The third paragraph of the Shema prayer contains the commandment to wear tzitzit. From this commandment we began wearing the tallit. We say a blessing before we put on our tallit. It signals us that we are about to perform a holy act. By saying the blessing we stop for a moment and think about what we are about to do.
Some successful athletes imagine what it takes to succeed before they enter a competition.
In some meditations before putting on a Tallit the rabbis draw the analogy between putting on a Tallit and wrapping oneself in light or in the wings of the holy spirit. In addition to tzitzit, the atarah is also an important part of a tallit. It's a band sewn at the top of a tallit, and contains the blessing over the tallit. Traditionally, the blessing is embroidered. Think about the blessing you would like put on your tallit.