Visualising success feels productive. Vision boards, manifesting, picturing the finish line. It gives the sense that you’re moving closer to the goal. 

But according to the research, that mental shortcut might actually be working against you. 

In Part 2 of this two-parter (listen to Part 1 here), I continue my conversation with behavioural scientist and author Nir Eyal to unpack why. Nir spent six years researching how beliefs shape what we see, feel, and do, and why the stories we tell ourselves can dramatically change our behaviour. 

We talk about the surprising power of “failure goals”, why lucky people often manufacture their own luck, and how leaders shape behaviour through the invisible simulations they create at work. Nir also explains why framing matters more than many leaders realise, and why the way you interpret discomfort can completely change how you perform. 

And when it comes to visualisation, Nir shares a key insight from elite sport. High-performing athletes aren’t picturing themselves standing on the podium. They’re visualising the moment things get hard, and exactly what they’ll do next. 

Nir and I discuss: 
Why setting a failure goal can actually increase your chances of success 
The study that shows why some people experience themselves as “lucky” 
How beliefs shape what we see, feel, and do in everyday life 
Why leaders are effectively designing simulations through workplace culture 
The powerful role of framing when introducing ideas to teams 
The “believe, anticipate, feel, confirm” loop that shapes our experiences 
How expectations influence the way we experience products and brands 
Why visualising the finish line can reduce motivation 
What high-performing athletes actually visualise when preparing to succeed 

 

Key quotes 

“Failure without learning is a different story. But as long as you are failing and learning, that is progress.”  

“Athletes aren’t visualising the trophy. They’re visualising the obstacles in their way.”  

Connect with Nir Eyal on Instagram, X (Twitter), and LinkedIn and his website and check out his latest book Beyond Belief. 

 

My latest book The Health Habit is out now. You can order a copy here: https://www.amantha.com/the-health-habit/ 

Connect with me on the socials: Linkedin (https://www.linkedin.com/in/amanthaimber) 

Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/amanthai) 

If you are looking for more tips to improve the way you work and live, I write a weekly newsletter where I share practical and simple to apply tips to improve your life. You can sign up for that at https://amantha-imber.ck.page/subscribe 

Visit https://www.amantha.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes. 

Get in touch at amantha@inventium.com.au 

Credits: 
Host: Amantha Imber 
Sound Engineer: The Podcast Butler 

Visualising&nbsp;success feels productive. Vision boards, manifesting, picturing&nbsp;the finish line. It gives the sense that&nbsp;you&rsquo;re&nbsp;moving closer to the goal.&nbsp;
But according to the research, that mental shortcut might actually be working against you.&nbsp;
In&nbsp;Part 2 of&nbsp;this&nbsp;two-parter (<a href="https://www.amantha.com/podcasts/struggling-to-reach-your-goals%3F-nir-eyal-explains-the-beliefs-holding-you-back-(part-1)">listen to Part 1&nbsp;here</a>), I continue my conversation with&nbsp;behavioural&nbsp;scientist and author Nir Eyal to unpack why. Nir spent six years researching how beliefs shape what we see, feel, and do, and why the stories we tell ourselves can dramatically change our&nbsp;behaviour.&nbsp;
We talk about the surprising power of &ldquo;failure goals&rdquo;,&nbsp;why lucky people often manufacture their own luck, and how leaders shape&nbsp;behaviour&nbsp;through the invisible simulations they create at work. Nir also explains why framing matters more than many leaders&nbsp;realise, and why the way you interpret discomfort can completely change how you perform.&nbsp;
And when it comes to&nbsp;visualisation, Nir shares a key insight from elite sport. High-performing athletes&nbsp;aren&rsquo;t&nbsp;picturing themselves standing on the podium.&nbsp;They&rsquo;re&nbsp;visualising&nbsp;the moment things get hard, and exactly what&nbsp;they&rsquo;ll&nbsp;do next.&nbsp;
Nir and I discuss:&nbsp;
<ul>
<li aria-setsize="-1" data-leveltext="" data-font="Symbol" data-listid="1" data-list-defn-props="{&quot;335552541&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:720,&quot;335559991&quot;:360,&quot;469769226&quot;:&quot;Symbol&quot;,&quot;469769242&quot;:[8226],&quot;469777803&quot;:&quot;left&quot;,&quot;469777804&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;469777815&quot;:&quot;hybridMultilevel&quot;}" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="1">Why setting a&nbsp;failure goal&nbsp;can&nbsp;actually increase&nbsp;your chances of success&nbsp;</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li aria-setsize="-1" data-leveltext="" data-font="Symbol" data-listid="1" data-list-defn-props="{&quot;335552541&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:720,&quot;335559991&quot;:360,&quot;469769226&quot;:&quot;Symbol&quot;,&quot;469769242&quot;:[8226],&quot;469777803&quot;:&quot;left&quot;,&quot;469777804&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;469777815&quot;:&quot;hybridMultilevel&quot;}" data-aria-posinset="2" data-aria-level="1">The study that shows why some people experience themselves as &ldquo;lucky&rdquo;&nbsp;</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li aria-setsize="-1" data-leveltext="" data-font="Symbol" data-listid="1" data-list-defn-props="{&quot;335552541&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:720,&quot;335559991&quot;:360,&quot;469769226&quot;:&quot;Symbol&quot;,&quot;469769242&quot;:[8226],&quot;469777803&quot;:&quot;left&quot;,&quot;469777804&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;469777815&quot;:&quot;hybridMultilevel&quot;}" data-aria-posinset="3" data-aria-level="1">How beliefs shape what we see, feel, and do in everyday life&nbsp;</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li aria-setsize="-1" data-leveltext="" data-font="Symbol" data-listid="1" data-list-defn-props="{&quot;335552541&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:720,&quot;335559991&quot;:360,&quot;469769226&quot;:&quot;Symbol&quot;,&quot;469769242&quot;:[8226],&quot;469777803&quot;:&quot;left&quot;,&quot;469777804&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;469777815&quot;:&quot;hybridMultilevel&quot;}" data-aria-posinset="4" data-aria-level="1">Why leaders are effectively&nbsp;designing simulations&nbsp;through workplace culture&nbsp;</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li aria-setsize="-1" data-leveltext="" data-font="Symbol" data-listid="1" data-list-defn-props="{&quot;335552541&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:720,&quot;335559991&quot;:360,&quot;469769226&quot;:&quot;Symbol&quot;,&quot;469769242&quot;:[8226],&quot;469777803&quot;:&quot;left&quot;,&quot;469777804&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;469777815&quot;:&quot;hybridMultilevel&quot;}" data-aria-posinset="5" data-aria-level="1">The powerful role of&nbsp;framing&nbsp;when introducing ideas to teams&nbsp;</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li aria-setsize="-1" data-leveltext="" data-font="Symbol" data-listid="1" data-list-defn-props="{&quot;335552541&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:720,&quot;335559991&quot;:360,&quot;469769226&quot;:&quot;Symbol&quot;,&quot;469769242&quot;:[8226],&quot;469777803&quot;:&quot;left&quot;,&quot;469777804&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;469777815&quot;:&quot;hybridMultilevel&quot;}" data-aria-posinset="6" data-aria-level="1">The &ldquo;believe, anticipate, feel, confirm&rdquo; loop that shapes our experiences&nbsp;</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li aria-setsize="-1" data-leveltext="" data-font="Symbol" data-listid="1" data-list-defn-props="{&quot;335552541&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:720,&quot;335559991&quot;:360,&quot;469769226&quot;:&quot;Symbol&quot;,&quot;469769242&quot;:[8226],&quot;469777803&quot;:&quot;left&quot;,&quot;469777804&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;469777815&quot;:&quot;hybridMultilevel&quot;}" data-aria-posinset="7" data-aria-level="1">How expectations influence the way we experience products and brands&nbsp;</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li aria-setsize="-1" data-leveltext="" data-font="Symbol" data-listid="1" data-list-defn-props="{&quot;335552541&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:720,&quot;335559991&quot;:360,&quot;469769226&quot;:&quot;Symbol&quot;,&quot;469769242&quot;:[8226],&quot;469777803&quot;:&quot;left&quot;,&quot;469777804&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;469777815&quot;:&quot;hybridMultilevel&quot;}" data-aria-posinset="8" data-aria-level="1">Why&nbsp;visualising&nbsp;the finish line can reduce motivation&nbsp;</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li aria-setsize="-1" data-leveltext="" data-font="Symbol" data-listid="1" data-list-defn-props="{&quot;335552541&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:720,&quot;335559991&quot;:360,&quot;469769226&quot;:&quot;Symbol&quot;,&quot;469769242&quot;:[8226],&quot;469777803&quot;:&quot;left&quot;,&quot;469777804&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;469777815&quot;:&quot;hybridMultilevel&quot;}" data-aria-posinset="9" data-aria-level="1">What high-performing athletes actually&nbsp;visualise&nbsp;when preparing to succeed&nbsp;</li>
</ul>
&nbsp;
Key quotes&nbsp;
&ldquo;Failure without learning is a different story. But&nbsp;as long as&nbsp;you are failing and learning, that is progress.&rdquo;&nbsp;&nbsp;
&ldquo;Athletes&nbsp;aren&rsquo;t&nbsp;visualising&nbsp;the trophy.&nbsp;They&rsquo;re&nbsp;visualising&nbsp;the obstacles in their way.&rdquo;&nbsp;&nbsp;
Connect with Nir Eyal on&nbsp;<a href="https://www.instagram.com/neyal99/">Instagram</a>, X (Twitter), and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/nireyal">LinkedIn</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;his&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nirandfar.com/">website</a>&nbsp;and check out his latest book&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nirandfar.com/beyond-belief/">Beyond Belief</a>.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
My latest&nbsp;book&nbsp;The Health&nbsp;Habit&nbsp;is out now. You can order a copy here:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.amantha.com/the-health-habit/">https://www.amantha.com/the-health-habit/</a>&nbsp;
Connect with me on the socials:&nbsp;Linkedin&nbsp;(<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/amanthaimber">https://www.linkedin.com/in/amanthaimber</a>)&nbsp;
Instagram (<a href="https://www.instagram.com/amanthai">https://www.instagram.com/amanthai</a>)&nbsp;
If you are looking for more tips to improve the way you work and live, I write a weekly newsletter where I share practical and&nbsp;simple to apply&nbsp;tips to improve your life. You can sign up for that at&nbsp;<a href="https://amantha-imber.ck.page/subscribe">https://amantha-imber.ck.page/subscribe</a>&nbsp;
Visit&nbsp;<a href="https://www.amantha.com/podcast">https://www.amantha.com/podcast</a>&nbsp;for full show notes from all episodes.&nbsp;
Get in touch at&nbsp;<a href="mailto:amantha@inventium.com.au">amantha@inventium.com.au</a>&nbsp;
Credits:&nbsp; Host: Amantha Imber&nbsp; Sound Engineer: The Podcast Butler&nbsp;

You know those annoyingly successful people who seem to have it all figured out? Time to steal their playbook. Organisational psychologist Dr Amantha Imber gets world‑class achievers to spill their secrets - the daily strategies behind their success through to life hacks and productivity hacks they’d rather keep to themselves. We’re talking practical tips for boosting your output (including clever AI tools and shortcuts that’ll make you look like a genius), managing overwhelm without losing your mind, and optimising both work and wellbeing. No motivational fluff. Just battle‑tested tactics from people who’ve cracked the code.

You know those annoyingly successful people who seem to have it all figured out? Time to steal their playbook. Organisational psychologist Dr Amantha Imber gets world‑class achievers to spill their secrets&nbsp;- the daily strategies behind their success through to&nbsp;life hacks and productivity hacks they&rsquo;d rather keep to themselves. We&rsquo;re talking practical tips for boosting your output (including clever AI tools and shortcuts that&rsquo;ll make you look like a genius), managing overwhelm without losing your mind, and optimising both work and wellbeing. No motivational fluff. Just battle‑tested tactics from people who&rsquo;ve cracked the code.

Have you ever wondered if the worlds leading entrepreneurs, writers, musicians and business people construct their day differently to you?

How I Work

Why visualising success might be sabotaging you, with Nir Eyal (Part 2)

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/fa326977-3de5-4283-9b8b-af3500c58607/clips/1cc3e023-0005-4c29-9f7a-b40900206623/transcript