Time Required
10 minutes daily for 3 weeks
How to Do It
- Identify one goal that you would like to achieve in the next day or two and briefly describe it in writing. Make sure that this goal is realistic and not too time-consuming (e.g., “tidy up the hall closet” rather than “clean the entire house top to bottom”) and something that is important to you (e.g., “spend more time with the kids” rather than “learn about the life cycle of the common fly”).
- To help you visualize how you will go about accomplishing this goal, describe in writing the steps that you will take to get there. For example, if your goal is to tidy up the hall closet, these are the steps that you might take to achieve it:
Why You Should Try It
When we face a daunting task, sometimes the hardest part is getting started. To help you overcome that big initial hurdle, this exercise asks you to describe a short-term goal and to visualize the steps you will take to achieve it. In the process, it helps build your confidence that you will be able to reach that goal.
Having confidence in your ability to achieve your goals is a key component of optimism, which research links to greater health and happiness, including lower rates of depression, a better ability to cope with stress, and more relationship satisfaction.
Why It Works
This exercise makes goals feel attainable and manageable. When you believe that you will be successful at something, it encourages you to work harder toward achieving that goal—and this greater effort increases the chance that you will actually succeed. Plus, the more you succeed, the more confident you will be about future goals.
Remember, though, not to get down on yourself if you don’t succeed right away or perform perfectly. With repeated practice, you may feel greater confidence in your ability to achieve important goals in your life, and this can have a significant impact on your general mood, as regularly completing the goal visualization exercise helps you develop a more optimistic mindset.
Evidence That It Works
Sergeant, S., & Mongrain, M. (2014). An online optimism intervention reduces depression in pessimistic individuals. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 82(2), 263-274.
Participants who completed this Goal Visualization exercise (along with the Silver Linings practice) daily for three weeks reported greater engagement in life and less dysfunctional thinking (e.g., believing that small failures make you a failure as a person) at the end of the study than they had at the start of it. Participants who had a tendency to be pessimistic especially benefited from the exercises and showed fewer depressive symptoms afterward. However, these effects seemed to wear off two months later, suggesting the need to repeat this practice periodically.
Sources
Myriam Mongrain, Ph.D., York University, United Kingdom
For More
Check out the Silver Linings practice, which was developed and studied in tandem with this Goal Visualization practice.
Comments
and Reviews
Isaiah
Good
DKDK
How could this work for big decisions that are goals that will be scary to embark on? Like buying a house, moving to a new city, going back to school, etc.?
Anon
@Pavel - If you're learning something new then your first step must be research, so plan how you're going to break down the research into smaller goals. For example, do you need to watch a youtube tutorial, go to the library, buy some special equipment, tools or clothing, or finding a club or lessons being taught in your local area? Once you learn more and figure out what your new activity involves then you can break down the tasks of actually doing it.
Pavel Prokofyev
What about activities that I don't really know how to do? For example, learning something new or solving difficult problem. I can't divide it into smaller tasks (because I don't know how), I can't even set up deadlines.
Hilda Hernandez
goal visualization practices is usefull and I can change small things and I can work in process and this make the difference
Neil Chisman
Project management uses a similar technique - enabling you to get things done by breaking a daunting big job into a list of small manageable jobs
The Greater Good Toolkit
Made in collaboration with Holstee, this tookit includes 30 science-based practices for a meaningful life.
The Greater Good Toolkit
Made in collaboration with Holstee, this tookit includes 30 science-based practices for a meaningful life.