Chris Mance II - Mental Skills Coach

Visualization is one of the most important tools for mastering the mental side of performance. I know this because over the last 13 months, I have not let a day go by without doing at least 30 minutes of research into the mental side of performance. Over this time, source after source from respected researchers, sports psychologist, and performance consultants have reiterated this fact time an time again.

Finally, about 30 days ago I began to take this advice and apply visualization techniques on a daily basis. Each day, my job requires me to work through a series of problems. These problems have no right answer and no obvious first step.

As a result, these problems drive procrastination, analysis paralysis, and anxiety. Therefore, my first attempt at using a daily visualization routine is all about overcoming procrastination when facing these types of complex problems.

My Visualization Technique to Overcome Procrastination

Step 1: Visualize a small snowball at the top of a hill overlooking a town

The first thing I do is sit down in a comfortable chair in a somewhat quiet place. I place my feet flat on the ground with my back straight and my arms hanging by my side.

Then I start a process of deep focused breathing for about 30 to 60 seconds. As I continue to breathe deeply, I turn my focus away from my breath to my visualization. I visualize a small snowball at the top of a hill overlooking a town.

Step 2: Visualize the snowball rolling down the hill getting bigger and bigger

After I have my mind firmly fixated on the scenery, I then visualize the snowball rolling down the hill. As the snowball rolls down the hill it gets bigger and bigger. So big, as it approaches the town it looks like a monster snowball that will engulf anything in its path.

As a matter of fact, that’s exactly what happens. The snowball sweeps through the town swallowing everything in its path. The town is empty so no one is hurt. However, each building is swept up one by one by the snowball leaving barron land in its wake.

Step 3: Visualize you as the snowball and the town as your problems

The third and final step is to visualize yourself as the small snowball at the top of the hill. As you roll down the hill, you pick up all the resources you need to get bigger than your problems. Knowledge, solutions, friends, mentors, energy, motivation, resilience, and mental toughness are all joining you to make you bigger and stronger.

As you approach the town full of your problems, you see all of your problems clearly. Those problems are right in front of you and have nowhere to go. Think about each of your problems for a moment, but not about how big or complex they are. Instead, just see them as an obstacle in the way of your progress of growing.

Now think back to all the resources that have joined you to make your snowball bigger and faster. You are now unstoppable. All you have to do now is just keep going and just blast through the problems with the support system surrounding you.

Transitioning out of the Visualization into the Work

This visualization process takes me about 10 to 15 minutes from start to finish. After I complete visualizing sweeping through all my problems I go back to focus on my breath. I count each deep breath down from 10 to 1, then I open my eyes. At that point, I typically grab a glass of water and dive into my work.

I can say without a shadow of a doubt that this technique is extremely helpful. In the past, I often would procrastinate for an hour or more before I could muster up the motivation to attack a complex problem I’m trying to avoid solving. Now, I am reducing that time to 10 to 15 minutes. This is literally adding 45 minutes or more of productivity to my work day. What’s more, I feel re-energized after completing this visualization. These results speak for themself.