The Best Possible Self

The Best Possible Self (BPS) exercise is used to increase your optimism. The BPS requires you to envision yourself in an imaginary future in which everything has turned out in the most optimal way.

Advice

While in most cases the exercise is used in a written form, it is also possible to ask clients to make drawings of their best possible self. The most powerful way to use the exercise is by instructing clients to visualize their best possible self on a daily basis.

Tool Description

1. Set a timer or stopwatch for 10 minutes, during this time you are to think about your best possible future self and to write it down on paper.
2. Imagine your life the way you always imagined it would be like, your best possible self. Picture that you have performed to the best of your abilities and you had achieved the things you wanted to in life.
3. While writing, don’t worry about grammar or punctuation just focus on writing all your thoughts and emotions in an expressive way. You may want to have several sheets of paper for this exercise.
4. Reflection: after completing the initial exercise, you must reflect on your feelings and answer. Think about the following questions: What effects did this exercise have?

• Does this exercise affect you more emotionally or does it affect your current self-image?
• Did it motivate or inspire you?
• Does it make you want to make changes?
• How did this exercise affect you overall?