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they enjoy indulging in escapism and so become reluctant to put in the effort required to achieve their goals. Either way, the message from the research is clear: fantasizing about your perfect world may make you feel better, but it is unlikely to help you transform your dreams into reality.
    Fortunately, as this chapter will demonstrate, the results from other research into motivation are not all doom and gloom. A large amount of work has revealed that some techniques do help create permanent and positive changes in people’slives. From weight loss to quitting smoking, changing careers to finding your perfect partner, there are quick and painless techniques that can provide real help. It’s all about having the perfect plan, knowing how to beat procrastination, and employing a rather strange form of doublethink.
    CREATING THE PERFECT PLAN
    Think back to when you have attempted to achieve an important goal or ambition. Perhaps losing some weight, getting a new job, studying for an exam, or preparing for a key interview. What sorts of techniques did you use? Read each of the following statements and then decide whether you tend to use the technique described. Don’t spend too long thinking about each statement, and answer as honestly as possible.
    When attempting to change an important aspect of my life, I tend to …Now you need to create two scores. Create Score A by awarding yourself 1 point for each “Yes” answer to questions 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9. Next, create Score B by giving yourself 1 point for each “No” answer to questions 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10. Disregard all other answers. Finally, add Score A and Score B to obtain a number between 0 and 10.
     
 
YES
NO
1 make a step-by-step plan.
 
 
2 motivate myself by focusing on someone that I admire for achieving so much (e.g., a celebrity role model or great leader).
 
 
3 tell other people about my goal.
 
 
4 think about the bad things that will happen if I don’t achieve my goal.
 
 
5 think about the good things that will happen if I achieve my goal.
 
 
6 try to suppress unhelpful thoughts (e.g., avoid thinking about eating unhealthy food or smoking).
 
 
7 reward myself for making progress toward my goal.
 
 
8 rely on willpower.
 
 
9 record my progress (e.g., in a journal or on a chart).
 
 
10 fantasize about how great my life will be when I achieve my goal.
 
 
    A few years ago I conducted two large-scale scientific studies on the psychology of motivation. The project involved tracking more than five thousand participants from around the world who were attempting to achieve a wide range of aims and ambitions, including losing weight, gaining new qualifications, starting a new relationship, quitting smoking, embarking on a new career, and being more environmentally friendly. One group was followed for six months, the other for one year. At the beginning of the project, the vast majority of participants was confident of doing well. At the end of their allotted time period, everyone was asked to describe the techniques that they had used to try to achieve their goals and to report their level of success. Only about 10 percent reported that they had successfully achieved their aims and ambitions. The questionnaire above contains the ten techniques that participants used most frequently. Some sound like good commonsense, and others frequently appear in self-help books and training courses. However, although the techniques may appear credible, according to our data, only half of them significantly increase your chances of being successful, while the other half are ineffective. The question is, which are which?
    In our experiment, participants who endorsed the even-numbered items in the questionnaire were unlikely to achieve their goals. So, for example, those who adopted a celebrity role model, perhaps putting a picture of Cindy Crawford or Bill Gates on their refrigerator door, did not usually drop that all-important clothing size or achieve