“Visualise your success” is some of the most repeated advice in self-help. The research is less flattering than the posters.
Dreaming can drain the drive
Psychologist Gabriele Oettingen has spent decades studying positive thinking about the future. A recurring finding in her work: people who indulge in vivid, idealised fantasies of reaching a goal often put in less effort toward it, not more. Imagining the finish line can feel so good that it takes the edge off actually running there.
That doesn’t mean optimism is bad. It means a wish needs company.
Add the obstacle, then a plan
Oettingen’s approach, known as WOOP, walks through four steps: the Wish, the best Outcome, the main Obstacle inside you or your situation, and a Plan for that obstacle. Holding the goal and the obstacle side by side is what turns a daydream into commitment.
The plan has a shape: if… then…
Research on implementation intentions, led by Peter Gollwitzer, gives the plan its format: “If situation X happens, then I will do Y.” Instead of “I’ll exercise more”, it’s “If it’s 7am on a weekday, then I’ll put my shoes on before I check my phone.”
It’s one of the strongest and most-replicated findings in behaviour-change research. A 2006 meta-analysis by Gollwitzer and Paschal Sheeran reviewed 94 independent tests and found a medium-to-large effect on reaching goals (d = .65). A 2024 update across 642 tests confirmed it holds — though the size depends on how motivated you are and how the plan is worded, with effects ranging from about d = .27 to .66.
Why it works: the decision is made in advance. When the moment arrives, you don’t need to find motivation — you only need to notice the cue.
Write yours in two minutes
- Wish: one goal, in a sentence.
- Outcome: the best result, briefly. Don’t linger here.
- Obstacle: the most likely thing to get in your way — be specific and honest.
- Plan: “If [that obstacle] happens, then I will [one concrete action].”
How MileStone uses this
When you create a goal, MileStone asks reflection questions in this shape: why it matters, what achieving it would change, what might get in the way, and — the part most apps skip — “When that obstacle shows up, what will you do? (If… then I will…)”. The answers stay with the goal, so the plan is there on the day you need it.
Sources
- Gollwitzer, P. M., & Sheeran, P. (2006). Implementation intentions and goal achievement: A meta-analysis of effects and processes. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 38, 69–119.
- Sheeran, P., Listrom, O., & Gollwitzer, P. M. (2025). The when and how of planning: Meta-analysis of the scope and components of implementation intentions in 642 tests. European Review of Social Psychology, 36(1), 162–194.
- Oettingen, G. (2014). Rethinking Positive Thinking: Inside the New Science of Motivation. Current.
- Oettingen, G., & Mayer, D. (2002). The motivating function of thinking about the future: Expectations versus fantasies. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 83(5), 1198–1212.