While on vacation in Alaska, my wife Laura and I stopped off for a hike at Russian River Falls, a great place to see salmon running upriver. Perfect! At the trail-head, there was a sign warning of wildlife and reminding each passerby of the proper responses – something we had seen nearly everyday during our vacation. A couple of miles into the hike, we came around a blind curve in the trail. Suddenly, silently, I felt Laura grab my right arm, as she directed my attention down the trail ahead of us. There, 40 yards away, around a slight bend in the trail, were one immense brown bear and two large cubs. We were in awe, mesmerized. Milliseconds later, we realized that we were way too close.
Putting my hand out to get the camera from Laura, I glanced away from the bears toward her. She was now 10 feet behind me, walking slowly backwards and quietly reminding me to “back up.” She had initiated SEE (a three step process for putting imagery into action) and was now engaging in the appropriate survival response. Afterwards, safely back in the car, we naturally recounted our bear encounter and Laura told me how she used mental rehearsal (intentional daydreaming) to develop a mental blueprint in her mind for what to do if we saw a bear on the trail. Actually, she had been reviewing this mental blueprint every time we saw a warning sign. Each time, she vividly pictured in her head what she was supposed to do and saw herself, outfit, gear and all, doing exactly that. Then, once we found ourselves a football throw’s distance from hundreds of pounds of ferocious beauty, she executed her blueprint perfectly.
While Laura’s use of mental rehearsal kept us from becoming dessert, I believe that there are numerous other areas of our lives when building a blueprint would help us perform at our best, especially when it’s all on the line. I use mental rehearsal to create a blueprint in countless settings (especially when there are multiple steps involved). I use it for preparing to give a talk, before serving in tennis, engaging in my morning routine, and planning my workout, to name a few examples.
Mental rehearsal isn’t a skill accessible only to those with a vivid imagination. I believe anyone can use mental rehearsal, also called imagery, to develop a mental blueprint for performing up to their potential when it really counts. And it works best when you SEE.
Sequence The Proper Steps
Whether you aim to survive a bear encounter in the untamed wild of Alaska or smoothly execute the winning putt in your next tournament, you want to properly sequence the actions that will maximize your chances of success. In our case of the brown bears, this included slowly backing away and speaking quietly. For golfers this would be the sequence of actions they take as part of their pre-shot routine. It might include choosing the shot to hit, selecting their club, approaching the ball, balancing their stance and so on.
Envision Yourself In The Scene
Now, place yourself into the sequence. This is like having a movie script that needs an actor: you (and others as appropriate). With all the vividness of a dream that wakes you in the night, mentally rehearse yourself flawlessly completing the desired actions. This becomes your mental blueprint; it will build muscle memory for the task at hand and inform your instincts to be most adaptable.
Engage In The Action
Then, the time has come, the scene is set and as the director calls out, “Action!” the blueprint comes to life and you perform just as you mentally rehearsed. You engage the scene, follow the blueprint, react instinctively, adapt and confidently seize the moment you’ve prepared for. Success! The bear turns away, the disaster is avoided, the putt drops triumphantly into the cup. It’s magical…it’s mental rehearsal.
Here are a few suggestions to help you think of ways you can leverage your imagination to come through under pressure:
- preparing for a high stakes meeting
- executing the next lift in your workout routine
- reviewing the play as you break the huddle and line up
- preparing to give a speech or presentation
- before walking in to a parent teacher conference (for parents and teachers)
- a competitive shooter about to begin the next stage
- a shortstop rehearsing what to do if a ground ball is hit to him with a runner on first base
- a tennis player preparing to serve
- a surgeon preparing for his next patient
- Soldiers preparing for a mission
- survival/rescue situations
Don’t leave your pressure moments up to chance. Give it a try yourself. Identify a pressure performance you or your team has coming up. Then, SEE it! And, as with any new skill, you’ll get better with practice.
Question: How will you leverage the power of mental rehearsal to improve performance in your arena? Please leave a comment below and join in the conversation.
Please note: I encourage reader discussion, however, I reserve the right to delete comments that are offensive or off-topic.