Great advice for negative things. Pay them no attention, after you've processed them (don't ignore them though!).
For positive things, for future hope and dreams, one has to be careful. We know that visualizing a positive outcome can be counter-productive...
Those who daydream about the perfect fitness routine don't go to the gym.
Those who daydream about building anything are less likely to take the step necessary to actually build it.
It's as though strong visualization of a positive outcome becomes a satiating reward in itself. Without any changes to reality, we become attached to the mere idea of possible future. Just as those dwelling on the past are dissociating from reality, those hoping for the future are willfully disengaging engaging with primary reality.
All that is to say, it IS all about attention. So pay attention to the present.
> We know that visualizing a positive outcome can be counter-productive... [...] Those who daydream ...
There should be made a distinction between daydream and visualization. Visualization in sports psychology is a very common technique that is widely used by athletes (amateur to top tier). I had also read about visualization/imagery having positive effects on motor recovery and performance.
Basically the idea is that your brain has a hard time telling the difference between the fantasy and reality and so you experience the reward which then sucks out the energy and drive needed to actually do the hard work.
> Basically the idea is that your brain has a hard time telling the difference between the fantasy and reality
When it's "fantasy" the experience of reward "sucks out the energy and drive".
I'm referring to there being a difference between fantasy/daydream and mental visualization as the deliberate construction of detailed mental imagery of a desired performance or outcome [0] When you do it while lost in fantasy it's not deliberate, but when it's an intentional process it becomes beneficial.
The brain having a hard time telling the difference between real and imagined is neutral, the how and intention behind that imagined activation tells if the outcome is positive or depleting
For positive things, for future hope and dreams, one has to be careful. We know that visualizing a positive outcome can be counter-productive...
Those who daydream about the perfect fitness routine don't go to the gym.
Those who daydream about building anything are less likely to take the step necessary to actually build it.
It's as though strong visualization of a positive outcome becomes a satiating reward in itself. Without any changes to reality, we become attached to the mere idea of possible future. Just as those dwelling on the past are dissociating from reality, those hoping for the future are willfully disengaging engaging with primary reality.
All that is to say, it IS all about attention. So pay attention to the present.