Maximizing Your Skills
and Abilities
Is there a skill you want to develop to help you at work such as improving your word processing skills, giving talks, or communicating better at meetings? Do you want to be more skilled in something you do at home such as becoming a great cook or learning how to fix things around the house? These GWYW techniques can help you improve in many areas. To develop any skill, use your power to create mental imagery to practice in your mind.
The power of the mind to affect performance has become widely recognized by researchers and trainers. Thousands of sports figures use mental imagery techniques to develop and perfect their skills and to help them win games and competitions. They mentally practice their sport to supplement their real practice, and before a big competition they psyche themselves up by visualizing themselves making the basket, hitting the home run, or winning the game. The power of these techniques is so great that specialists in peak performance have been working with coaches to train athletes in using imagery most effectively. Professionals in fields other than sports also use this technique. Hundreds of consultants and trainers have been showing business leaders and their employees how to use these techniques to improve productivity and boost morale. Even lawyers use this technique. For instance, after they prepare their written materials, many trial lawyers review exactly how they are going to present their argument in court in their mind. They visualize themselves speaking to the jury. They see themselves questioning and cross-examining witnesses. They go through all the different phases of the trial in their mind as the case moves on each day. Teachers, seminar leaders, salespeople, and countless others use this technique to develop and perfect their skills.
Once you get rid of any I can’ts standing in your way, you’ll be free to develop your talents and skills. In all probability, you’ll find you now can do many things you never dreamed possible and you can develop existing talents and skills to new levels of excellence.
GWYW Techniques to Improve Skills
The GWYW techniques can help to improve your skills in a number of ways. These include discovering and practicing new skills, overcoming fears that keep you from developing a skill, and increasing your income when you learn to perform a skill very well. Following are examples of individuals using each of these approaches to improve their skills.
Overcome Your Fear of New Activities
Suzanne used these techniques to discover how to become a better hostess at parties and events. She did this after she and her husband moved to a new town and she became a volunteer for a charity that she wanted to help out by hosting fundraising parties for the group. Using visualization techniques she imagined herself as a successful and outgoing hostess. As she saw herself in different roles as a hostess, from cooking up new recipes in the kitchen to meeting and greeting guests, she became increasingly aware that she really liked working with people to coordinate the event past just making invitation phone calls and she decided she might not only use this skill for volunteer events but might also make some additional money as an event planner. To become even better she continued her visualizations, so she imagined herself whipping up all kinds of recipes where she combined different foods in different ways and she imagined different activities she could plan for her guests. She saw herself leading a team of volunteers preparing the decorations and creating an exciting theme for the party. She also saw guests arriving, enjoying the party, and complimenting her on her unique new dishes. Then when it came time to actually plan and put the party together she knew exactly what to do. Visualization helped her feel fully prepared and full of confidence for the real thing. The result was a very enjoyable party, which was the first of many, and the beginning of a new part-time career as an event planner.
Overcoming Fears to Develop New Skills
for a New Activity
In another case, Jack overcame his fear of water so he could learn how to swim. All his life Jack felt held back by this fear, and when he moved to a new house near a large lake he decided it was time to learn. He saw others go to the water to swim, be on water skis, or take out boats where knowing how to swim was expected and required for safety reasons. And he felt he was missing out by not being able to join in these activities with others. The prospect of swimming frightened him, although he realized he had to do it. He began taking steps to overcome his fears using both actual practice and GWYW techniques. To gain practice, he joined a swimming class where he practiced going farther and farther into the lake to get over his fear. At the same time, he spent a few minutes each day visualizing himself fearlessly going into the water. He imagined going in deeper and deeper, and then gradually lying down in the water where he experienced images of both humans and animals, such as dolphins and fish, effortlessly propelling themselves through the water. At the same time he imagined himself being calm, confident, and completely relaxed and comfortable. He then imagined himself easily swimming like the dolphins, fish, and expert swimmers.
The result was that a few weeks later he was able to swim quickly and confidently as he joined others at the lake to swim and enjoy water sports. He had developed a belief from his practice that he could do it. When he began swimming in the lake outside of the swimming class he felt like he could almost go automatically because he had practiced so many times in his mind. As a result, when he actually did what he had imagined he knew exactly what to do and had no fear doing it. He had acquired that sense of knowing and assurance that comes from practice—even if much of that practice was in his mind.
Earn More through Improved Performance
Better performance can lead to increased income, as one salesman found when he used visualization to become better at his job. Before that, Jerry had tried various sales jobs after leaving college and eventually went through a real estate program and sold real estate for a large company. But he was disappointed by his lackluster performance compared to the other salespeople. He was only making a few sales a month and experiencing a 95 percent rejection rate, whereas some of the company’s top performers were averaging six or seven sales a month and closing about 10–15 percent of the people they worked with. Then, at a sales meeting, Jerry heard a speaker talk about the power of creative visualization and tried it out by spending fifteen minutes each day before he went to bed visualizing himself giving a sales pitch to his prospects. He saw himself taking them to a house, giving them an enthusiastic buildup on the way, and listening to what they wanted. He also imagined arriving at the house, showing the prospects around, and telling them about the benefits they would find especially appealing.
Within a few days Jerry noticed a powerful effect. He found he gave his sales talk about the homes more convincingly, and seemed to know exactly what to say and when because he had already practiced in his mind. Also, he felt more enthusiastic as he spoke, just as he had when he practiced. In turn, his prospects were more responsive. They appeared to be more reassured by what he said, felt he was more knowledgeable, and trusted his claims more, and their more favorable attitude showed in his sales.
Mental Scripts to Plan and Rehearse
The key to increasing your skills with these GWYW techniques is rehearsing what you want in your mind. By doing so, you reinforce what you have learned through physical practice since the mind doesn’t clearly distinguish between what you do in reality and what you do mentally. The result is that you can cut down on actual practice time and speed up the time you need to improve. Furthermore, by working with the skill you want to acquire in your mind, you can see yourself performing it perfectly, which provides an ideal model you can strive to achieve when you perform the activity for real. Using the ideal model is crucial for your success since you need to see yourself doing the skill perfectly to attain this goal. Otherwise, if you make mistakes in your mental practice, you’ll make the same mistakes in the real world. So, to improve your singing skills see yourself singing every note correctly; to improve your sales ability, see yourself making a perfect presentation, asking the right questions, and closing each sale. If a mistake should appear as you visualize, simply imagine yourself quickly correcting it. You want to create an image of perfection to influence what you do in real life.
Mental imaging techniques work because they give you the ability to plan what you want to do and practice doing it. In addition, as you actively see yourself performing well through practice, you reinforce what you have learned from physically performing that act or learning that skill. By doing so, you gain the confidence that comes from practice. If you can actually practice, that would be even better. But even if you just rehearse in your mind, you are practicing and your mind creates a mental script so real that when it comes time for the real thing you can use your mental script as a guide.
This mental scripting approach is so powerful because when you perform well mentally, the mind sets up an effective pattern (like a habit), which in creating mental images that lay down traces in the brain cells, transfers over into the real performance. You see yourself performing something perfectly that, in turn, provides an ideal model you can strive toward when you are actually doing it. Practicing in your mind also reduces the amount of actual practice time needed, and therefore, helps you improve more quickly. Then, too, as you visualize going through the experience, you learn what you need to add or change to improve your performance.
I use these techniques regularly while preparing for talks and presentations. I mentally go through all the steps a few times to decide what materials I am going to use in a presentation and how I am going to use them. Then I mentally rehearse the broad outlines of my talk, and if I need to make any changes or additions to what I say or how I say it, this practice gives me the chance to make them. By the time I actually give the talk, everything I need to do it well is in place and I feel confident I can do it.
Similarly you can use visualization to build your skills, perhaps starting off by deciding what you want to practice. For instance, I begin by using a series of visualizations to ask myself what I need to do and then prepare accordingly. If it’s a seminar, for example, I create an outline and workbook and then imagine myself giving the talk. I see myself up on the platform. Using the outline I go through each topic in my mind, making appropriate changes and additions when necessary. When the time comes to give my talk I am confident I can do it. I know in my mind what I can do, and when the seminar begins I step out on the stage and it’s as if I had done it many times before. Once I start speaking, everything seems to fall right into place just as I had imagined it. The ideas and words are right there when I need them and I zip along following my outline. When it comes time for audience participation, the audience, too, slips right into place. It all works because I go over everything in advance in my mind’s eye. As a result I know what I am going to do and have the confidence to do it.
The I can approach opens the door and the mental script technique helps you through it.
The Keys to an Effective Mental Rehearsal
To use the mental rehearsal technique successfully, keep the following key points in mind:
Select a Method You Have Learned to Do or Have Seen Someone Else Use and Visualize This in Your Mind
For instance, if you have just learned some basic procedures for using a mobile app, see yourself going through these procedures in your mind. Or if you have seen someone give an impressive speech, imagine yourself giving a talk using the same approach as this speaker.
Visualize a New Method in Your Mind—See Yourself Doing it Right
This image in your mind will eventually translate into reality. Create an ideal model to guide your performance. Imagine doing whatever you are doing flawlessly and effectively since the image in your mind is what will gradually translate itself into reality. If you make mistakes in your mental practice, you’ll make the same mistakes in the real world. If you imagine yourself performing perfectly, you may not perform perfectly in the real world but you’ll perform more closely to perfection. Whatever skill you choose to develop, imagine that you know exactly what to do. For example, to improve your typing skills see yourself hitting every key correctly and quickly. To be a better speaker, see yourself making the perfect presentation.
Quickly Correct Any Mistakes
As you visualize, if you make a mistake imagine yourself quickly correcting it. For example, if you are imagining a job interview and say the wrong thing, back up to what you were doing before you made the error and give your answer again.
Imagine Practicing New Skills
Make your imagination as intense and vivid as possible; make the image as detailed and real as possible. The more real you make the mental experience, the more powerful it will be in influencing what happens when you actually do it. So don’t just visualize yourself using the desired skills effectively, but hear, feel, smell, and otherwise sense the environment. Clearly visualize the setting. See yourself or others dressed appropriately to practice that skill; notice anyone else in the environment. Pay attention to what others are doing. Are they responding to you, listening closely, and enjoying your comments?
Repeat This Visualization Again and Again
This will give it more power. Like an athlete or performer, you have to practice in your mind just as in life. Repeat your visualization at least once a day, or more if needed. By doing so it becomes automatic, a habit. If necessary, you can replay this guiding imagery in your mind at any time.
Invest the Image with the Feeling of Becoming
More Skilled, Confident, and Assured
You want to invest the image with these feelings because they will stay with you when you return to normal consciousness and will help you perform better in real life. When you feel good about what you are doing, you will enjoy doing it and will do it better. So as you practice feel yourself becoming more skilled, confident, and assured, and this feeling will carry over into real time and help you perform better. When you return to normal consciousness, carry this feeling of success and confidence with you.
Avoid Second-Guessing Yourself
After you have successfully visualized what you want, allow yourself to feel a sense of completion. Don’t question whether the process works or ask, Can I really do this? Such questions will undermine what you have done. You have to truly believe that mental imaging will work for it to do so. Should questions about the process arise, push them away. Keep reinforcing your self-confidence and assure yourself that you can do it. That, too, will help you do it.
Find a Good Role Model
Even if you already have some experience with a skill you want to develop, a good role model can give you an ideal to strive toward in your mental practicing. Ideally, observe the person in action. Then imagine yourself in this person’s place, reenacting as closely as possible what this person did so well. For instance, if you have seen someone give an impressive speech, imagine yourself giving a talk using the same approach. If you have met someone who is especially adept in meeting and talking to people, pay attention to what they do and mentally practice these methods.
Sample Visualizations
The following visualizations will give you some ideas of how to use the process. They can be adapted to the skill you want to acquire or improve on since the particular skills desired and current level of training will vary for each person. You can also use the principles underlying these examples to create your own visualizations for the skill you want to acquire.
Imagine You Possess the Skill You Want to Acquire
To begin, close your eyes and get relaxed. Focus on your breathing for a minute or two to calm down. Now ask yourself what skill, talent, or ability you want to acquire. Let a word or picture of this skill come into your mind. Then picture someone performing that skill very well. It could be a person you know or even someone well-known. It can be anyone. Just watch the person in action.
Watch the person closely. They seem to be completely at ease. They are doing it very well. Notice how they move. Notice their gestures. Notice that they feel very confident and assured. They have a lot of enthusiasm. They really like what they are doing and are totally into doing it. Maybe there are others watching, too, and admiring what they are doing. Continue to watch for a while, really getting a sense of what they are doing so you see what to do yourself.
Now, after you have watched for a while, go over to the person you have been watching. Explain how much you have admired what they have done and ask them to be your teacher. Explain how much you really want to learn to do this yourself and listen to the person’s answers. If the person says no, ask again. If the answer is still no perhaps you aren’t quite ready to learn this skill or to learn from this teacher. Ask why.
If the answer is yes, see yourself getting ready to learn this skill and see your teacher nearby watching and ready to help. Then, recalling how you saw your teacher do it, imagine yourself doing it. If you’re not sure of something you can always turn to your teacher to ask for help. Now spend a few minutes practicing this skill as your teacher watches. Notice how you move as you do it. Notice how you are feeling very confident and assured that you will do well. Also, you have lots of enthusiasm. You really like what you are doing and feel totally absorbed.
When you feel ready, stop practicing and thank your teacher for helping, knowing you can always call on them to help again. Then let this image go, return to the room, and open your eyes feeling very good and confident in your new abilities.
Practice a Skill or Talent You Want to Develop
To begin, close your eyes and get relaxed. Focus on your breathing for a minute or two to calm down. Ask yourself what skill, talent, or ability you want to further develop. Then see yourself ready to perform this skill with whatever equipment you will need to do this. If you wish, invite your teacher to come and observe and make comments and suggestions.
Now, whatever the skill is, see yourself doing it. Notice that you feel comfortable and very much at ease. Experience yourself performing this skill well, and as you do, notice how you are moving. You are moving easily. You feel competent and confident. Should you make a mistake, you can quickly correct it; or if your teacher is there, ask them how to correct it. Or you can turn and see someone near you practicing the same skill and doing it perfectly. You can copy what this person is doing so you know exactly what to do. If you wish, you can have others around who are just watching, praising, and cheering you.
Take a few minutes to continue to practice, doing it well and feeling self-assured and powerful. You know you are very good and are getting even better as you practice. Then, when you feel ready, finish practicing and if you have had any help, thank whoever helped. If others have been watching, thank them for their support. Then let the image go, return to the room, and open your eyes feeling good and confident that you are getting better and better in your abilities.
Improve Your Speaking Ability in a Group
To begin, again close your eyes and relax. Now see yourself in your office or in a quiet place at work. You have some time to prepare for an upcoming group meeting and you go over what you are going to say in your mind. See yourself thinking of the key points you want to make. Imagine how you are going to say them and which points you will make first.
Then rehearse these ideas in your mind. Say them again and again to yourself until you feel certain of what you want to say and how to say it. Now, feeling sure of yourself, imagine you are with that group. You enter the room feeling very confident about what you are going to say. Then you present your arguments or comments. You do so forcefully and authoritatively, and you notice that the others are listening closely to what you say. When you are finished, they agree with you.
As the conversation continues, you make additional points from time to time, and again, you know exactly when to say what you need to say and you phrase it exactly the right way. In turn, the other group members highly value your ideas and show their approval by listening closely and praising what you say.
Continue to practice in your mind’s eye for a few minutes and notice your sureness and control. Notice how much your speaking ability has improved and how much surer of yourself you are. Slowly come back to the room and open your eyes. This feeling will stay with you when you return to normal consciousness and you will notice an immediate improvement the next time you speak in a group or give a presentation.
To begin, close your eyes and relax. Picture yourself in front of a physical book or reading on your computer or mobile device. Sit down at it and open the book to a page, ready to start reading. You feel very comfortable. Scan your eyes over the document.
Now, place your first two fingers at the beginning of the document and walk them along the document. Follow the words under your fingers with your eyes. Then as you turn the pages or flip from page to page in the document, move your fingers more quickly down the page, and again follow your fingers with your eyes. Gradually, quicken the pace so you can still comprehend the meaning of what you are reading, although you don’t have to mentally mouth or think each word. This is actually a technique used in a rapid reading class to increase reading speed while maintaining comprehension.
Now you will add in the power of your mind to imagine you are doing this. Just see the image of the book you have been reading in your mind and imagine your fingers walking through the text as you read, and as in the real experience, speed up the movement of your fingers in your mind while you still understand what you are reading. Continue doing this process for a few minutes, and when you find a top speed you are comfortable with, stay at that speed and practice on a series of pages. Later you can up the speed and find a new plateau on which to practice. Finally, when you actually sit down with a book or with something to read on your computer or mobile device, you will find you can read faster with increased accuracy whether you use your real fingers or imagine your fingers are walking across the page.
Creating Your Own Skills Visualizations
You can also use the formats I have described to create your own skills visualizations. These exercises are just models you can use to develop new skills or practice others you want to further develop. Such skills and abilities can run the gamut from job or hobby skills to social skills. You can insert whatever skill you want to develop into these scenarios or create your own visualizations. It can be anything from an elaborate setting to practice your skills to just seeing yourself practicing in your mind’s eye. Simply decide what skill you want to develop, create a mental scenario where you are in a setting that you are comfortably using that skill, and see yourself doing it perfectly. For the visualization to be most effective make the image and experience as vivid and intense as possible so that it feels very real. It’s important to notice any mistakes as you practice and to correct them immediately so you don’t carry the errors over into your performance.
After you have practiced several times you will immediately begin seeing the results in your improved performance. Continue doing the visualization until you have acquired the facility you want with the particular skill. Once you attain that level, if you perform the skill regularly your everyday habit reflexes will take over. Once you attain this automatic performance level, you’ll be able to perform the skill automatically and effectively and won’t need to practice mentally on a regular basis. Then from time to time, to polish your abilities, go over your skill in your mind. If you expect to use these skills for a particularly critical occasion, such as a big presentation to a client or a keynote speech to a business group, mentally review so that you feel completely prepared and psyched up to put on your best possible performance.
Should you attain a desired level and want to improve even more, simply bring up the image of your ideal accomplishment in your mind. For example, if you want to use that skill even more quickly, increase the speed in your visualization and practice at that new speed until you feel comfortable at this new plateau. Or to get even better, such as perfecting your ability to cook a better soufflé or sing with more style and passion, choose an even more skilled teacher as your model and practice to achieve that level. Just as in everyday life you want to keep improving, so likewise you need to improve the models you use to practice in your mind.