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Visualization Leads to
Actualization
By Willie B. Ray, Personal Trainer,
Art of Strength Kettle Bell Gym
1301 Winchester Road #129
Lexington, KY 40505
Visualization, done right, can be extremely
powerful in achieving any goal. As you think
about your goals for the New Year, take into
consideration the following:
Using your intellectual factor of imagination, see yourself already in possession of your
goal. Picture yourself with the healthy and
fit body you desire and literally feel what it is
like to have it. You cannot achieve anything in
your “outer world” until you first see it in your
“inner world.”
Is Visualization for Real?
In one of the most well-known studies on
creative visualization in sports, Russian scientists compared four groups of Olympic athletes
in terms of their training schedules:
• Group 1 had 100 percent physical training
• Group 2 had 75 percent physical training
with 25 percent mental training
• Group 3 had 50 percent physical training
with 50 percent mental training
• Group 4 had 25 percent physical training
with 75 percent mental training.
The results showed that Group 4, with 75
percent of their time devoted to mental training, performed the best. The Soviets had discovered mental images can act as a prelude to
muscular impulses.1
Creative visualization is distinguished from
normal daydreaming in that creative visualization is done in the first person and the present
tense – as if the visualized scene were unfolding all around you. “Normal” daydreaming is
done in the third person and the future tense.
Using affirmations that begin with “I am so
happy and grateful now that …” is an excellent
way to begin programming your subconscious
mind to move towards your goal.
Olympic athletes use visualization as a tool
to get their minds in shape for competition.
In this technique, athletes mentally rehearse
exactly what they have to do to win. Sports
psychologists say visualization boosts athletes’
confidence by forcing them to picture themselves winning. It also helps them concentrate
on their physical moves rather than on distractions around them.2
Visualize to Actuali