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Mind

How visualisation sets you up for success by changing your cognition

The vividness of your mind’s eye isn't fixed - and training it up is the secret tool of top athletes and businesspeople. Here’s how you can help develop yours

By David Robson

28 May 2025

TOPSHOT - Belarus' Aryna Sabalenka serves the ball to Denmark's Clara Tauson during their women's singles match on day six of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne on January 17, 2025. (Photo by Adrian Dennis / AFP) / -- IMAGE RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - STRICTLY NO COMMERCIAL USE -- (Photo by ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP via Getty Images)

Imagining performing a specific action is a technique used to great effect by sportspeople

ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP via Getty Images

This article is part of a special series exploring the radical potential of the human imagination. Read more here.

Feeling stressed about an upcoming event? Imagine, for a moment, that you have a magic anti-anxiety pill in front of you that will take away your nerves. Picture its packaging, and feel yourself popping the pill from its foil. Now, visualise bringing it to your mouth, dropping it in, and conjure up the sensation of swallowing it.

These were the instructions that Jens Gaab and his colleagues at the University of Basel in Switzerland gave participants in a recent study investigating the possibilities of the placebo effect. The participants, university students who were studying for an exam, were instructed to repeat the procedure twice a day for three weeks.

Remarkably, it worked — those who took an imaginary pill experienced less test anxiety than control participants who were simply asked to report their anxiety levels as the exam approached. “And their performance was significantly better,” says Gaab.
It is now well accepted that placebo pills can sometimes relieve symptoms, and the results from Gaab and his team suggest we can achieve the same effect when that pill exists only in our mind. It is just one of many surprising ways that imagination may help to improve our health, happiness and success. So, what can we do to make the most of these benefits?

Why visualisation works

The power of visualisation is well known in sports science. “Multisensory imagery is a game changer…

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