Notes

Self help: ignore positive thinking, try positive action

Growth hackers


For years self-help masters have preached the exact same basic mantra: if you wish to improve your life then you require to alter how you think. Force yourself to have positive thoughts and you will end up being happier. Imagine your dream self and you will enjoy increased success. Think like a millionaire and you will magically grow rich. In principle, this idea sounds completely reasonable. However, in practice it frequently proves ineffective.


Take visualisation. Hundreds of self-improvement books motivate readers to close their eyes and envision their ideal selves; to see themselves in a big workplace at the top of the corporate ladder, or sipping a cocktail as they feel the warm Caribbean sand in between their toes. Sadly, research study recommends this method does not work.


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In one study led by Lien Pham at the University of California, students were asked to spend a few minutes each day visualising themselves getting a high grade in an approaching examination. Despite the fact that the daydreaming workout only lasted a couple of minutes, it caused the students to study less and acquire lower marks. In another experiment led by Gabriele Oettingen from New York University, graduates were asked to take down how frequently they fantasised about getting their dream task after leaving college. The trainees who reported that they often fantasised about such success received less job offers and ended up with significantly smaller wages.


Why should this be so? Possibly those who fantasise about a fantastic life are ill-prepared for problems, or become hesitant to put in the effort required to attain their objective. In any case, the message is clear-- thinking of the ideal you is not good for your life.


Nevertheless, when it concerns change, the message is not all gloom and doom. Decades of research show that there is certainly a easy however extremely efficient way to transform how you believe and feel. The method turns good sense on its head however is grounded in science. Oddly, the story begins with a world-renowned Victorian thinker and an imaginary bear.


Operating At Harvard University in the late 19th century, William James, brother of the novelist Henry James, was attracted to the non-traditional, often walking school sporting a silk hat and red-checked trousers, and describing his theories using amusing prose (&quot;As long as one bad cockroach feels the pangs of unrequited love, this world is not a ethical world&quot;). This non-traditional technique settled. Very first published in 1890, James's two-volume magnum opus The Concepts of Psychology is still needed reading for trainees of behavioural science.


Website: https://mygrowththinking.com/