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THE BIG IDEAS Rethinking Positive Thinking

Downside of Dreaming
Inside the New Science of Motivation
= Becoming less energized to act. BY GABRIELE OETTINGEN · CURRENT © 2014 · 240 PAGES

Mental Contrasting
Wish + Obstacle.

Implementation Intentions
If + Then. “What is your dearest wish? What dreams do you have for the future? What do you
want to be or do? Imagine your dream coming true. How wonderful would it be.
WOOP!
Wish + Outcome + Obstacle + Plan. How fulfilling.
WOOP As a Daily Tool What holds you back from realizing your wish? What is it in you that stops you
4 steps to awesome.
from really going for it?
Two Vital Questions
What’s your wish? What gets in way? Rethinking Positive Thinking is a book about wishes and how to fulfill them. It
draws on twenty years of research in the science of motivation. And it presents a
single, surprising idea: the obstacles that we think most impede us from realizing
our deepest wishes can actually hasten their fulfillment.”

~ Gabriele Oettingen from Rethinking Positive Thinking

Gabriel Oettingen is one of the world’s leading researchers in (as per the sub-title), “The New
Science of Motivation.”

A ton of positive psychologists reference her work—from Heidi Grant Halvorson in Succeed to
Piers Steel in The Procrastination Equation.

The basic idea of the book is captured in a clever image on the cover: Rose colored glasses with
one lens cracked.

Oettingen walks us thru the compelling research that demonstrates the power of seeing both the
“Rethinking Positive Thinking
positive AND the challenges. When we contrast our wishes with the obstacles to their attainment
presents scientific research
we, almost magically, catalyze an extraordinarily higher level of performance.
suggesting that starry-
eyed dreaming isn’t all it’s
Oettingen has been investigating this for 20 years and the book is packed with an array of
research studies that she and her team have conducted to shine light on the various facets of
cracked up to be. The
the process. We also learn some practical tips on how to apply these ideas to our lives—learning
book then examines and
about mental contrasting, implementation intentions and how to get our WOOP on (more on
documents the power of
that in a moment!). (Get the book here.)
a deceptively simple task:
juxtaposing our dreams with For now, I’m excited to share some of my favorite Big Ideas we can apply today so let’s jump

the obstacles that prevent

straight in!

their attainment.”
THE DOWNSIDE OF MERELY DREAMING
~ Gabriele Oettingen
“If you want to unwind, you can take some deep breaths, get a massage, or go for a walk—but
you can also try simply closing your eyes and fantasizing about some future outcome that you
might enjoy. But what about when your objective is to make your wish a reality? The last thing
you want to be is relaxed. You want to be energized to get off the couch and lose those pounds
or find that job or study for that test, and you want to be motivated enough to stay engaged even
when the inevitable obstacles arise. We’ve seen that the principle of ‘Dream it. Wish it. Do it.’
does not hold true, and now we know why: in dreaming it, you undercut the energy you need to
do it. You put yourself in a temporary state of bliss, calmness—and lethargy.”

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 Oettingen shares some truly fascinating research about the (negative) impacts of merely
“Based on two decades of
fantasizing about a desired outcome.
research findings, replicated
Get this: Scientists can bring people into a lab, measure their blood pressure, and then have
across a variety of research
them positively fantasize then take their blood pressure again. In a matter of minutes, their
participants, contexts, and
blood pressure will go down significantly.
methods, you would be ill-
advised to indulge in dreams Now, that might sound like a good thing (and, of course, learning how to relax and oscillate
about achieving your goals between being on and off is essential to sustained peak performance), BUT if you want to
actually achieve the outcome you’re fantasizing about, you want to end your sessions feeling
and then assume you’re well
ENERGIZED not mellow.
on your path to success.
Life just doesn’t work that Oettingen tells us: “More often than not, we are the exact opposite of electrified. It never ceases
way.” to impress me that we can measure a decline in energy and motivation almost instantly after a
fantasy of wish fulfillment passes through a person’s mind.”
~ Gabriele Oettingen
Plus: “By fooling our brains into thinking we’re already successful, we lose motivation and
energy to do what it takes to actually become successful.”

In short: The positive fantasies by themselves feel good in the immediate term but are disastrous
over the long run if we’re serious about achieving our desired outcomes.

Let’s look at what works!

MENTAL CONTRASTING
“Back in 1990, when my research was first beginning to show that positive fantasies were not
helping people achieve their wishes, I was disappointed. I had embarked on studying dreams
not merely because I found them interesting, but because I had hoped that dreaming might
help people who were having trouble achieving wishes large and small. It was difficult to focus
my work on fantasies knowing that they made individuals continue to struggle, so I wondered
if there was anything I could do to the process of dreaming to turn things around and make
dreams more helpful for achieving wishes. In particular, since positive fantasies tended to relax
people, was there a way that I could use dreaming to wake them up, get them into gear, and
motivate them to succeed?

I reasoned that the best way to get people up and moving was to ask them to dream and then
to confront them right away with the realities that stood in the way of their dreams. I called
this confrontation ‘mental contrasting.’ If I could ground fantasies in a reality through mental
contrasting, I might be able to circumvent the calming effects of dreaming and mobilize dreams
as a tool for prompting directed action.”

So, dreaming in and of itself can lead to the precise OPPOSITE results we’re looking for.

But...

If we immediately contrast that ideal outcome with realities that stood in the way then magic
happens!

Enter: Mental contrasting.

When we do that, rather than feel lethargic, we feel FIRED UP! (Technically, we feel a “necessity
to act” that catalyzes us into doing the very things that will help us achieve our outcomes.)

There’s an important caveat to this though: Our wish needs to be FEASIBLE. We need to think
we can actually achieve it.

If we think we can achieve it, our motivation to take action immediately goes through the roof.
If we *don’t* think we can achieve it, our motivation actually drops below that of the pure
dreamers.

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 And, as Oettingen tells us many times throughout the book, that’s actually a REALLY good thing
“If you want to take action because sometimes we need to DISENGAGE from a dream.
toward a desired future,
It makes no sense to invest valuable energy into something we don’t think we can attain. So,
then be sure to choose remember: Make sure you think your dreams are challenging but feasible and be honest about
wishes that are challenging when your dreams are just too far out of your current reach to properly fire you up!
but still attainable for you.
As per Oettingen: “Our study suggested that mental contrasting could help people do both
WOOP won’t help you live
things: engage even more forcefully when it made sense to engage, disengage even more
more fully if your wish is
forcefully when that made sense. It functioned as a self-regulation tool, helping people allocate
to live on planet Neptune or
their energy more efficiently so they didn’t merely pursue wishes, but wisely pursued them.”
become a billionaire within a
year.” IMPLEMENTATION INTENTIONS
~ Gabriele Oettingen
“As time passed and Peter conducted more studies, he came to realize that forming a plan
for how to attain a certain goal—what he termed the ‘implementation intention’—had a more
powerful effect if it took on the particular form of an ‘if-then’ statement: ‘If situation x arises,
then I will perform response y.’ Let’s suppose Jim feels inexplicably anxious when his regional
manager stops by his office, so it’s difficult for Jim to start up a conversation or ask a question.
Jim’s implementation intention might be ‘If I become nervous talking to my regional manager,
then I will remind myself that I’m the top-performing salesperson in the district and my sales
have increased since last year’; or ‘If I become nervous talking to my regional manager, then
I will excuse myself for a moment, take a few deep breaths to calm down, and return to the
conversation.”

Implementation intentions.

They’re huge and they are a key part of the WOOP strategy we’re getting to.

(Sidenote: The guy who came up with this is Peter M. Gollwitzer—Gabriele’s husband. That’s
awesome. Power couple!)

So, implementation intentions.

IF a situation arises, THEN you will do something.

Here’s how Timothy Pychyl described it in his great little book Solving the Procrastination
Puzzle (see Notes): “In short, implementation intentions are a powerful tool to move from a
goal intention to an action.

As I have outlined in earlier chapters, these implementation intentions take the form of ‘if .
.. then’ statements. The ‘if’ part of the statement sets out some stimulus for action. The ‘then’
portion describes the action itself. The issue here really is one of predecision. We are trying
to delegate the control over the initiation of our behavior to a specified situation without
requiring conscious decision.

IF I say to myself things like ‘I’ll feel more like doing this later’ or ‘‘I don’t feel like doing this
now,’ THEN I will just get started on some aspect of the task.”

The key here is that by identifying likely obstacles IN ADVANCE, we make what willpower
researchers call a “predecision.” We’ve pre-committed ourselves to an optimal path. By doing
this (and getting in the habit of actually doing what we said we would do!), we’re able to conserve
precious willpower so we’re not needing to squander energy every time we face the challenge.

Getting good at this is a REALLY good idea.

And now, it’s time to get our super practical WOOP on!

PhilosophersNotes | Rethinking Positive Thinking 3

 LET’S GET OUR WOOP ON!
“We would be wrong to
“As I started to teach mental contrasting with implementation intentions as a single, unified
jettison our dreams, just tool, I realized that we needed a better name than ‘MCII.’ The name WOOP—Wish, Outcome,
as we are wrong to blindly Obstacle, Plan—came to us almost by accident in the course of fielding a study. We liked
assume that simply dreaming how accessible WOOP was and how well it captured the key steps. As a tool, WOOP is what
something can make it so.” psychologists call ‘content neutral,’ that is, it can be used to help with any kind of wish you might
~ Gabriele Oettingen have, short term or long term, big or small. If you’re a professional, you can use it to reach a new
milestone in your career, improve your skills—whatever you can think of. If you’re a student,
you can apply it to study more productively. If you’re a mom or dad, you can apply it to handle
challenging situations with your children more effectively. Anyone can use it in his or her
personal life for any purpose—for instance, to form closer relationships with others or improve
health.”

WOOP! (There it is. :)

This is the uber-practical, scientifically proven (!) way to bring your dreams to life.

Wish + Outcome + Obstacle + Plan.

WOOP! WOOP! WOOP!!

Wish: What do you want to see in your life personally or professionally? Imagine something
challenging yet feasible you can achieve in a year, month, week or day.

Outcome: What is the #1 benefit you would experience as a result?

Obstacle: What obstacle *within you* stands in the way of achieving that wish? (Emphasis on
“within you”!)

Plan: What can you do to get around that obstacle? What’s the #1 most effective thing you could
do?

Oettingen walks us through a really cool guided exercise to unpack these elements. We want to
think in images and allow them to float thru our minds freely rather than being overly rational
about it—allowing us to engage what she calls our “nonconscious minds.”

She also provides a shorter written exercise.

Here it is: “On a blank sheet of paper, name the wish in three to six words. Identify the best
outcome (also in three to six words) and write it down. Now let your thoughts lead your pen,
taking as much paper as you need. Then name your obstacle and write it down. Imagine the
obstacle, again letting your thoughts wander and lead your writing. To create a plan, first
write down one specific action you can take to overcome the obstacle. Write down the time and
place where you believe the obstacle will arise. Then write down the if-then plan: ‘If obstacle x
occurs (when and where), then I will perform behavior y.’ Repeat it once to yourself out loud.”

Let’s do that now. (Time to move from theory to PRACTICE!!)

Name your wish in 3 to 6 words: ________________________________

Identify the best outcome/benefit in 3 to 6 words: _______________________________

Name your obstacle: ________________________________

Now write down your if-then plan: IF ________________________________ occurs

THEN I will ________________________________.

WOOP!!!!

Remember: Science says this is extraordinarily powerful.

Remember x2: We can do this for *everything* in our lives.

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 WOOP AS A DAILY TOOL
“WOOP is a living tool that
“Again and again, we’ve found that WOOP enables people to pursue their wishes more wisely,
you can use in your everyday producing more desirable short- and long-term results than more traditional treatments or no
life. Practiced daily over intervention at all. If you want a proven means of regulating your energies so that you move
an extended period of time, more effectively toward fulfilling your wishes, and if you want a method that is also safe, cheap,
WOOP enables you to not and easy to use, you should try WOOP.”
only solve specific problems
I’m sold! You?
or wishes, but live a life
Seriously. I’m already using this throughout my day and Alexandra and I are having fun adding
that is balanced, meaningful,
some WOOP sauce to our lives. (And we look forward to teaching Emerson. :)
and generally happy.”

~ Gabriele Oettingen In the numerous WOOP interventions Gabriele and her team have conducted with a broad range
of people (from young students to professionals), she often has them use a cool card that looks
like this:

WISH _______________________________

OUTCOME _______________________________

OBSTACLE _______________________________

PLAN
If ___________________ then I will ___________________

Here’s an example for an exercise-based WOOP intervention (participants in the WOOP group
got crazy better results than the controls):

Today’s Exercise Wish: jogging in the evening

Best Outcome: feeling balanced

Obstacle: tired when I come home

Plan: Overcome/Prevent/Seize Opportunity

If I come home tired at 7 p.m. then I will put on my running shoes + go outside
situation (when and where) behavior

Oettingen also has an app you might love. Check it out here.

For now, fill this little guy out and practice with big and little things throughout your day!

WISH _______________________________

OUTCOME _______________________________

OBSTACLE _______________________________

PLAN
If ___________________ then I will ___________________

PhilosophersNotes | Rethinking Positive Thinking 5

 TWO VITAL QUESTIONS
“So many popular self-help “We are just beginning to rethink positive thinking, evolving the new science of motivation and
programs and strategies mobilizing it to improve individuals’ lives and address social problems. But what we do know is
aren’t scientifically validated. very clear. To make the most of our lives, we must face up to the role we play in hamstringing
If you have something in our own wishes. Doing so isn’t complicated, but it is profound and life changing. With WOOP
your life that you’d really and mental contrasting, we motivate and empower ourselves to take action when it will really
like to change—or even if you benefit us and those around us. We unleash powerful forces within us so that we can change
just want to enjoy it even habits of thought and behavior we’ve had for years. It sounds like magic, and it feels like magic,

more—you’d be well advised

but the science shows it’s real. Wishing you good luck on your journey of discovery, I’ll end with
two vital questions that I hope you never stop asking yourself: What is your dearest wish? What
to dispense with the trendy
holds you back from achieving it?”
‘positive thinking’ approach
and give WOOP a try.” These are the two vital questions for us to keep in mind:

~ Gabriele Oettingen What is your dearest wish?

What holds you back from achieving it?

Here’s to embracing the new science of motivation that encourages us to hold both the positive
wishes and the challenges as we enjoy the process of optimizing and actualizing!

Brian Johnson,
Heroic Philosopher CEO

If you liked this Note, About the Author of This Note

you’ll probably like… BRIAN JOHNSON

Succeed
Brian Johnson is the Founder + CEO of Heroic. He’s spent half of the last
The Procrastination 25 years as a Founder/CEO and the other half as a Philosopher. Brian loves
Equation
integrating ancient wisdom and modern science to help YOU become the
Solving the best, most heroic version of yourself so we can create a world in which 51% of
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humanity is flourishing by 2051. Learn more at heroic.us.
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6 PhilosophersNotes | Rethinking Positive Thinking