Sports coaches often ask their players to visualize past successes before big games. The coaches may not be scientists but a recent scientific study has proven their hunch right.

A recent study published in the Journal of Consumer Psychology examined how recalling past successes or failures impacted self-control when it came to achieving certain goals. They set out to ask the question “Does recalling our past always help us make the virtuous decisions that are likely to lead to a better long-term future?”

The researchers conducted a number of experiments asking participants to think about or write about past events, and then made them do different exercises in self control ranging testing their appetite to take on debt to buy a much desired item, or persevering on an unsolvable puzzle.

The study yielded interesting results:

When successes are easy to recall, people showed a tendency to display more self-control

When successes were harder to recall, the participants weren’t able to demonstrate as much self-control in the tasks

Prompting participants to recall failures, however, prompted indulgence and giving in, regardless of whether the failure was easy to remember or not

Essentially if we can easily remember our successes, we feel more confident and have a better shot at achieving our goals. If we are being reminded of our failures, it lowers our self-esteem and has a meaningful outcome on our next tasks. Perhaps this explains why we see winning and losing streaks in sports, and in our careers.

Implications

This study shows that thinking positive thoughts isn’t just for athletes. Whether we are trying to lose weight, prioritize our families, work, get up earlier, or take on more initiative at work — we are so often helped and hurt by how we view ourselves and the baggage of our past.

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