The mind doesn’t clearly distinguish between what you do in reality and what you do mentally. This is a blessing in disguise. You can reinforce what you have learned through physical practice or you can learn new practices by seeing that in mind’s eye.
By working with the skill you want to acquire in your mind, you can see yourself performing it perfectly, which provides an ideal model that helps you attain in real life.
Suppose you want to be an orator. You can practice the speech in your mind’s eye word by word giving emphasis on the words where you want to give emphasis; altering the tone where you want it and so on. Soon this is going to be a habit. If mistakes happen, you can mentally correct it. This creates an image of perfection to influence what you do in real life.
By doing so, you gain the confidence that comes from practice. If you can actually practice, that would be even better. But even if you just rehearse in your mind what you want to practice, your mind creates a mental script so real that when it comes time for the real thing you can use your mental script as a guide.
I use these techniques regularly when I go in for my seminars and presentations. I mentally go through all the steps a few times to decide what materials I am going to use in a presentation and how I am going to use them. Then I mentally rehearse the broad outlines of my talk, and if I need to make any changes or additions to what I am about to say or how I have to say it, I make it. This practice gives me the chance to have a good script ready. By the time I actually give the talk, everything I need to do it well is in place and I feel confident I can do it.
Similarly you can use mental imagery and mental practice to build your skills, perhaps starting off by deciding what you want to practice
