Lose weight, train yourself to go to the gym regularly, overcome a difficult task, learn to save money? Psychologists seem to have figured out how to help us achieve our goals more successfully.
When someone demonstrates certain enviable qualities, we respectfully say that he “does not hold these qualities”. And sometimes we regret that one cannot really borrow a little patience, for example, or self-confidence in order to achieve long-planned goals. But what if it is still possible? So, in any case, one can interpret the results of a curious study by American psychologists.1 They invited its participants to “borrow” the ability to achieve goals from themselves.
The volunteers participating in a series of experiments were consistently assigned a number of very difficult tasks, the solution of which required the utmost composure and discipline. However, before the start of the trial, the participants were divided into three groups. The first were asked to remember 10 times when they undertook a very difficult task and achieved success in the end. The latter had to limit themselves to only two such examples. The third, on the contrary, needed to remember situations when they failed to cope with difficult tasks.
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The researchers then checked the results. And they found that those who, before the start of the tests, recalled two cases of their victories, achieved the best results. For those who remembered 10 each, and for those who recalled failures, the achievements turned out to be much more modest. “Remembering many success stories in a difficult situation is usually a difficult task in itself,” commented lead author of the study, psychologist and marketer Hristina Nikolova. “As a result, instead of gaining confidence in our abilities, we may find ourselves in the grip of doubts: it wasn’t so often that everything worked out for me before, what if it doesn’t work out now?”2
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In the same way, memories of past failures do not add confidence. We initially tune in to a negative mood and unconsciously prepare to forgive ourselves for another mistake. But two examples of success turn out to be exactly the incentive that is needed. Each of us can certainly boast of at least a couple of achievements. And memories of them charge us with self-confidence, which is necessary for solving complex problems. So the next time you need ultimate mobilization, remember that you can “borrow” it from yourself. Just don’t try to take too much.
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By the way, Khristina Nikolova believes that this technique works great for solving not only short-term, but also long-term tasks – such as strictly following a strict diet or accustoming yourself to regular workouts. “Goals like this involve putting in place certain self-control mechanisms on a daily basis,” she says. And if we know exactly “which button to press” to turn on these mechanisms, then the likelihood of success increases markedly.
1 Hr. Nikolova et al. “Haunts or helps from the past: Understanding the effect of recall on current self-control”. Online publication on the Journal of Consumer Psychology website, June 30, 2015.
2 For more information see the Quartz portal, qz.com