Whether in sports, debate, or academics, a significant portion of both students and teachers at M-A practice positive thinking and visualizing success.
Contrary to common belief, the most popular form of manifestation isn’t attempting to magically enchant your wants into reality. Instead, the act of visualization and positive thinking to increase your chances of success is much more widespread.
Despite the lack of magical wand-waving involved, having a good mindset can lead to tangible improvement by removing doubt. As concluded by a meta-analysis published in the International Review of Sport and Exercise Psychology, self-confidence can improve your outcome, and fear and self doubt can hinder your ability to perform at your best.
“It’s less about there being some otherworldly force, and more about you putting yourself in the right headspace for something good to happen,” senior Emma Mulcahy said.
Manifestation isn’t a new idea. According to National Geographic, using manifestation was central to many ancient belief systems, and is built on the principle of karma in early Hindu tradition.
In the modern age, many self-help and spiritual groups have popularized manifestation as a way to attract ‘positive energy’ or their dream job on social media. Rhonda Byrne’s novel, “The Secret” also helped bring the phenomenon into today’s world.
AP Psychology teacher Jason Knowles, who did his graduate work in sports psychology, first encountered visualization in the world of athletics.
“Visualization is a very well researched and very powerful tool to improve athletic performance—if you’re doing a speech, if you are performing on stage in a play or a musical, visualization is a powerful tool, because it gives you something to shoot for,” Knowles said.” Knowles said. It also activates what are called mirror neurons in your brain, often referred to as muscle memory, that help you do things properly with good technique that can improve your performance.”
Senior Varsity football player JT Roeder also endorses manifesting as part of his pregame mentality. “Almost every pro does it, or at least the best,” Roeder said.
Senior Varsity softball player Lea Martinez said that her coach, who played D1 softball at UC San Diego, often visualized her plays between games, and had Martinez and her teammates do so before high stakes games.
“To end our practice off, she would have us all lay down in the grass in one big circle and visualize one big thing that we wanted to do during the game, whether it be getting on base on every at-bat or hitting a walk-off grand slam,” Martinez explained.
While it’s a useful tool, manifestation can’t singlehandedly grant success. As explained by Economics and Debate teacher Jack Neumeier, people must take active steps to achieve their ideal outcome. “I think manifestation is a valid and real process and phenomena, but people skip all the middle steps,” he said.
In high school, Neumeier put a note above his bed with his goal of getting a doctorate from John Hopkins University. Each day, he referred back to this material representation of his goal to encourage himself and keep the bigger picture in mind. Neumeier utilized manifestation as a way to reorient himself and keep his goals in mind through the tough nights. “I think when manifestation works and when goal setting works, it’s when you can overcome short term points of friction for a long term goal,” Neumeier said.
Dance team member junior Caitlyn Kavanaugh recommends the use of manifestation in athletics. “I think that having a positive mindset should be encouraged because it pushes you to try harder and be better because you know you can,” she said.
