For more than a decade, social psychologist Gabriele Oettingen, PhD, studied different methods of visualization and goal achievement. Here’s what she figured out: Imagining your goal—such as exercising more often, or eating better—is more likely to drain your energy than inspire you. Why? Positive fantasies don’t include the hard work and effort needed to make a change or reach a goal, Oettingen says. And so, when you’re faced with those real-life roadblocks, your fantasy falls apart and you tend to feel demoralized.
[sidebar]So what’s the recipe for success? You have to compare your current behavior to your desired behavior, Oettingen says, as well as think about the potential obstacles, and imagine ways to overcome them.
In one recent study, Oettingen and her NYU colleagues recruited a group of middle-aged women, split them into two groups, and asked one of the groups to employ the above technique. The other group’s members were left alone to motivate themselves. The goal for both groups? Running more frequently in the evening. During the first week of the study, the women who used Oettingen’s technique ran twice as often as their study counterparts, and that difference lasted the entire 16-week study period.
Here are three steps to make your goal a reality:
1. Identify your goal. For example: I want to go for a 30-minute jog when I get home from work.
2. Think about your current behavior. Do you usually flop down on the couch and watch TV when you get home?
3. Picture potential obstacles and how to eliminate them. Imagine every excuse you’ve got—from not having clean workout clothes to being too hungry to possibly delay dinner—and develop concrete strategies to overcome them, Oettingen says. For example: If I feel like turning on the tube when I get home, I’ll immediately put my running clothes on and head outside instead.
Skeptical this won’t work? Even just trying it one time can be effective, says Oettingen. And the more you do it, the more success you’ll have. Last year’s jeans? Bring ’em on.
