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Have you heard of harnessing the power of imagination?

If you're like me, you might have heard about the idea of visualisation first, in a sports context. When I first stumbled across this topic, I heard about sports people, athletes and professionals using visualisation to enhance their performance. This idea seemed wild to me. How could sitting and thinking about something somehow elevate the real thing? 

Turns out, there's a pretty big body of research, especially for sports people. So much so that one study even said "Every athlete's path includes visualization as a tool for improving performance".

Every athlete's path includes visualization as a tool for improving performance(Stephen et al., 2022)

This got me thinking, surely visualisation applies to other things too. What about exams? Tests? Public speaking? You name it. Turns out, that's a thing too. There is a huge amount of research done in this area and everything I've read is overwhelmingly positive. 

With exam season upon us, I've decided to try this out. After revising for a few hours, I take a pretty decent break and use this chance off of the screen to try visualisation. For me, this includes a few key steps. This isn't wholly scientific so if you want a true and tested method, I suggest giving it a Google! However, this is what works for me. 

1. Sit down in a quiet, comfortable area but still remain upright. We don't want to fall asleep, although after a few hours of study that's probably likely!

2. Put in earphones, headphones or earplugs and embrace the quiet. Or, chuck on some music or something stimulating to help you imagine. 

3. Pick a specific goal or situation. For me, this is the first of two exams. 

4. Imagine key aspects of the day (this part probably involves some pre-planning). Really visualise what this would look like. What time are you getting up, what will you eat for breakfast? How will you get to your exam? Will you read over the notes before going in? Then, once you're in the exam room, imagine sitting down at that desk. 

5. Imagine the exam going as great as possible. Imagine feeling good that day. Well-rested, energised, ready to go. Imagine knowing all of the answers, imagine relaxing with friends after. imagine smashing that exam! 

I've only done this a few times so far, but I definitely feel more confident going into the exam. I've learned through my studies that confidence doesn't necessarily equal accuracy, but I sure feel better about tackling a stressful event having visualised it going well. Even if everything doesn't go according to plan, I at least know what I'm expecting to happen and can adjust accordingly. 

I hope this serves you well too!