{"id":143733,"date":"2025-04-15T08:31:58","date_gmt":"2025-04-15T12:31:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=143733"},"modified":"2025-04-17T08:41:01","modified_gmt":"2025-04-17T12:41:01","slug":"what-is-mental-contrasting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-is-mental-contrasting\/","title":{"rendered":"What Is Mental Contrasting? Gabriele Oettingen Explains"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

What is mental contrasting? Do you want to turn your dreams into reality instead of just daydreaming about them?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Rethinking Positive Thinking<\/em>, Gabriele Oettingen explains what mental contrasting is, presenting it as a powerful strategy that goes beyond positive thinking. By envisioning your desired future and then identifying obstacles in your present reality, you create productive tension and, ultimately, motivation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keep reading to discover how mental contrasting can transform your approach to goal-setting and help you overcome the internal barriers that truly hold you back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

What Mental Contrasting Is<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Oettingen explains that, to effectively pursue our most important goals and wishes, we need strategies beyond positive fantasies alone. She recommends learning to use a strategy called mental contrasting<\/em><\/strong>. We\u2019ll take a closer look at what mental contrasting is and why it works.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Shortform note: Mental contrasting is a key component of Oettingen’s \u201cFantasy Realization Theory,\u201d which she began working on in the 1990s<\/a>. The theory states that, when people contrast their fantasies about a desired future with reflections on present reality, they feel the necessity to act.<\/a> This perceived need to act raises the question of whether it\u2019s possible for them to turn their present reality into their desired future\u2014and if so, how they can do it. Under this theory, mental contrasting transforms the desired future into something concrete to be achieved, and reality into something to be changed.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, what is mental contrasting exactly? Mental contrasting means you still think about achieving your wish, but you don\u2019t stop there. Instead, writes Oettingen, you purposefully imagine the obstacles that stand in between you\u2014in your current reality\u2014and your dream<\/strong>. By making a conscious connection between your present reality and your dream, you can gain clarity on what needs to be done and start to feel motivated. This energizes you to start working to overcome the obstacles you\u2019ve identified and to begin taking productive steps toward achieving your goals<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Shortform note: Thinkers across fields have noted that figuring out what stands between us and the future we want is a powerful way to motivate ourselves. Essayist and activist Rebecca Solnit (<\/em>Men Explain Things to Me<\/em><\/a>)<\/em> contends we have to recognize the possibility for action<\/a> to work toward our goals, including difficult goals like tackling climate change<\/a>. Solnit writes that identifying how we want reality to change can push us to take action<\/a>. We can sustain hope in our ability to make changes (without letting hope undercut our motivation to act) by appreciating the progress we\u2019ve already made. For example, by recognizing the progress we\u2019ve made in cutting carbon pollution, we find hope and sustain our will to make further progress.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oettingen explains that, in its most basic form, mental contrasting is a two-step process: <\/p>\n\n\n\n