imagining the accomplishment of the changes or goals you're working to achieve. It is a process of "training" purely within the mind. By visualizing in detail your successful execution of each step in a given activity, you create, modify, or strengthen brain pathways that are important in coordinating your muscles for the visualized activity. This prepares you to perform the activity itself. The technique is useful in many areas of life from avoiding anxiety during a stressful situation, to performing well during competition. You may find it a powerful tool in strength training.

• Identify the goal you want to visualize for example, walking a golf course.
  Find a comfortable place to sit and relax.

• Eliminate all distractions turn off the phone, television, etc.

• Close your eyes and focus on feeling relaxed. Free your mind of intruding thoughts.

• Now, imagine yourself on the golf course. Create a picture in your mind of the place the sights, sounds, and smells. Imagine a perfect day, warm and sunny, with a gentle breeze. Picture yourself with your favorite golfing friends, talking and laughing. Now visualize yourself starting on your way, passing the golf carts, and setting off to walk the whole course.

• Take a moment to feel the pleasure and excitement of achieving this goal.

• Then imagine yourself walking from hole to hole, enjoying the sunshine, the views, the fresh air, the good company and excellent play.

• Finally, visualize yourself finishing the course and feeling great, both physically and emotionally.

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Content source: Division of Nutrition and Physical Activity, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion