One catchphrase that I have made my life’s motto is the phrase, “Delulu is the Solulu.” Simply put, this phrase encourages people to be delusional (NOTE I am referring to a colloquial definition of the term, NOT than the medical/psychological definition of the term) about things, and by having these delusional thoughts, you can ignore your problems at hand.
Though I do love using the phrase within that context, especially when joking with my friends about dating our celebrity crushes, I have also come to a new, more applicable meaning of this phrase: if you just dream a little, and forgo the current challenges to that dream, you can endure whatever difficulties you are going through and maybe, see some success too.
Ultimately, this “delulu” thinking has helped me to make sure I do everything with two traits in mind: confidence and positivity.
One recent example of “delulu” thinking leading to an outcome I could never imagine occurred during my law school application process. At first when I was applying, I was honestly not looking forward to the process at all; having to write an essay that somehow encompassed all of my hopes and dreams into one page and having to crack open over a 120 dollars per each application led to multiple metaphorical stabs in the heart. Moreover, I just did not think that I would land a good outcome at first. I had somewhat of a lowish LSAT score for my dream schools, and to be quite honest, I thought the whole process would be a futile effort and I would have to take the LSAT again and reapply if I wanted a shot at my dream schools. It was even worse when I shared my insecurities about the whole process with my family and other adults that were advising me at the time; they would simply say to just try and apply everywhere cause you never know. Now, while these words were technically what I needed to hear, it wasn’t what I wanted to hear at the time. They simply felt like yet another stab in the chest, because no matter what I did or how I was thinking, I just couldn’t shake off these insecurities.
However, it was a conversation with a friend who went through the grad school application process that helped change my perspective entirely. After sharing my insecurities, she essentially told me how she was just “delusional” about the whole process and believed that whatever she did, something will work out in the end. And I swear, after that conversation, something just snapped into place for me. Since I (at the time) loved to be “delulu” for my celeb crushes, why couldn’t I be delusional about my application process?
From then on, I was able to push through writing the tiring essays and felt less stabs in my chest when confirming my payments to each school per application. I ran entirely on delusion: of course I’m gonna get in here, here, and here was the only thought churning through my mind when doing literally everything.
And then, surprisingly enough, my law school application cycle ended up working out in a way I never would have imagined had I not been delusional over it. Nn a way, my delusional thoughts ended up turning into real tangible success. Of course, this whole story could be entirely a coincidence. If I didn’t have a great application cycle, I maybe would not be writing this article at all.
Additionally, even psychologists are optimistic about people adopting this “delusional” mindset. In an article written by Mark Tavers, an American psychologist, about the delusional mindset, he notes that “The ‘delulu’ mindset reinforces once again the power of belief and self-talk in turning ideas into action with success. As with any social media trend, the deluge of ‘delulu’ needs to be taken with a grain of salt. However, writing it off as just another gen Z whim might come at a cost. It’s not a coincidence that most successful people, when looking back at their younger selves, cite the delusional hope they had back then as the fuel that propelled them through the toughest parts of their lives and careers.”
Additionally, Mark Tavers mentioned how there are many studies that prove how the certain traits that are associated with the delulu mindset, such as confidence and optimism, do actively lead to positive outcomes. For example, in this study, they found that students with high self-efficacy, otherwise known as students who were more confident in their abilities to do well on a test, were actually able to outperform their peers who were less confident. On the other hand, this study found that optimism significantly enhances perceived progress toward goals and commitment.
So, maybe being delusional can actually help? Though it may not be a foolproof method to guarantee success, at the very least, it will leave you feeling happier and more eager to push forward, which in times like this, is something that we all need.