Rethinking Positive Thinking by Gabriele Oettingen

If you spend some amount of time on YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and other platforms, there is a chance that you will see some content about positive thinking. And it doesn't matter if it is a scammer who wanna sell you the next schema to get rich quick, or an interview with an entrepreneur who epicizes his/her story about winning against all odds, just because he/she has this positive framework and so on.
And there's also a chance that you heard about Seligman's work on positive thinking, and a bunch of studies that find that a more positive way of seeing things boosts motivation and overall helps in facing challenges.

Gabriele Oettingen, in her book, talk about a more realistic approach to this topic in a detailed manner, also mentioning the studies conducted on the subject, which I strongly suggest to check it out, but in my reading notes, I have only a few core concepts.

The Power of Mental Contrasting

Mental contrasting is a technique that involves comparing a desired future with the current reality. It helps you assess whether a goal is truly achievable.

How it works: You first imagine a positive future outcome, and then you reflect on the obstacles in your present reality. This process helps you:

  • Evaluate feasibility: You can determine if you can truly overcome what stands in your way.
  • Activate expectations: You can tap into your past experiences to gauge the likelihood of success.
  • The unconscious connection: When you believe a desire is attainable, your mind unconsciously connects the present with the future. When a desire seems unattainable, the present and future disconnect. This is why the order of this mental process is so important. By first thinking about the desire and then the obstacle, the obstacle can become a constant, unconscious motivator.

Implementation Intentions

Implementation intentions are explicit plans for how to achieve a desire.

The planning phase: After you have decided to commit to a goal, you need to create a plan of action.

The "if-then" formula: Creating a plan with an "if-then" structure is particularly effective. This simple phrase powerfully links a specific situation (the "if" part) with a desired action (the "then" part).

The WOOP Method

The WOOP method is a goal-setting strategy that combines mental contrasting with implementation intentions. WOOP is an acronym for Wish, Outcome, Obstacle, Plan.

  • W - Wish: Define your wish or concern. It should be something you believe is possible to achieve within a specific timeframe. This step also involves acknowledging external obstacles.
  • O - Outcome: Identify the best possible outcome associated with achieving your wish or resolving your concern. This is the positive result you want to focus on. It is the positive feeling or specific benefit(s) you will get when you realise your wish.
  • O - Obstacle: Identify your most significant internal obstacle. This is the critical thought or behavior that is standing in your way. It's not about external barriers, but about what's happening inside you.
  • P - Plan: Create a plan to overcome or navigate your internal obstacle. Identify the single most effective thought or action you can take. Formulate this plan using the "if-then" structure: "If the obstacle X occurs, then I will adopt behavior Y."

Conclusion

To be honest, I had a lot of trouble with positive thinking. I still think it is basically maladaptive daydreaming, even if there is a lot of evidence that tells me a different story. And this is probably the most valuable aspect of this book, it helps to get closer to this idea (without all the naive bul***it).

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