Visualize the Process

Championships. World records. Fancy cars. Million dollar paydays. The perfect family including kids and a labradoodle. The world highlights the results. I can imagine that your success in sports resulted because of the commitment, energy, and focus that you put into the process. Yes, the results were awesome, and I bet each of you finds even more stories, memories, and even joy in the process. The time practicing, film sessions, and traveling to games with teammates. The process is the majority. Only focusing on the outcomes dismisses all the time that you are getting to your destination and what truly went into getting you there. Remember the family road trip when you were younger. Cooperstown, the Grand Canyon, or whatever other final destination was cool no doubt, but what about staying at the hotel with the pool along the way, the burgers and milkshakes during a pit stop, or the herd of buffalo you saw along the road? The campsite along the way that was right next to the train track may have kept you from getting much sleep that night, but looking back, it is a consistently talked about memory of family vacations.

The process applies beyond your sports career and family vacations. What are you doing to refocus your energy and joy on the new process of your life beyond sports? Do you continue to visualize? Do you visualize the process? Do you see and feel the steps that get you to your goal? We have all seen or been the athlete visualizing our performance. Like Mikaela Shiffrin at the top of the ski run, that visualization often incorporates the process. Visualization involves getting out of the gate, carving the turns, and floating over the flats to know your line, feel the transitions in your mind and body, and know how to react when you experience the actual competition. Visualizing just the end gets you inspired. Visualizing and focusing energy on the process, combined with action, gets you to that end!