Career Transitions are part of the changing cycles of life. But if the career you’re leaving behind is one you loved it can be very painful. This is tennis star and icon Serena Williams’ testimony as she announces her upcoming retirement in September’s Vogue cover story from a sport that defined her for most of her life. Here are a few lessons we can all take away from her story.

Visualization is the process of creating a vivid mental image of a future event. Cognitive scientific research indicates that since the brain doesn’t know the difference between a real memory and an imagined one if you envision something vividly enough, your mind perceives it as something real that you’ve already experienced. This is why many celebrated athletes, such as Serena Williams, Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan, Jack Nicklaus, and others successfully use visualization to level up their game. And so can you!