Permission to Dream (straight from the scientists)

There's a lot of talk, throughout the ether, of the need to think positively. We are constantly reminded of the need to have a positive mental attitude, a PMA. I'm rather negative on the idea. Just kidding. But, I must say, I'm not fond of the advice. The reason is because it's so vague and general as to be practically useless. While there is always a time and a place for bumper-sticker inspiration, there's also a big need for more depth and for specific techniques. One such technique I will give to you in this post.

Hopefully you've heard of all the wonders of optimism. If you haven't, I suggest two courses of action. Either investigate the work of Martin Seligman at the University of Pennsylvania or stay plugged into this blog. I will revisit the concept of optimism often because it is very beneficial to human health and flourishing. Seligman breaks it down very succinctly and speaks to the importance of what he calls “explanatory style.” In future posts I will explain the ins-and-outs of Seligman's theory because he is one of the most important figures in mind science.

For now, I want to give you a specific technique you can use to increase your levels of optimism. As everybody knows, difficulties and frustration are an every day part of life. Maintaining your optimism is a huge contributor to being, and becoming, a resilient and happy person. Hopefully there is no need for me to speak to the importance of happiness or resilience. So, what is the technique I'm speaking of? It's called the Best Possible Self exercise.

This technique was pioneered by Laura King, a professor at the University of Missouri–Columbia. Here's what King did in her experimental study on optimism. She instructed the study's participants to spend twenty minutes, each day, writing a narrative description of their “best possible future selves.” “Basically, this is a mental exercise in which you visualize the best possible future for yourself in multiple domains of life,” is how it is described by Sonja Lyubomirsky, a professor who has replicated King's results. Stated differently, the participants spent twenty minutes writing about a future where all their goals had been realized (let's say ten years out, though you can vary that period of time.)

Dr. King found that “people who wrote about their vision for twenty minutes per day over several days, relative to those (the control group) who wrote about other topics, were more likely to show immediate increases in positive moods, to be happier several weeks later, and even to report fewer physical ailments several months thence”. We now know that not only does optimism make us feel better, it also helps combat numerous diseases such as cancer! Might sound weird, but it's true.

So, I encourage you to give the Best Possible Future Self exercise a try. I understand it's kind of unnatural and there's a good chance you're going to have to force yourself to do it. I know I had to. But, I'm happy to report that it works! Some people might look down at day-dreaming as futile and wasteful. What I'm tell you is that scientists have hard data proving that daydreaming is good for us. Just make sure you do it in writing. As Lyubomirsky put it, “Because writing is highly structured, systematic, and rule-bound, it prompts you to organize, integrate, and analyze your thoughts in a way that would be difficult, if not impossible, to do if you were just fantasizing.”

I have a Word document, on my computer, that is getting really long. It's where I go to scribble down my BPS whenever I need a boost. And understand this. Back when I took Seligman's test, before I learned of Professor King's method, optimism was already one of my biggest strengths! I continue to do BPS because I've learned about optimism's central role in human health. I hope you try it too.

If you're experiencing resistance it might be that you don't have clear goals. Creating goals for yourself can be a scary thing. “What if I fail to achieve them?” is a question that might go through your head. What I'm telling you is that that fear is misplaced when you really understand the BPS exercise. Laura King didn't gauge whether or not her research participants actually achieved their goals. That had nothing to do with the experiment. All that mattered was the act of writing, twenty minutes a day, for several days. I hope you choose to give it a try. You're future self will thank you.