You’ve just finished another circuit of weekend shows and you’re starting to wonder if it was all worth it. We have all been there. This was the weekend you needed to win your class for the end of the year award or any remaining qualifying points. Or maybe it was just the weekend where you felt like everything was finally coming together.

You warmed up nicely, but your horse got distracted by a kid in the stands and tripped while running to your pleasure class. You immediately became obsessed with the bad first impression you left on the judge. So much so that you let him lose his cadence and break stride during the first gallop step. When the class changed direction, you overruled him in an effort to avoid the same mistake, and he tensed up and worried the rest of the class.

You have a good horse. You are committed and disciplined when it comes to your lessons. You spend hours in the saddle, go to vet and chiropractor appointments, maybe even go without that new outfit so your horse can have the best farrier. So it’s much harder to deal with setbacks like these that seem out of your control. What you may have overlooked is your own mental training.

Most elite athletes report having a routine, structured mental training program that they rely on to gain an advantage. In fact, they report that your mental preparation is often the deciding factor in the outcome of a competition.

For these athletes, the cornerstone of this preparation is visualization. This process is much more than daydreaming about blue ribbons. Think of a time when you were angry or worried. Perhaps he had an argument with his spouse or a friend of his, and then replayed the incident in his mind. You thought of all the things you should have said, and before you knew it, your fists and jaw were soaring and your blood pressure was through the roof. You relived the argument in your mind and your body reacted as if it were really happening. You visualized.

Now think about your classroom. It would be easy to revive it from a negative point of view. As humans, we seemed programmed to do that. Positive visualization is a way to rewrite the script and send new signals from your brain to your body. You can’t have a physical replay of the class, but you can have as many mental replays as you like. In fact, you can take this seemingly negative experience and turn it into a positive role model for what your next class will look like.

At Peak Performance Coaching, we have a saying: “See what you want. Don’t see what you don’t want.” When you create your mental replay, erase the mistakes. If your horse spooked or stumbled, calmly correct him and continue your ride. Edit your own tension and loss of concentration. See your horse immediately refocusing on you and having a good class.

Here are three fundamental guidelines for effective visualization:

1. Breathing – You will want to find a quiet place where you can sit or lie down with your eyes closed. Start with ten deep breaths. These breaths should be deep and come from your abdomen. Inhale through your nose and exhale through your mouth. Clear your mind.

2. Senses: Recreate your class or event in as much detail as possible. Smell the dew of flies and the sweat of horses. Listen to the speakers. See the front door. Feel the kidneys in your hands.

3. Rhythm: This one is important. Do not rush. Ride every step of your class. Biofeedback research has shown that in order to establish the correct neural pathways in your brain, your mental rehearsal must proceed at the same pace as your actual performance would.

As you can see, visualization is a much more focused and detailed process than daydreaming, or even just “positive thinking.” It can become a powerful tool that you can use to take your driving to the next level.