fCAT: innovative peace leadership: WELLNESS TIPS ON HOW TO REACH YOUR GOALS: See the “winning” you. Visualization, or the act of composing a mental image of yourself completing a behavior, is an age-old technique athletes use to prepare for competition—in fact, one historic study by psychology professor Alan Richardson found that basketball players who pictured themselves successfully making free throws, but barely practiced, improved their actual performance nearly as much as those who practiced a lot. “Visualizing your future goals can be incredibly powerful and make you feel more confident about achieving them,” says Alexa.