Some time during 1984, a colleague of mine, Sylvan Scheffler, brought to my attention and article on a gentleman by the name of Dr. Charles Garfield.
It was a Wall Street Journal article that discussed Garfield’s work with athletes
In using their minds as their gyms to help them obtain Peak Performance. I was fascinated by the article, and I contacted Garfield to see if he would be willing to meet with me to discuss the use of his techniques in enhancing the performance of financial professionals.
He agreed to see me in his office in Berkley for a fee of $4,000 to have access to him for a day. I flew out to San Francisco and rented a car for the drive to Berkley where Charles Garfield was the head of something called the Peak Performance Institute. Peak Performance was a popular scientific field in the Soviet Union, but Garfield’s group was one of a kind in the United States at the time.
After an introductory period of getting to know each other, we settled down to a discussion on Mental Rehearsal and how it can be used to help even non athletes greatly enhance their performance.
It is not that no one in the US was using these techniques. People like Jack Nicolaus, Chris Everett and Bill Russell often spoke how they used mental rehearsal to better prepare themselves. Jack Nicolaus once said,” I never hit a shot, not even in practice without having a very sharp, in-focus picture of it in my head.”
Relaxation goes hand and hand with mental rehearsal You must know how to get totally relaxed before you try using mental rehearsal techniques. It is not that difficult. My approach is to sit in my prized comfort chair in my bedroom and then simply close my eyes. I follow this by trying to relax the top of my head and then my face, neck, chest, stomach, legs and feet. It takes a little focus, but in many ways, it is a form of meditation.
Once this is accomplished you merely think of a situation such as a talk you are planning to give or a major decision you have to make and you begin to rehearse all of the things you are going to say as well as the possible reactions you might get and then decide based on this mental rehearsal technique whether or not you think you should proceed. Similarly, this technique can help either avoid or eliminate risk. If you have rehearsed the potential consequences that may occur as a result of your actions and feel comfortable about proceeding, then you in fact have either eliminated any risk or at least you are comfortable with any risk your action may cause. If you are willing to accept the consequences of your act, then it is easier to proceed as if there is no risk at all.
This technique can help you improve your skills in sports, help you give better presentations and make better decisions. It also allows you to increase your confidence, improve your focus and concentration and reduce stress. I also find that accelerates the mastery of new skills as well as stimulates creative thinking.
Simply stated: Anything you can do that has as many positive effects as mental rehearsal is worth doing and doing well and often.
RJC
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