Some time ago I wrote a widely shared article about how negative it can be to tell others about our goals. The main reason is that when counting our objectives the mind feels the satisfaction of having fulfilled them and as a result of this motivation is lost and as a consequence it is less likely that we will reach our goals.
Under this same principle, the American psychologist Gabriele Oettingen, based on her more than 20 years of research on how humans think about the future and how this affects their behavior, knowledge and emotions, ensures that we have been wrong for a long time about something that we do very often, think positively.
In general we have been victims and victimizers of the phrases: Look on the bright side of life, you can do it and see the glass half full, not half empty. In the same way that our brain feels satisfaction when counting a goal to achieve, it experiences a feeling of satisfaction and relaxation thinking that “everything will be fine” and the only thing that is achieved is to lose motivation, reduce efforts and prevent us from doing the right thing. I work hard to finally not get what we want.
The conclusion strongly clings to the findings in different studies carried out:
- Patients belonging to weight reduction programs demonstrated that the more positively they thought about their progress, the less weight they lost.
- Hip transplant patients who thought more positively about their recovery recovered more slowly.
- People who were close to retiring and thought more positively about it, saved less.
- When media messages about the current economic situation are better, the stock market performs worse in the coming weeks.
So, the more positively we think, the more pleasure we feel, but in the long term, not getting the results can depress us.
Is the solution to think negatively? Of course not. Should we stop thinking positively? Of course not! Since thinking positively we can contemplate new possibilities for our future. The solution is to think positively if and only if we combine it with a huge dose of reality, in this way there will be motivation without falling into deception.
In another study of third graders, a group was asked to think about the prize they would win if they passed a language test, and to think about how their behavior might prevent them from winning the prize; the other group was simply asked to fantasize about the reward. At this point in the article it should come as no surprise that children who thought about their behavior performed higher.
In his book entitled, Rethinking Positive Thinking: Inside the New Science of Motivation, Oettingen gives his formula for not falling prey to positive thinking and to be able to give us enough motivation that will even allow us to change bad habits. He summarizes it in the acronym WOOP (wishes, outcomes, obstacles, plan). The first thing is to visualize the dream, then imagine the positive things that we would gain, the next thing is to counter the obstacles that can get in the way and finally formulate a plan to overcome those obstacles and reach the goal.
Oettingen argues that people who have the ability to make this mental association have been able to quit their addiction to cigarettes more easily, students to perform better on state tests, and women to obtain better habits for a healthier lifestyle. .
You already know, to dream but with your feet on the ground!
And remember, if you are really interested in creating your own business, you can read our book “How to create a company while working: Discover how to manage your time, manage your money and motivate yourself while creating a company and working for another” , where you will find all the information you need to found your own company, without having to leave your job.
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