What is Best Possible Self?

2010

Finding: In this study, 44 adults spent 15 minutes writing about their best possible future and 5 minutes picturing it, while 38 others wrote about and imagined an ordinary day; the first group came away with a stronger sense of optimism and more positive expectations about what lay ahead. For someone trying the practice, this suggests that even a single short session of vividly imagining a hopeful future can lift your outlook in the moment. Keep in mind this was a brief, one-off exercise measuring a temporary shift in mood and expectation, so it speaks to the immediate effect rather than lasting change over weeks or months.

2025

Finding: Across two online trials with everyday adults (not people diagnosed with an anxiety disorder), repeatedly imagining your best possible future self lowered general anxiety over two weeks. The catch was dose: people needed to complete at least two sessions to see a real drop, while a single sitting made no measurable difference, so this is a practice to repeat rather than try once. Interestingly, how vividly you can picture things didn't change how well it worked, and part of the benefit seemed to flow through a boost in self-esteem. These were short, two-week studies in a non-clinical group, and the reports didn't include the size of the effect, so treat it as a promising everyday habit rather than a substitute for treatment.

n = 66

Finding: In this small two-week study, 66 university students who practised the Best Possible Self visualization each day showed lower cortisol, a key stress hormone, both in their morning levels and in how sharply they reacted to a stressful lab task, compared with students doing a similar control exercise. Those who practised also reported less worrying and more positive feelings, and it was these shifts in wellbeing, rather than a rise in optimism, that seemed to drive the calmer stress-hormone response. This is early, short-term research with a small group of students, so the physical effect on stress hormones should be seen as promising rather than settled; whether it holds over the longer term is still unknown.

n = 141

Finding: In an online trial with 141 healthy adults, three versions of the Best Possible Self exercise, writing plus imagery, writing only, and imagery only, were each compared against simply describing a typical day. Every version raised optimism and lifted mood right afterward, and the three formats worked about equally well, so whether you write your best possible future out or just picture it vividly, you can expect a similar boost. Practically, this means you can pick the format that suits you and still come away feeling more hopeful and positive. Keep in mind that the study only measured the immediate effect, so it tells us about the lift you feel in the moment rather than how long it lasts.

2020

Finding: Across 34 randomized controlled trials, imagining your best possible self produced a small lift in positive feelings and a smaller rise in optimism, with the boost to mood strongest right after the exercise. In practical terms, the technique works mainly as a quick mood and outlook reset: it can leave you feeling more upbeat and hopeful about the future in the moment. The gains tended to fade rather than build over time, so if you want to hold onto that lift, plan to make the practice a regular habit rather than a one-off.

2016

Finding: This study describes the Best Possible Self as a positive psychology exercise in which you write about and vividly picture your life in the future once everything has gone as well as it possibly could, after you have worked hard toward your goals. It can be done through writing, through imagery, or a combination of the two, either in person or online, and it stands as one of the most widely used positive psychology practices. For someone considering it, that flexibility means you can start with whatever format fits your day, whether that is a few minutes of guided imagining or a short written reflection. The study is cited here for how it defines and frames the practice rather than for measuring a specific outcome, so it tells you what the exercise is more than how strongly it works.

2016

Finding: Pooling 29 randomised trials with 3,319 people, this meta-analysis found that optimism-training exercises produced a moderate boost in optimism overall, and the Best Possible Self exercise stood out as one of the more effective approaches, especially when practised in person. In plain terms, spending time vividly imagining a future in which things have gone well can measurably lift how hopefully you view your own life. One caveat worth noting: the strongest effects showed up when optimism was checked within a day of finishing, so this study tells us more about the immediate lift than about how long it lasts.

2023

Finding: In a randomised trial run during the COVID-19 pandemic, adults who wrote about their best possible self (87 people in this group) felt a real lift in positive mood and a drop in negative feelings, so the practice can genuinely brighten how you feel in the moment. That boost, however, faded after about the first week, which points to the same lesson many people notice in practice: a one-off session helps briefly, but keeping the benefit going means coming back to it regularly. It's worth treating Best Possible Self as an ongoing habit rather than a single fix.

2001

Finding: This foundational 2001 study by psychologist Laura King, where the Best Possible Self exercise first took shape, asked 81 undergraduates to write for 20 minutes a day over four days, with some focusing on their best possible future self. Those who imagined their ideal future on paper reported a lift in overall well-being, and months later they had fewer visits to the health center for illness than students who wrote about neutral topics. For someone trying this practice, it suggests that even a few short writing sessions spent picturing a hopeful future can shift how you feel and possibly how your body copes with stress. Keep in mind this was a small study of college students, so it points to a promising starting place rather than a guaranteed result for everyone.

2020

Finding: Across two randomised trials with 112 and 107 participants, people wrote about their best possible self set in the past, the present, or the future. Wellbeing rose across every group, but the version people used made no meaningful difference, and neither did writing compared with the control activity. For your own practice, this suggests the specific time-frame you imagine matters less than commonly assumed, so you can pick whichever framing feels most natural rather than worrying that only a future focus "works." These were short, modestly sized studies, so they speak to how the exercise compares within itself more than to its long-term power.

2013

Finding: In this study, people who spent a week imagining their best possible future came away feeling more optimistic right after the exercise, while a comparison group practising gratitude did not show the same lift in optimism. Both practices raised overall life satisfaction by a similar amount, so if your goal is specifically to feel more hopeful about what lies ahead, picturing your ideal future may give you something gratitude alone does not. Keep in mind this was a brief one-week practice and the optimism boost was measured immediately afterward, so it tells us more about the short-term effect than about what happens if you keep it up over months.

2012

Finding: In an experiment with 79 university students, those who spent time writing about and picturing their "best possible self" rated a painful cold-water task as less intense than students in a comparison group, and the boost in optimism appeared to work by easing the tendency to dwell on and magnify the pain in the moment. For someone trying this practice, it suggests that deliberately imagining a hopeful future can shift how the body registers a stressful, uncomfortable sensation, at least briefly. Keep in mind this was a short lab test using experimentally induced pain in healthy young adults, so it does not tell us whether the technique helps with chronic or clinical pain.