Stephen Nedoroscik of USA celebrates during the Men’s Artistic Gymnastics team final.
Before his pommel horse routine secured USA Men's Gymnastics its first Olympic medal since 2008, cameras showed Stephen Nedoroscik seemingly napping on the sidelines.
The 25-year-old American, who was brought to Paris exclusively to be a pommel horse specialist, had his nation's hopes on his shoulders. But he wasn't resting when his eyes were closed, he was visualizing what he had to do next.
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"I do it all the time," Nedoroscik told the Washington Post about his habit of visualizing. "Sometimes I think I do it too much, but what else am I to do with those empty spaces?"
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Indeed, the Penn State grad told the paper that he had visualized his routine "about 100 times." By the time it was his turn to go, Nedoroscik didn't even need his glasses.
"I don't think I actually use my eyes on pommel horse," he said. "It's all feeling. I see with my hands."
Visualizing isn't just helpful for Olympic medalists. Neuroscientist and executive coach Tara Swart previously told CNBC Make It that visualization can be a useful tool to help people achieve their goals.
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"You would be surprised how many high-powered executives secretly have action or vision boards at home or saved on their computers," Swart said in 2019.
Vision boards can help because there's not much difference to your brain between a strongly imagined vision and an actual experience. She said it's important to visualize what it is already like to have accomplished what you want to achieve rather than see it as a goal.
Put your vision board somewhere you will regularly see it, such as next to your bed or in your closet, so that you constantly encourage yourself to make decisions and take steps towards reaching your goals.
Keeping your goals top of mind, she said, can help remove some of the stress of taking action to achieve them.
"It cannot just be that you create a fantasy image of your ideal life and wait for your life to magically change," she said. "You've got to do things too and move yourself towards that."
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