A vividly imagined future lets you feel whether you actually want it

When you really picture a future situation, with the place, the people and the small details, you are doing more than daydreaming. Your brain builds a scene out of what it already knows: memories, facts and past experiences, recombined into something that does not exist yet. The more concrete the scene, the more believable it becomes. Then your brain starts looking around. Which needs could I meet here, which goals move closer? The motives that come up first tend to matter most, because they come straight from your deepest values. At the same time you know which behaviour usually works out well for you: a walk when you are stuck, cooking after a bad day, replying right away to someone you care about. Finally, the feelings arrive. You get a preview of what that future is like: pride, relief, boredom, loneliness. That preview is information. It answers a question a list of pros and cons cannot reach: is this a future I want to wake up in? And if so, what can I do today to make it more…