Suggestions in present or future tense?

[Limbolux]

Hi everybody,
in your experience does it work better, to suggest that
- the subject will change increasingly in the desired direction ("you will be more and more like that, with every day" (which might suggest that the goal is always in the future and therefore unatainable))
or suggest that
- one is the desired person (has the desired behavior) already ("from now on you are that","you have it already inside" etc.)?

[VeryGnawty]

That might depend on the subject and on the focus of the desired goal on which tense to use. Generally, I would recommend present tenses over future tenses.

For example, instead of "you will be more and more like that with every day" it would be better to use "you ARE BECOMING more and more like that every day"

Future tense leaves too much up to the imagination. It presents an undefined span of time to be filled by the subject's imagination. At least with present tense, the desired effect is happening now, even if the effect is tiny.

None of this matters unless the subject actually accepts the suggestion. So, if the subject is finding the suggestions difficult to accept, future tense is probably better.

[Kilravok]

How about combining it?
"You will be..."...."You always have been..."....."You are....".....

[ogman]

Agree with above. I think using the present tense, like "you are already that person", can be nice because it makes the change feel more immediate and real. But, at the same time, using a little bit of future tense, like "and it will continue to grow", can help build momentum and reinforce the idea that progress is happening. Maybe a combo of both is the way to go?