I think I Can, I Think I Can...

Remember those words from the famous children’s story, “The Little Engine that Could?” Remember that a long train must be carried over a mountain. Several engines are asked to carry the train, and for a variety of reasons they each refuse. Finally, the little engine stops and takes on the challenge of getting the train over the mountain. As a child, you marveled at the train’s determination and cheered when he made it over the mountain to deliver the supplies to the families waiting on the other end.

The optimism personified in The Little Engine became a metaphor for the American dream during the times of struggle in our economy. The Little Engine stirs in all of us, every time we face seemingly insurmountable obstacles, and rise to overcome them. The power of positive thinking, of holding the optimism and the determination to see the course through has been studied and researched for many years, particularly in athletes.

Any of us that become glued to the media during the Olympic Games know at least one story of an athlete who was never expected to do well, yet somehow surfaced as a champion in his or her selected sport. We cheer and celebrate these successes too, the same as we did for The Little Engine when we were young.

Researchers have taken elite athletes and measured their physiological responses while they used imagery and visualization through their competition and have recorded the performance in their musculature as mirroring that which is actually used in competition! Obviously these elite athletes have used imagery for some time now, but that is a great reason to start using positive messages and imagery immediately. WOW – that’s a powerful tool for all of us!

As adults, we can capitalize on the power of our minds. There is no requirement to be an Olympic athlete, or to hoist an oversized refrigerator on our backs and march around citing, “I think I can” as a mantra. You can capture the power of your mind with much more ease than either of those two demands!

We all face obstacles in our training – whether we are competitors or working out to stay in shape. We have results we would like to obtain, and we send ourselves messages that relieve us of achieving them. Rather than finding the escape hatch, why not close your eyes and visualize your success?

For instance, if you are beginning to play softball you have many skills to learn and improve. As you continue to experience the proper form of your swing, you can use visualization to further improve your skill. After practice is over, take a few minutes to sit in a still and quiet place, close your eyes and feel the swing happening. Use your imagination to see the colors of home plate, the cleats you have in relation to the base and the bat. As you see the pitch arrive at the plate see contact on the bat and the ball leaving the bat for a home run.

Now use that visualization before the next practice, and continue to build it into your training regimen until it is second nature to spend a few moments imagining the impact your role has in the success of your team.

Some people find it helpful to create a mantra, much like The Little Engine did with “I think I can, I think I can”. Using our example from above, you could choose to say “this time on base” before each time you enter the batter’s box. Mantras should be simple and easy to remember, and serve as cues for the visualization we have already practiced.

As you continue to develop your prowess, take the time to visualize the new skill, technique, or even to “see” the game through from start to finish as you complete each skill through your mind prior to ever stepping on the field. You will be amazed at the influence this has when you are on the field performing in your sport! Now imagine your sport is your career. Imagine one skill or one performance in your profession then visualize the “game” from start to finish. You see, Olympic athlete or Corporate athlete, the power of visualization is the same.

An important note for your visualization: Only see your success; focus your mind on success-oriented tasks and goals not failure-avoidant ones. For instance, a failure-avoidant statement from a volleyball player is “I hope I don’t miss my serve”; where a success-oriented one is “this serve is in the court”. A positive image is more likely to yield a positive result. Make your imagery vivid, with much detail about what you are doing and the form and substance of your movements – step into your performance, feel the motion as you will strike that pitch. A common occurrence is to see yourself in movement rather than being yourself in movement, so be alert to feeling the movement, tasting the chlorine in your mouth during visualization the same as you will when you are in the pool.

We each hold great power in our minds. Tap into this resource as a mechanism to move your performance to new heights. “The Little Engine that could” continues to be a motivating story of optimism and willpower, and I encourage each of you to create the mental image of yourself as a winner – in the board room, or the local bowling league – you will be that much closer to realizing it.