I believe one of the greatest accomplishments a person can make is bridging the gap between our mental and physical selves; to put our own goals and dreams into action via the sheer force of self-determination.
There have been plenty of theorists, millions probably, who’ve noted the connection between mental inputs and physical outputs. My father was one of them. As one of many tennis coaches I’ve trained with throughout the years, his practices rarely involved stepping a single foot onto a tennis court. He frequently led me through a series of visualization techniques, where I would imagine myself, for example, hitting the perfect forehand-- with the most fluid low-to-high swing, where contact is made precisely on the racquet’s sweet spot, and the ball clearing the net with the ideal trajectory resulting from the topspin created by this perfect forehand.
I’ve pretty much been visualizing events in my life ever since. Job interviews, first dates (OK, let’s be honest those are pretty much the same as job interviews), combating my (recent) flying fear, these are all things in which I believe I can shape the outcome with some focused mental energy. Call it what you want, but I’ve found Acting As If to be a powerful tool when other resources or abilities are still just out of my reach.
I challenge all of you to practice this week. Choose one thing that scares you or needs work, whether that’s a snatch balance or asking your boss for a raise. Sit quietly and imagine yourself succeeding, imagine how your body feels – active shoulders/weight in heels or direct speech pattern and tone – and imagine smiling with a genuine confidence that no one could possibly rip away from you. Like all other things in life, this takes practice. You may not believe in yourself yet….but you will. In the meantime, fake it. No one will know the difference.
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