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See What You Mean? |
The Action's in Your Mind You've probably heard that the mind cannot tell the difference between real experience and imagined experience - that it reacts the same to both real and imaginary events. It's true. And you can use this principle to your enormous advantage. In the fifties, researchers at one college tested the power of imagining by pitting three different student groups against each other shooting baskets. They tested a large number of students for their skill at shooting baskets while standing at the free throw line. Then they divided this large group of students into three smaller groups of equal size and of equal skill, statistically. All three groups shot about the same percentage of baskets at the start. Group No. 1 was the control, so for the next couple of weeks, they didn't do any practice at all. They were not even to go in the gym. Group No. 2, meanwhile went to the gym and practiced doing free throws for 20 minutes every day. Group No. 3 also practiced for 20 minutes every day, but they didn't touch a basketball. Each one of the students was instructed to practice only in their heads. They were to imagine shooting free throws for that 20 minutes, but to engage in no actual hands-on practice at all. At the end of that couple of weeks, Group No. 1, which had not done any practice, showed no improvement at all. When re-tested, their scores were identical to their earlier ones. Group No. 2, which had practiced in the gym with actual balls, shooting real free throws, tested 20 percent above their earlier scores. The big surprise, however, was Group No. 3, which tested 19 percent better. This shows that you can actually learn a skill by practicing it in your head. Is there anything you're not good at, but you want to be? Just play it over and over in your mind. See yourself doing the new activity successfully. It WILL stick with you. I had a friend years ago who told me that when he was in the Air Force, he learned to pilot a jet fighter by getting layout drawings of all the cockpit instruments and practicing flying in his imagination - for hours on end - until he felt confident. Of course he was already well qualified with other aircraft, but as any pilot who has ever taken the controls of a fighter will tell you, this is a different beast altogether. You don't just jump from a transport to a fighter. It takes many, many hours of hands-on training. But my friend, on his first time up, flew the plane well enough not to disgrace (or endanger) himself or the instructor. Boxers imagine fighting their opponents over and over for hours before important matches. This has been called shadow boxing. Salesmen practice answering questions and objections. The more they practice, the better prepared they are when they're finally with a customer. That's the way you can build familiarity with any new situation, and familiarity breeds confidence. Every world-class athlete, every outstanding salesman, every top executive can tell you that the higher up the ladder they go, the more important the mental, imagination part of their preparation becomes. If it's good enough to help professionals set world records, earn fortunes and become household names, what can it do for you? Just imagine!
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