Best Possible Self

Why You Should Try It

Sometimes our goals in life can be elusive. But research suggests that building optimism about the future can motivate people to work toward that desired future and thus make it more likely to become a reality.

This exercise asks you to imagine your life going as well as it possibly could, then write about this best possible future. By doing so, research suggests that you’ll not only increase your happiness in the present but pave the way for sustained happiness down the line.

Why It Works

By thinking about your best possible future self, you can learn about yourself and what you want in life. This way of thinking can help you restructure your priorities in life in order to reach your goals. Additionally, it can help you increase your sense of control over your life by highlighting what you need to do to achieve your dreams.

Evidence That It Works

Sheldon, K. M., & Lyubomirsky, S. (2006). How to increase and sustain positive emotion: The effects of expressing gratitude and visualizing best possible selves. Journal of Positive Psychology, 1(2), 73-82.

Undergraduate students in Missouri who completed the Best Possible Self exercise daily for two weeks showed increases in positive emotions right afterward. Those who kept up with the exercise even after the study was over continued to show increases in positive mood one month later.

Who Has Tried the Practice?

While the students in the study above were mostly white and female, additional studies have explored how this exercise benefits other groups and cultures:

• Norwegians in a four-week online program who did Best Possible Self (along with various other well-being exercises) reported increases in emotional well-being lasting six months, regardless of gender, age, or education level.
• Diverse American undergraduates (mostly of Asian, Latino, or white descent) wrote about their Best Possible Self once a week for four weeks and experienced gains in positive emotions and social connection.
• Mostly Asian and Hispanic American undergraduates who spent 15 minutes per week writing about their Best Possible Self for eight weeks felt happier immediately afterward and six months later, but only if they chose the practice and put a lot of effort into it.
• International students at a culturally diverse university in the United Arab Emirates completed Best Possible Self as part of a 13-week happiness program and reported higher levels of well-being afterward.
• People with troubled children, anxiety disorders, eating disorders, or clinical depression all wrote about their Best Possible Self across several weeks and showed improvements in mental health.
• South Korean and Chinese university students who did Best Possible Self as part of six- and eight-week wellness programs increased in well-being and decreased in depression, respectively.
• Chinese and Singaporean university students who spent at least 15 minutes writing about their Best Possible Self reported improvements in emotional well-being.
• Chronic pain patients with physical disabilities completed Best Possible Self during an eight-week program, and fibromyalgia patients wrote about their Best Possible Self at least three times a week for four weeks. Both groups increased in emotional well-being and decreased in pain symptoms.
• Iranian cardiac patients who wrote about their Best Possible Self during a six-week wellness program displayed improvements in happiness, hope, depression, and stress biomarkers.
• Indian adolescents reported gains in well-being, life satisfaction, and happiness after writing about their Best Possible Self as part of a well-being program.

More research is needed to explore whether, and how, the impact of this practice extends to other groups and cultures.

Keep in Mind

Best Possible Self may be more beneficial for people from certain cultures or with certain personality traits:

• Asian Americans and Anglo Americans spent 10 minutes writing about their Best Possible Self every week for six weeks. Asian Americans showed less improvement in life satisfaction than Anglo Americans. This is possibly because pessimism may be advantageous in group-oriented societies like the Asian American community, the researchers speculate.
• In other contexts, however, the practice seems more beneficial for people who are less optimistic, who stand to gain more from imagining a positive future. Pessimistic HIV-infected women who wrote about their Best Possible Self in terms of health twice a week for four weeks reported lower levels of distress and larger increases in optimism than their optimistic counterparts.
• The practice seems to be more beneficial for people who are more neurotic, or prone to negative emotions. Highly neurotic individuals who occasionally wrote about their Best Possible Self for three weeks became significantly happier, but individuals low in neuroticism did not report the same benefit.

Sources

Laura A. King, Ph.D., University of Missouri
Jeffrey Huffman, M.D., Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital

References