Why Vivid Mental Imagery Is Like Motivational Rocket Fuel

Source: Stuart Miles/Shutterstock

Over the past decade, Jackie Andrade and Jon May of the University of Plymouth (UK) have been fine-tuning a unique approach to behavioral change called Functional Imagery Training.

FIT uses personalized imagination exercises and positive goal imagery to increase Motivational Thought Frequency (MTF) and help individuals make healthy lifestyle changes such as avoiding junk food or exercising more because they "want to," not because they "ought to."

What Is Functional Imagery Training?

Plymouth has a webpage dedicated to FIT that describes what makes this motivational intervention unique:

Functional Imagery Training goes beyond other brief motivational interventions by teaching clients how to elicit and practice motivational imagery themselves, resulting in sustained behavior change. Everyday behaviors are used to cue imagery practice until it becomes a cognitive habit.

A few years ago, Plymouth researchers conducted a study (Andrade et al., 2016) that tested if FIT interventions could help reduce snacking and promote weight loss. They found that FIT's personally tailored, multi-sensory imagery exercises strengthened study participants' motivation, leading to less snacking and weight loss. "Snacking reductions and weight loss correlated with increases in motivational thought frequency," the authors write.

FIT Motivational Interventions Can Turn Non-Runners Into Ultramarathoners

This month, Plymouth researchers published another study (Rhodes et al., 2021) which found that FIT motivational interventions effectively helped a cohort of self-described "non-runners" shift their mindset in a way that inspired them to stick with a rigorous training regimen and complete an ultramarathon. These findings were published on August 16 in the Journal of Imagery Research in Sport and Physical Activity.

Study participants in a control group that did a more traditional form of Motivational Interviewing (MI)—which didn't involve mental imagery—were five times less likely to start or finish long-distance running challenges. "FIT is a relatively cost-effective method to increase exercise adherence through the multi-sensory elaboration of goal setting and overcoming barriers or challenges," the authors conclude.

"An ultramarathon requires a huge amount of mental, as well as physical, strength—even from people who run regularly," first author Jonathan Rhodes said in an August 2021 news release. "[Our study] shows that multi-sensory imagery is the key difference between those who reach the starting line and then go on to finish, and those who do not—showing it is critical to maintaining changes and pushing the boundaries of physical and mental performance."

"FIT is based on two decades of research showing that mental imagery is more strongly emotionally charged than other types of thought," May added. "We were very excited to see that the intervention helped people to complete their ultramarathon, and look forward to seeing further studies on the effectiveness of FIT as a motivational technique within sports and beyond."

Source: Chris Bergland

Vivid Mental Imagery Paved the Way to My Guinness World Record

In the second part of this post, I will shift gears and share some personal examples of how multi-sensory mental imagery helped me succeed as an ultra-endurance athlete. I hope that these autobiographical details will give you some clues about how to unlock your imagination in ways that can bolster your motivation to achieve personal goals.

As a long-distance runner and Ironman triathlete, I've long suspected that cultivating a vivid imagination was key to my success. Because the monotony of hours and hours of daily aerobic exercise can become mind-numbingly dull and demotivating, I mastered the art of using magical thinking and romanticized narratives to keep myself motivated.

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Also, because I attended a strict and homophobic New England boarding school (picture Pink Floyd's "The Wall") as a gay teen, I got lots of daily practice using my imagination to escape my prison-like existence as I was growing up.

In terms of unleashing my imagination, one of the best multi-sensory tricks I stumbled on as a teenager in the 1980s was to spritz myself with Coppertone sunscreen and noseblind amounts of powerhouse colognes like Drakkar Noir, crank up my Walkman, and imagine myself answering the "call to adventure" by going on a Homeric journey in my head. Or just pretending I was the protagonist in a Hollywood coming-of-age movie circa 1983.

In my mind's eye, I was never just doing laps in a windowless basement pool, riding around a boring six-mile loop in Central Park, or monotonously running on a treadmill to nowhere. I was on imaginary epic adventures or fictitious odysseys that never failed to keep my motivation in hyperdrive.

During middle adolescence (ages 14-17), the music and movies of the era helped me curate an athletic mindset based on the mental imagery held in blockbuster films and their soundtracks. Because I was born in 1966 and am a Gen Xer, I was a teenager in the '80s, when there was a steady stream of coming-of-age movies with inspiring characters and imagery-filled soundtracks.

Growin' up, you don't see the writing on the wall. You're just a prisoner tryin' to break free. I can see a new horizon underneath the blazin' sky. I'll be where the eagle's flyin' higher and higher. Gonna be your man in motion. I can climb the highest mountain, cross the wildest sea. —John Parr, St. Elmo's Fire (1985)

Culturally, the mainstream media of my youth unwittingly nourished my ability to use imagination and visualization to excel at sports. Songs from movies like Breaking Away, Chariots of Fire, St. Elmo's Fire, Visionquest, and Flashdance made it easy to imagine what it felt like for the underdog to prevail in a "world made of steel, made of stone." What songs or soundtracks might inspire you in the same way? People of all generations tend to be inspired by the music from their high school years.

Vivid mental imagery was key to cultivating a gutsy underdog mindset that helped me prove the homophobic naysayers wrong and prevail against marginalization as an openly gay athlete throughout my athletic career. Regardless of how many races I'd previously won, holding onto the mental imagery associated with being a scrappy underdog was like motivational rocket fuel for me.

In 2004, after decades of honing my ability to conjure up vivid mental imagery, I applied these skills to breaking a Guinness World Record for the longest distance covered on a treadmill in 24 hours by running six back-to-back marathons in a store window at the corner of 13th St. and 3rd Ave. in Manhattan.

Because I'm a native New Yorker who didn't have access to running trails, I did most of my ultramarathon training inside a gym. Most people find treadmill running tedious and excruciatingly boring. But for me, long-distance treadmill running is a chance to let my imagination run wild and enter a waking dream state where I can explore the mental images in my head without the risk of tripping on something in my path.

If you find cardio workouts at the gym uninspiring or dreadful, hopefully, learning about these Functional Imagery Training techniques will inspire you to use your imagination to enhance your motivation. The latest (2021) research suggests that even "non-runners" can benefit from multi-sensory mental imagery to help them achieve their exercise goals.