Are you an Olympian?

Surely, Olympians are the best individuals to emulate when it comes to preparation; during the Winter Olympics I was fascinated by the skiers. Minutes before they plunged down the mountain, they would stand atop the course lost in meditative swaying, eyes closed and hands moving as they simulated the turn of each gate. Several interesting studies have revealed how habits are formed in the brain via guided imagery, highlighting the importance of imagination in the formation of behavior. Connected by intentional and unintentional practice, the more often you imagine something to be, the more likely you are to enact that vision. An analogous illustration of this process would be streams of water running down a mountain. The more the water flows downhill into a particular groove, the more worn away the stone gets and the channel becomes more powerful. The rushing water begins to leave behind the smaller, less-traveled rivulets and converges into a single rushing river. Attention is the same. The more attention you give to a certain thought or action, the stronger the habit you create. Thus, a single trickle can quite literally move mountains. So too, can a single thought.