EPISODE · May 7, 2026 · 8 MIN
What’s Killing Your Follow-through? Do This Instead.
from Keep the Flow
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/album/subtext-vol-1There'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: https://patreon.com/scottmclemore Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
What this episode covers
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/album/subtext-vol-1There'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: https://patreon.com/scottmclemore Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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What’s Killing Your Follow-through? Do This Instead.
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