Book SummaryRethinking Positive Thinking, by Gabriele Oettingen

1-Page Summary1-Page Book Summary of Rethinking Positive Thinking

We all daydream about the future and fantasize about the day when we’ll have achieved all of our most important goals. In Rethinking Positive Thinking (2014), psychologist Gabriele Oettingen challenges the conventional wisdom that thinking positively and visualizing yourself reaching your goals is enough to motivate you to make your dreams a reality.

Oettingen found in her research that positive thinking can actually be counterproductive and make it harder for you to stay motivated to work toward your goals. She explains that to avoid falling into the trap of positive fantasies, you need to balance your dreams with an awareness of present reality and the obstacles standing in your way. Recognizing the barriers you face can re-energize you by connecting your desired future to the real work needed to get there. With this balanced perspective, your positive visions become a motivating force rather than a relaxing indulgence.

Oettingen is a professor of psychology at New York University and the University of...

Rethinking Positive Thinking Summary What Is Positive Thinking?

Oettingen explains that positive thinking means dwelling on mental images and daydreams of our desired future. These fantasies—whether about publishing a novel, landing a dream job, or finding true love—give us a momentary taste of what achieving our goals might feel like. While this kind of daydreaming can provide temporary comfort, especially during stressful times, Oettingen argues that it can actually work against us and undermine our motivation to make our dreams a reality.

(Shortform note: The popular idea that cultivating a positive mindset can help you achieve success has its roots in the 19th-century “New Thought” movement, a philosophy that claimed that positive and negative emotions determine our material realities. Proponents of this idea believed positive thinking could help people achieve goals like attracting wealth and overcoming illness. In the early 20th century, these ideas were repackaged for career success. But critics say focusing too much on positive thinking requires people to maintain an unrealistic optimism, even amidst major adversities and suffering—a phenomenon some still...

Rethinking Positive Thinking Summary What Should We Do Instead of Positive Thinking?

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. In this section, we’ll take a closer look at what mental contrasting is, why it works, and how you can put it into practice to work toward your goals.

(Shortform note: Mental contrasting is a key component of Oettingen's “Fantasy Realization Theory,” which she began working on in the 1990s. The theory states that when people contrast their fantasies about a desired future with reflections on present reality, they feel the necessity to act. This perceived need to act raises the question of whether it’s possible for them to turn their present reality into their desired future—and 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.)

What Is Mental Contrasting?

Mental...

Shortform Exercise: Turn a Dream Into a Plan

Many of us have wishes that remain just that—wishes—because we either get stuck in positive fantasies or feel overwhelmed by obstacles. Let’s apply Oettingen’s mental contrasting technique to one of your current goals.

Think of something you’ve been daydreaming about achieving. What is this wish, and what would it feel like to accomplish it? Be specific about the outcome you envision.