It's almost impossible to go through life without experiencing some kind of failure. If you have a fear of failure, you might be uncomfortable setting goals. But goals help us decide where we want to go in life. Without goals, we have no sure destination. Many experts recommend visualization  as a powerful tool for goal setting. Imagining how life will be after you've reached your goal is a great motivator to keep you moving forward. However, visualization might produce the opposite results in people who have a fear of failure. In his article, researcher Thomas Langens showed that people who have a fear of failure were often left in a strong negative mood  after being asked to visualize goals and goal attainment. So, what can you do instead? Start by setting a few small goals. These should be goals that are slightly, but not overwhelmingly, challenging. Think of these goals as "early wins" that are designed to help improve your confidence. For example, if you've been too afraid to talk to the new department head (who has the power to give you the promotion you want), then make this your first goal: Plan to stop by her office during the next week to introduce yourself. Or, imagine that you've dreamed of returning to school to get your MBA , but you're convinced that you're not smart enough to be accepted into business school. Set a goal to talk with a school counselor or admissions officer to see what's required for admission. Try to make your goals tiny steps on the route to much bigger goals. Don't focus on the end picture: getting the promotion, or graduating with an MBA. Just focus on the next step: introducing yourself to the department head, and talking to an admissions officer. That's it. Taking one small step at a time will help build your confidence, keep you moving forward, and prevent you from getting overwhelmed with visions of your final goal. The opinion of Thomas Langens is used to   _  .
tell the results of setting goals prove the limitations of visualization draw the readers' attention to the topic stress the importance of visualization