I think I can, I think I can..

PEAK PERFORMANCE

Talking to yourself may not do wonders for your reputation. But it might just help you do your best. In an experiment pitting East against West, Florida's Randall Masciana, M.S., tested an international array of performance-enhancing strategies. Dart throwers tried everything from Zen to imagery techniques in their attempts to hit the bull's-eye.

Best in show: positive self-talk, the same sort of verbal psyching yourself up that enabled the Little Engine That Could to climb the mountain. Self-talk also induced the highest levels of "peak experience"--that almost spiritual sensation of effortless flow during mental or physical tasks. All this could give muttering a good name.