Ever dream you could be more confident in social situations, ace that presentation or that you would actually be a better athlete? Results from a comprehensive study by Feltz and Landers in 1983 indicated that we can actually significantly improve our performance on a variety of tasks through visualization and mental practice.  The researchers found that people can improve in areas such as sports, academia, social situations, or even musical instruments.  Since this time many professional athletes have been engaging in this practice.

Here’s how you can try:

1. Choose a task – Choose some task or skill you’d like to improve. This could be shooting hoops, talking in front of people, or refraining from overeating when the desserts are all over the table.
2. Visualize - take a moment to close your eyes and visualize this scenario, really picture yourself there.
3. Rehearse – Really practice performing whatever this task is with great diligence, mentally rehearsing it and imagining yourself doing this well with great skill. Do this for at least 5 minutes a day.
4. Review - Once in a while check in to see if your performance is improving.

Like anything, this takes practice and you aren’t expected to be an olympic athlete or a rock star after a few tries. Give it some time and trust your own experience.

As always, share your thoughts, stories, and questions here. Your interaction provides a living wisdom for us all to benefit from.

Elisha Goldstein, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist in private practice in West Los Angeles and is author of the upcoming book The Now Effect, co-author of A Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Workbook, Foreword by Jon Kabat-Zinn, author of the Mindful Solutions at Work App, the Mindful Solutions audio series, and the Mindfulness at Work™ program currently being adopted in multiple multinational corporations. Join Elisha Goldstein's Facebook Community to keep up with important information, tips and events.

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Ivo Mortani (Movere) (July 23, 2009)

From Psych Central's website:
PsychCentral (July 23, 2009)

    Last reviewed: 23 Jul 2009