Model Railroad Syndrome
Model railroader syndrome is the ability to see the completed project in your mind so clearly that you don't actually have to build it. We're talking about someone who talks a good game, gets something started, but never really finishes. Not because they're lazy, but having to do with the fact they see it all so clearly in their mind.
Research suggests the more clearly you visualize success, the less motivated you are to actually try to achieve it.
Past research has found that people who spontaneously dream about a rosy future tend to have lower achievement. It flies in the face of a lot of popular psychology ideas about 'visualizing success'. And depressing for those of us who are chronic daydreamers and hope that our fantasies will help us to build a positive future.
Explanations abound for it. Are optimists just less successful? Does past failure make you dwell on positive fantasies? Are daydreamers less likely to do the hard work necessary to reach their goals or are they sloppier about carrying the work out? Does seeing good things clearly in your mind satisfy your desire for them so you're less motivated, model railroader syndrome? We know that imagining eating makes you less hungry. Maybe imagining success makes you less hungry for it.
Researchers asked people to generate positive, negative and neutral fantasies about the future. People who had imagined positive futures had less energy than those who imagined that their future was in danger. They also had less energy than those who imagined negative or neutral futures.
In other words, the more pressing the need, the more important something was, the more positive fantasies sapped people's energy and undermined their motivation.
These results tell us that something about fantasizing itself contributes to the decline in motivation. Not so much about the people who are fantasizing.
We know that fear can be debilitating. But perhaps a little worry can stave off complacency and get you going enough to move you from fantasy to reality.
Nancy Darling, Ph.D.
in Thinking About Kids
Psychology Today
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