If you have been paying any attention to the self help industry lo these many years, you know

that
positive visualization is a trademark best practice with few equals. What could be simpler? For
one to succeed, one must visualize attaining the object of success. Few would quarrel with such
perfunctory logic.
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visualization is little
more than a bookstore mirage? Though assumed true, its hard to
say exactly why the practice worksif it works.
Enter the latest round of research aimed at testing the mettle of selfhelp platitudes. Researchers Heather Kappes and Gabriele
Oettingen, publishing in the Journal of Experimental Social
Psychology, suggest to us that not only is positive
visualization ineffective, its counterproductive. A practice proffered
to help us succeed may do just the opposite.

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During the course of four experiments, Kappes and Oettingen

demonstrated that conjuring positive fantasies of success drains the
energy out of ambition. When we imagine having reached what we

want, our brains fall for the trick. Instead of mustering

more energy to get there, we inadvertently trigger
a relaxation response that mimics how we would feel if wed actually
reached the goal. Physiologically, we slide into our comfy shoes;
blood pressure lowers, heart rate decreases, all is well in the success
world of our minds making.
The research also uncovers that the more pressing the need to
succeed, the more deflating positive visualization becomes. One of
the experiments tested whether water-deprived participants would
experience an energy drain from visualizing a glass of icy cold water
(a simple but elegant study design) and found that indeed, in even
something so basic, the brain responds as if the goal has been
reached.
From a proof is in the pudding standpoint, the research showed
that participants told to visualize attaining goals throughout the
course of the week ended up attaining far fewer goals than a control
group told they could mull over the weeks challenges any way they
liked. The positive visualizers also self-reported feeling less
energetic than the control group, and physiological tests supported
their claim.
So if not crafting positive fantasies of success, what might be a
better use of our time and imagination? Kappes and Oettingen
suggest we try critical visualization, in which realistic obstacles,
setbacks, and other decidedly not-so-positive factors are considered.
Even failure itself, in all its rawness, should be thrown in and
dabbled with as a possible outcome. As odd as it sounds, this
research suggests that even random daydreaming is less deflating
than positive fantasizing.
Ironically, shifting into positive fantasy mode is most effective
when we need to decrease our energy expenditure, when, for
example, anxiety is getting the better of us. In that case, the
healthiest move is denying the fire more fuel, and it seems that

positive visualization is a commendably effective tool for doing

exactly that.