Mental Imagery and Visualisation

Sometimes your feelings can get in the way of where you want to be. You may feel really wound up and you want to relax so that you can get to sleep. Or maybe you’re feeling low in energy but you need to feel fired up to complete a task. Visualising images – imagining them, maybe with your eyes closed – is a powerful tool to help you shift your mindset. Evidence shows that it really does work.

The Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps would picture himself with webbed hands and feet to improve his performance in the water. Jonny Wilkinson, the rugby player, would visualise the kick going through the post over and over again before he took the kick. You can do the same. Close your eyes and imagine yourself sitting happily with your task completed. You’ve done a brilliant job. Picture yourself where you want to be, excelling at work or lying comfortably in the sun. You’re re-writing your own story with pictures in your mind.