JessiCat, I always visualize every detail of myself doing 4 strong, beautiful, flawless chin-ups in a row...right before I do 4 ugly, swinging, kicking, cussing ones. :-) But I KNOW that visualization helps me to get my head in the game and make it happen. I've doubled my chin-ups in the last couple of months.
I also visualize, well, everything about being fit, healthy, lean and awesome. I see myself that way and reinforce it every chance I get. You have to see it in your mind and believe it's possible before you can become it.
As an aside to that idea, I used to do photoshop head transplants for people, putting their head on their ideal body so they could literally see the person they were becoming. I also used to put my head on a whole lot of bodies that look just like the one I'm walking around in now. So, hey! It worked! :-)
Another stupid or brilliant thing I used to do was ask myself, "What would Batman do?" Would Batman cry and eat all those cookies? No, he would not. Be Batman! That was one of my "fake it 'till you make it" or "acting as if" schemes. I didn't always have the strength to do the right thing, but Batman did. I think I read something about emulating someone you admire. What would they do? What would they say? I skipped over all the fitness people and went right for super hero.