Best Possible Self (8th cool activity from a MOOC I'm taking)

Happiness Practice #8: Best Possible Self

Background

This exercise asks you to imagine your life going as well as it possibly could in the future, then write about this best possible future. Research has shown that optimism about the future can increase happiness and motivate people to work toward achieving their desired future.

Time Required

15 minutes per day for two weeks

Instructions

Take a moment to imagine your life in the future. What is the best possible life you can imagine? Consider all of the relevant areas of your life, such as your career, academic work, relationships, hobbies, and/or health. What would happen in these areas of your life in your best possible future?

For the next 15 minutes, write continuously about what you imagine this best possible future to be. Use the instructions below to help guide you through this process.

1. It may be easy for this exercise to lead you to examine how your current life may not match this best possible future. You may be tempted to think about ways in which accomplishing goals has been difficult for you in the past, or about financial/time/social barriers to being able to make these accomplishments happen. For the purpose of this exercise, however, we encourage you to focus on the future—imagine a brighter future in which you are your best self and your circumstances change just enough to make this best possible life happen.  
2. This exercise is most useful when it is very specific—if you think about having a partner or new friend, describe how they interact with you, what you might do together, and so on. If you imagine a better relationship with a person currently in your life, imagine exactly what would be different. The more specific you are, the more engaged you will be in the exercise and the more you’ll get out of it.  
3. Be as creative and imaginative as you want, and don’t worry about grammar and spelling.  

Evidence That It Works

Sheldon, K. M., & Lyubomirsky, S. (2006). How to increase and sustain positive emotion: The effects of expressing gratitude and visualizing best possible selves. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 1(2), 73-82.

People who completed the Best Possible Self exercise daily for two weeks showed increases in positive emotions right after the two-week study ended. Participants who kept up with the exercise even after the study was over continued to show increases in positive mood one month later. 

Why It Works

By thinking about their best possible future selves, people can learn about themselves and what they want in life. This way of thinking can help people restructure their priorities in life in order to reach these goals. Additionally, it can help people increase their sense of control over their lives by highlighting what they need to do to achieve their dreams.

Source

Laura A. King, Ph.D., University of Missouri
Jeffrey Huffman, M.D., Harvard Medical School