Found this while studying for my Management 350 test. Great habit to have and I strongly encourage everyone to develop it.
From the textbook, Organizational Behavior Sixth Edition, McShane, Von Glinow
“Mental Imagery: You’ve probably heard the phrase, “I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it!” Self leadership takes the opposite view. It suggests that we need to mentally practice a task and imagine successfully performing it beforehand. This process of mental imagery has two parts. One part involves mentally practicing the task, anticipating obstacles to goal accomplishment, and working out solutions to those obstacles before they occur. By mentally walking through activities required to accomplish the task, we gain the advantage of anticipating problems that may occur. We can then imagine what responses would be best for each contingency.
While one part of mental imagery helps us anticipate things that could go wrong, the other part involves visualizing successful completion of the task. You might imagine the experience of completing the task and the positive results that follow, such as being promoted, receiving a prestigious award, or taking time off work. This visualization increases goal commitment and motivates people to complete the task effectively.”
The week before any endurance run event, I’ll go on one last relaxed run which I refer to as my “dress rehearsal”. During this run, I wear my tuxedo race shirt, only worn on race day, and warp the world around me into the race day environment. It’s a great little confidence builder that usually erases anything I might be worrying about such as asking myself, “did I train enough?” or “Is this the right hydration equipment I should be using?”
Here’s a visual example. I posted this photo of the highest point of the Leadville Trail marathon at 13, 185 feet above sea level and couldn’t wait to be in that spot on race day this past June.
- Posted on May 5: “Beautiful view. Can’t wait to see it and be there in person.”
And the next month, here I am at the top. It was a bitch getting up there but I felt such a feeling of accomplishment at the top of Mosquito Pass.
Jukebox 9 