Fantasies Are A Double-Edged Sword

In Oettingen's finding with her research, she was shocked when she found out that the very images that allowed us to virtually live through our heart's desire actually had hampering effects on our realizations.

We then ask, "why would fantasizing about fulfilling a wish hinder the pursuit of the wish?" To which they reply, "that when we experience a mental attainment of our wish, in our mind's eye, we've already experienced the rewards of having achieve our dream which in turn makes people exert less energy and effort that's required to turn our wishes into reality."