“The answer isn’t to accomplish away with dreaming and positive thinking. Rather, it’s taking advantage of our fantasies by cleaning them against the very issue most of us are trained to ignore or diminish: the obstructions that stand in our way.”

So often in our day-to-day lives we’re inundated with guidance to “think that positively.” From pop music to political speeches to advertisements, the general message is the same: look around the shiny side, be positive in the face of adversity, and focus on your about Rethinking Positive Thinking: Inside the New Technology of Motivation dreams. And whether we’re looking to motivate ourselves to lose excess weight, snag a advertising at work, or run a marathon, we’re informed time and time again that concentrating on satisfying our wishes will make them come true.

Gabriele Oettingen pulls on a lot more than two decades of study in the science of human motivation to reveal why the traditional wisdom falls brief. The obstacles that we think prevent us from realizing our deepest wants can actually lead to their fulfillment. Starry-eyed fantasizing isn’t all it’s damaged up to be, and as it works out, dreamers aren’t often doers.

While optimism might help us alleviate immediate suffering and persevere in challenging times, merely dreaming about the future actually makes people even more frustrated and unhappy over the long term and less inclined to achieve their goals. In fact, the satisfaction we gain from positive fantasies we can fulfill our wants practically, sapping our energy to perform the effort of meeting issues and attaining goals in true to life.

Based on her groundbreaking research and large-scale scientific tests, Oettingen introduces a new way to visualize the future, called mental contrasting. It combines concentrating on our dreams with visualizing the road blocks that stand inside our method. By experiencing our dreams in our thoughts and facing actuality we are able to address our doubts, make concrete programs, and gain energy to do this.

In Rethinking Positive Thinking, Oettingen applies mental contrasting to three important regions of personal transformation- becoming more healthy, nurturing personal and professional relationships, and performing better at work. She introduces visitors to the key stages of mental contrasting utilizing a tested four-step process called WOOP-Wish, Final result, Obstacle, Plan-and offers advice and exercises on how best to best apply this technique to lifestyle. Through mental contrasting, people in Oettingen’s studies have become significantly more motivated to quit smoking, shed weight, get better marks, sustain fulfilling romantic relationships, and negotiate more effectively in business situations.

Whether you are unsatisfied and fighting serious problems or you want to improve, discover, and explore fresh opportunities, this book will deepen your ideas about human inspiration and assist you to boldly chart a fresh path ahead.