How to understand Visualization in a way that gets results

Understanding visualisation for real progress is today’s topic.

The benefits of visualization are present in many areas of my life – from managing extremely emotional and stressful business situations with increasing grace and calm, to delivering professional leadership training with confidence when the pressure is high! There is substantial scientific evidence to support the benefits of creating mental images of future events through visualization for improving performance. One of many examples that proves the effectiveness and success of using visualization was a study done by Australian Psychologist, Alan Richardson. He took a group of basketball players, none of whom had ever practiced visualization and divided them in 3 groups and tested each player’s ability to make free throws.

The first group practiced free throws every day for 20 days

The second group practiced free throws on the 1st and 20th days

The third group also practiced free throws on the 1st and 20th days only but in addition to this they spent 20 minutes visualizing their free throws every day

The results were astounding. There was significant improvement in the 3rd group that essentially only visualized their free throws and they were almost as good as the 1st group who practiced. Clearly from even just this study, it is evident that visualization works!

How can you use visualization effectively in your life?

Due to the lockdown and the need to self-isolate, our head coach and I are trying to run virtual Jiu Jitsu training via the internet using an application called Zoom. There are several drivers for this which include maintaining communication with club members, utilising the time for healing injuries, and the maintenance of strength and fitness. There are challenges in trying to engineer physicality into an online forum. Travis, the coach and I are trying to figure out the best format and what can be achieved. This situation reminded me about a book that is on my shelf by Oliver Staark called;

Zen Jiu Jitsu Beyond Rolling. The 30-day program to improve your game 1000%

Oliver Staark had suffered an injury and needed time to recover. During this time, he adopted a 30-day program he developed for his own improvement. His approach and notes became the book. An important component of the development was visualisation. Our Master coach, John Will also talks at his seminars about visualizing techniques by thinking where each part of your body is placed during the execution of a technique.

We have the example of the basketball players who improved by visualising. Over the years I had read a great many personal development books. My motivation to be honest was in the mix of recovery from depression an annoying question constantly at the back of my mind. “Where did my mental health issues end, and my character begin?”.

There was a string of embarrassing emotional outbursts and decisions that I felt marred my life. The motivation for reading personal development literature was to find a way to change myself. Perhaps I was scared there were parts of myself that were nothing to do with mental health issues but all down to me! That scared me so, I sought refuge in trying to find ways to change.

One of the things common in self-improvement books is the concept of visualisation. I thought I had nothing to lose. A morning ritual had been established which included meditation. The meditation would also lead to my own visualisation. This led to an experience that was so vivid it physically shocked me.

Included in my visualization was imagery of where I lived. I say this in the present tense as that is one of the strategies of mental imagery. I would imagine standing out on the lawn with our home behind is. The location was high with a view that included the ocean and rolling hills. This imagery included all the aspects of visualisation as detailed in the many books I had read. This was part of my ritual each morning for several years.

Four years ago, my wife and I were living in Hamilton on a back section surrounded by other houses in urban living. For the most part we had a private back yard. It was a nice home. Having lived a big chunk of my life on dairy farms living in town was always a struggle for me. I loved the freedom of having my own air. My wife and I loved to travel to Raglan and take our dog, George for walks on the beach. George loved to chase a tennis ball and dunk it in the ocean before bringing it back to me to throw again. As we walked, we would discuss the dream of one day living in Raglan.

Property prices took off in Hamilton. We were surprised at how much we could potentially secure if we sold our Hamilton home. We started to think the dream of living in Raglan may become a reality. We looked at a few places, but it did not come together. One day during the search my wife Brenda took our good friend Sue for a drive to Raglan to have a look at another property Brenda had found. When she returned from the viewing, she said I have found a place I think you should look at.

Our plan was to live in Raglan or perhaps just outside Raglan on a couple of acres of land. The day came for me to view the property.  We drove out to what is now our home. It was 50 minutes from Hamilton and 17 kms from Raglan. On the way I kept thinking, “this is not going to work” I was concerned that Brenda would have to drive two 50-minute trips per day to get to and from work. It was OK for me as I worked from home.

We arrived at the last kilometre and turned on to a metal road and reached the driveway. I could not believe the view. I quickly looked at the house but was taken in by the view. It was a glorious day. I then caught sight of the 2-year-old 4 bay implement shed with a concrete floor. It was massive. I could not believe it. Then, I was told it included 12 acres of land. The land included 3 ponds fed from a natural spring. We put in an offer and secured an excellent deal.

I could not believe we had pulled it off. We shifted in. I felt like I had won Lotto. Brenda determined the drive was manageable. We were so happy with the decision. Then it happened. My preoccupation had been with the view, the land and the shed. In fact, when Brenda asked me questions about the house prior to moving in, I could not really picture how it looked. The day came when I walked out onto the deck and stepped down on to the grass of the lawn. I looked out over the shed to Aotea Harbour and across the ocean out to Albatross Point. It was then I saw what I had visualised. It just did not register with me until I stood at that very point. This was what I imagined. The ocean in the distance. Rolling hills in the foreground and our home behind us. My next thoughts were bizarre. Even though intellectually it made sense to invest time in visualisation at that moment I said to myself, “Wow, this really works. I can’t believe it”.

This morning I was talking to Brenda again about this visualisation experience. It led me to think about the potential of the unconscious visualisation. If I classify the visualisation of our new home in my own experience as intentional visualisation I wonder about the impact of the in unintended or unconscious visualization that arises out of worry, anxiety and the lack of self-belief. If that capacity to move towards that which we desire is a series of micro decisions reinforced with micro attention to a direction and resources, we seek then what happens when we do not consciously visualise. My suggestion is we all visualise, and it is either intentional or unintentional.

The reticular activating system is a short, pencil-sized piece of the brain located just above where the spinal cord is attached to the brain. It acts as the gatekeeper of information between most sensory systems and the conscious mind. We essentially see what we focus on.

New Zealand is now in lockdown. There are compassionate thoughts for those under financial stress who may worry how they will secure enough food. I understand the stress this may place on families. Concepts of self-management and motivation would probably get little airtime in such circumstance. For those who have a management plan and it established without too much stress there may well be opportunities for reflection.

Living to the background of a world crisis prompts me to think about what I am grateful for. There is no intended arrogance in this statement. Many will not have the luxury of reflection as they move not to adjustment but more towards survival. The opportunities are presented in my circumstance and in my thought process. The move towards different goals and new objectives has a space in my head. The topic of visualisation for the next 30- 40-60 days is in my mind.

Oliver Staark in his book, presented the importance of developing a clear thought process in the many aspects of Jiu Jitsu that on the surface appear to be a partner opponent-based art.  Techniques can be developed while training in solo drills and importantly in solo thought processes. His synthesised his approach to three key components. Philosophy, Psychology and Attitude.

How can you use visualization effectively in your life? Well the good news is that anyone can do it and it’s a simple process. But it does of course require consistent practice.

Here are 6 basics steps to follow as you get started with your own Visualisation practice:

1) Find a quiet place.

Find a quiet place and eliminate all external distractions and relax.

2) Quiet and prepare your mind

Quiet and prepare your mind to explicitly focus on what you desire and what to visualize. Deep breathing and meditation will greatly assist you in learning to quiet your mind.

3) Create a detailed image of what you desire or plan to accomplish.

The more detail you use the better – see it, smell it, taste it, touch it, hear it, and lastly feel the emotions of achieving your desired outcome. Think and Grow Rich author Napoleon Hill explains why connecting with those feelings is so important. He says that

“your subconscious mind recognizes and acts upon only thoughts which have been well-mixed with emotion or feeling;” and, “you will get no appreciable results until you learn to reach your subconscious mind with thoughts or spoken words which have been well emotionalized with belief.” 

So, make sure you connect with those feelings of success and achievement!

In the book The Focussed Athlete it is stated

“Your ability to control what you focus on may be the single most important skill second only to self-confidence.”

4) Don’t worry.

Don’t worry at any point about how any of this will happen, just focus on it happening! It is also very important to focus on the overcoming of adversity. This is not negative thinking. This is pre-empting the adversity that may come and picturing the counter to the presented problem. In Jiu Jitsu it involves specifically playing out the counters an opponent may utilise. Your own reaction to that counter is then implemented. In life it is the same. If our visualisation includes accepting challenges and being triumphant in overcoming the problems we are more complete and resilient in our approach.

5) Be consistent.

Be consistent in your visualization practice, doing it at least every morning and before going to sleep every night.

6) Act on the thoughts and ideas.

Act on thoughts and ideas that come to you through visualization or “randomly” at other times and as you listen to and act on these “feelings” and “synchronicities” believe that your efforts will place you in the right place with the right people.

In discussing athletes Arthur Ashe states ,

“The ideal attitude is to be physically loose and mentally tight”.

The reason this works is because through visualization you are strengthening the paths for that skill in your brain. In addition, we know that our thoughts are processed by the mind and determined to be real regardless of the reality or truth of the thought.  So rather than focusing on the obstacles and challenges that may hold you back, see yourself achieving what you most desire and use the way your brain works to your advantage!

Because the reality is that if you cannot see yourself achieving what you want, your most likely won’t

Stay safe and wash your hands ?