Week 41
What do you believe about yourself?
While we are admittedly not psychologists, there are certain truths that we have learned by experience and witnessing the attitudes and behaviors of ourselves and others. The first thing we have learned is that we literally become what we believe ourselves to be. In other words, if we envision ourselves to be successful, it creates a determination that will result in success in whatever field we choose. Conversely, if we label ourselves as failures or mentally limit ourselves, we create a roadblock for ourselves that would not be there otherwise. These labels can by wrongly placed on us by others as well.
We must realize that our actions, feelings, and behavior are the result of our own images and beliefs about ourselves. Then we must create mental pictures that create opportunities for us to practice new traits and attitudes that reflect what we want to become. Mental practice can help to make perfect because if we picture ourselves performing in a certain manner, it is nearly the same as actual performance.
For example, Research Quarterly conducted an experiment on the effects of mental practice in shooting free throws in basketball. The experiment covered 3 groups over a 20 day period. The first group practiced shooting each day, the 2nd didn’t practice at all, and the 3rd only mentally practiced shooting the free throws. The first group showed an improvement of 24%, the second showed no improvement, and the third improved by 23%!! This result has held true in several other studies as well.
Whether we are trying to get a better job, perform better at the job we already have, improve our public speaking skills, athletic performance, or improve our social interactions, mental practice can be very effective in improving performance. It can also over time change our entire personality and vision of who we are and who we can become.
We must realize that our actions, feelings, and behavior are the result of our own images and beliefs about ourselves. Then we must create mental pictures that create opportunities for us to practice new traits and attitudes that reflect what we want to become. Mental practice can help to make perfect because if we picture ourselves performing in a certain manner, it is nearly the same as actual performance.
For example, Research Quarterly conducted an experiment on the effects of mental practice in shooting free throws in basketball. The experiment covered 3 groups over a 20 day period. The first group practiced shooting each day, the 2nd didn’t practice at all, and the 3rd only mentally practiced shooting the free throws. The first group showed an improvement of 24%, the second showed no improvement, and the third improved by 23%!! This result has held true in several other studies as well.
Whether we are trying to get a better job, perform better at the job we already have, improve our public speaking skills, athletic performance, or improve our social interactions, mental practice can be very effective in improving performance. It can also over time change our entire personality and vision of who we are and who we can become.
Homework:
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O - Choose an area or two in your life in which you may have labeled yourself as a failure or created your own mental limitations. Then spend 20 minutes envisioning what you would like to become or how you would like to be able to handle certain social situations. Then set aside 20 minutes each week to mentally practice going forward and notate your results. You will notice that gradually you will begin to become what you are mentally envisioning!!
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