Michael Phelps’ Imagination
September 24, 2008
Michael Phelps has achieved his incredible goal of winning 8 gold medals in swimming at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. Some he won by large margins and some by very close ones. But win he did, again and again. He certainly deserves all the honor and prosperity coming his way as a result of his years of hard work in training.
It is interesting that he credits his success to his imagination. "Nothing is impossible," Phelps said. "With so many people saying it couldn't be done, all it takes is an imagination, and that's something I learned and something that helped me."
I wonder if he means simply what he says in the quote- that to be able to imagine the possibility is all it takes. Or whether he may have used visualization techniques to activate the imagination to refine his performance. Such visualization techniques, guided imagery, are widely used in sports psychology and it is quite possible he did make use of them.
Either way, the power of the imagination is wonderful.
Knowing Imagination 