No Creative Follow-through? (do this instead)

You've been told to visualize your success, but there's research showing that advice might actually be making your creative block worse. The new album: https://scottmclemore.bandcamp.com/al... There's a piece of advice creatives have been given forever: visualize the finished album, the sold-out venue, the standing ovation. It feels motivating. The problem is, psychologist Gabriele Oettingen spent decades studying this, and it turns out pure positive visualization quietly reduces the effort you actually put in — your brain takes a small hit of satisfaction from the fantasy and eases the tension that was driving you forward. In this episode, I walk through a research-backed alternative called WOOP (Wish, Outcome, Obstacle, Plan) and show you exactly how I used it to finally release a project I'd been sitting on. It's not about willpower. It's about designing a small, honest experiment inside your real life. 🎧Check out my music: https://scottmclemore.bandcamp.com/ 🤟Join the Patreon community:   / scottmclemore   Chapters: 00:00 - The Advice That's Making Creative Block Worse 00:27 - The Visualization Trap 01:03 - Why Your Brain Works Against You 01:28 - The Mirror of Erised 02:20 - What to Do Instead: Introducing WOOP 02:50 - W: Wish — Make It Concrete 03:09 - O: Outcome — The Part of Visualization That Actually Works 03:43 - O: Obstacle — Name the Real Thing 04:32 - P: Plan — The If/Then Statement 05:00 - Did It Actually Work? 05:27 - Why Growth Mindset Wasn't Enough 06:13 - The Unsent Email (You Know the One) 07:16 - Try This Week: One Wish, One Obstacle, One Plan https://ktfpod.com #creativity #visualization #keeptheflow