Visualization beats Work

In the midst of a three-day trial - defending a client against a case brought by New York State Police - I learned a valuable lesson. Namely: that visualization beats 'work.'

I had one critical witness to cross-examine, to wit, the arresting NYSP Trooper, scheduled to testify the following morning. I rewrote my notes, reread the police reports, rewatched every minute of the body-camera footage.

Still, I was anxious.

The outcome of the examination felt uncertain, unpredictable. My back stiffened. My head ached. I had been hunched over papers for too long.

So I lay down on the floor and forced myself to relax. My thoughts returned to the next morning. I saw myself doing the examination. I visualized it, every answer the trooper might give, and all my possible responses and follow-up questions, the pivots, the detours. I did this for an hour.

The anxiety disappeared.

Why?

Because I had already lived the possible futures. Anxiety is linked to uncertainty. But now I had walked the various strands of the multi-verse. I had seen the outcomes.

Visualization replaces uncertainty with familiarity - the antidote to anxiety.

Thus, visualization beats 'work.'