You may have read about experiments done with basketball players, in which some actually practiced their free throws, others did not, and a third group practiced mentally. Not surprisingly, the first group improved the most. But The last group–the ones who did mental practice–did almost as well, and substantially better than those who did no practice. They were learning using imagination, and developing a skill through conscious mental practice.

You can do this in many areas of life, but it has to be more than just daydreaming about whatever skill you hope to develop. It has to be carried out with a true focus on “seeing” the activity happen in your mind’s eye. For example, there is a simple technique that will help you learn about any new subject, and remember what you study. It is to imagine yourself teaching what you have learned to another person.

It isn’t enough to simply see yourself standing in front of a class full of students though. You have to actually imagine the words you would say if you were explaining the subject to someone. This kind of mental practice is especially powerful, because for any given subject there is so much information, and so little of it is the “important stuff,” But by imagining how you would pass on that new information, you tend to automatically focus on the things you really need to know. Plus, any repetition of knowledge, whether done aloud, on paper or in your mind, aids in retention.

Other research has shown that students who were told to pretend to be soccer hooligans did worse on academic exams than those who did not engage in this role-playing before the exams. Meanwhile, those who pretended to be college professors for a while before the tests began, scored higher than either the “pretend soccer hooligans” or the control group. This is another example of using imagination to boost ones ability to learn something.

That research suggests that you may gain an edge in learning new skills or knowledge just by carefully pretending to be more competent in whatever area of study in which you want to see improvement. Again, the specifics matter. If you want to do better at business, for example, don’t daydream about being important businessman and showing off. Instead, mentally run through scenes in which you make decisions carefully and confidently. Study what makes people succeed, and imagine yourself doing those things.

Try learning using imagination. If you have already experimented with this technique, feel free to relate your experiences below in the comment section.