Learned Optimism

Learned Optimism
Author: Martin Seligman
Publisher: Hachette UK
Total Pages: 234
Release: 2018-04-19
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 1473684323

In this international bestseller, the father of positive psychology draws on more than twenty years of clinical research to show you how to overcome depression, boost your immune system, and make yourself happier. "Vaulted me out of my funk.... So, fellow moderate pessimists, go buy this book." The New York Times Book Review Sharing simple techniques anyone can practice, Dr. Seligman explains how to break an "I-give-up" habit, develop a more constructive explanatory style for interpreting your behaviour, and experience the benefits of a more positive interior dialogue. With advice on how to encourage optimistic behavior at school, at work and in children, Learned Optimism is both profound and practical, and valuable for every phase of life.

Contagious Optimism

Contagious Optimism
Author: David Mezzapelle
Publisher: Cleis Press
Total Pages: 411
Release: 2013-06-11
Genre: Self-Help
ISBN: 1936740419

David Mezzapelle was inspired to write this uplifting book based on his life's experiences and his own contagious optimism. He has influenced many people with his outlook and this book offers optimism to others around the globe. Contagious Optimism includes stories and parables of amazing life turnarounds from real people world-wide. A compendium of encouragement, Contagious Optimism also includes advice and guidance from business leaders, visionaries and professionals. Nowadays, many people have lost confidence in themselves and the world around them due to personal hardship along with economic and political uncertainty worldwide. Contagious Optimism shows readers that it’s possible to FIND the silver lining in every cloud. Developed by the team that brought you Random Acts of Kindness, this book is like Chicken Soup for the Soul meets Pay It Forward, on steroids! Contagious Optimism is pure inspiration that will lift hearts, open minds, and create a movement of pass-it-on hope and happiness. Featured stories and endorsements from "contagious optimists" such as: Michael Beckwith - Founder of the single largest interfaith church in America: LA's Agape. Nancy Ferrari - The "Oprah of AM Radio" Daniel Tully - Chairman Emeritus of Merrill Lynch and one of the top executives to ever grace Wall Street.

The Optimism Bias

The Optimism Bias
Author: Tali Sharot
Publisher: Vintage
Total Pages: 273
Release: 2011-06-14
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0307379833

Psychologists have long been aware that most people maintain an irrationally positive outlook on life—but why? Turns out, we might be hardwired that way. In this absorbing exploration, Tali Sharot—one of the most innovative neuroscientists at work today—demonstrates that optimism may be crucial to human existence. The Optimism Bias explores how the brain generates hope and what happens when it fails; how the brains of optimists and pessimists differ; why we are terrible at predicting what will make us happy; how emotions strengthen our ability to recollect; how anticipation and dread affect us; how our optimistic illusions affect our financial, professional, and emotional decisions; and more. Drawing on cutting-edge science, The Optimism Bias provides us with startling new insight into the workings of the brain and the major role that optimism plays in determining how we live our lives.

Self-Motivation Diary of a Born Optimist

Self-Motivation Diary of a Born Optimist
Author: Jamal Lanre Shashore
Publisher: Lulu.com
Total Pages: 208
Release: 2017-03-08
Genre: Self-Help
ISBN: 1326963074

Have you ever wondered why all attempts to achieve certain goals in your life end up in frustration? Maybe you are keen to change your personal circumstances but don't know where to begin? No one can prevent bad things from happening but we can learn to change our reaction to them. By challenging you to think in a different way, this book outlines how you can view adverse situations and challenges as opportunities, rather than the end of your dreams. In his own unique philosophical approach, Jamal Lanre Shashore encourages us to redefine our core values in order to live a more enriched and optimistic existence by adopting a day by day motivational self-guide that produces more positive results, without subscribing to the selfish 'me first' attitude of modern society. So, if a happier and more meaningful life is what you long for, the Self-Motivation Diary of a Born Optimist is all you need to set you on the right path.

On the Self-Regulation of Behavior

On the Self-Regulation of Behavior
Author: Charles S. Carver
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 464
Release: 2001-05-07
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 9780521000994

This book presents a thorough overview of a model of human functioning based on the idea that behavior is goal-directed and regulated by feedback control processes. It describes feedback processes and their application to behavior, considers goals and the idea that goals are organized hierarchically, examines affect as deriving from a different kind of feedback process, and analyzes how success expectancies influence whether people keep trying to attain goals or disengage. Later sections consider a series of emerging themes, including dynamic systems as a model for shifting among goals, catastrophe theory as a model for persistence, and the question of whether behavior is controlled or instead 'emerges'. Three chapters consider the implications of these various ideas for understanding maladaptive behavior, and the closing chapter asks whether goals are a necessity of life. Throughout, theory is presented in the context of diverse issues that link the theory to other literatures.

The Happy Mind: Cognitive Contributions to Well-Being

The Happy Mind: Cognitive Contributions to Well-Being
Author: Michael D. Robinson
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 470
Release: 2017-06-28
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 3319587633

This edited volume focuses on different views of happiness and well-being, considering constructs like meaning and spirituality in addition to the more standard constructs of positive emotion and life satisfaction. A premise of the volume is that being happy consists of more than having the right things happen to us; it also depends on how we interpret those events as well as what we are trying to achieve. Such considerations suggest that cognitive-emotional factors should play a fairly pronounced role in how happy we are. The present volume pursues these themes in the context of 25 chapters organized into 5 sections. The first section centers on cognitive variables such as attention and executive function, in addition to mindfulness. The second section considers important sources of positive cognition such as savoring and optimism and the third section focuses on self-regulatory contributions to well-being. Finally, social processes are covered in a fourth section and meaning-related processes are covered in the fifth. What results is a rich and diverse volume centering on the ways in which our minds can help or hinder our aspirations for happiness.

The Psychology of Thinking about the Future

The Psychology of Thinking about the Future
Author: Gabriele Oettingen
Publisher: Guilford Publications
Total Pages: 569
Release: 2018-03-08
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 1462534414

Why do people spend so much time thinking about the future, imagining scenarios that may never occur, and making (often unrealistic) predictions ? This volume brings together leading researchers from multiple psychological subdisciplines to explore the central role of future-thinking in human behavior across the lifespan. It presents cutting-edge work on the mechanisms involved in visualizing, predicting, and planning for the future. Implications are explored for such important domains as well-being and mental health, academic and job performance, ethical decision making, and financial behavior. Throughout, chapters highlight effective self-regulation strategies that help people pursue and realize their short- and long-term goals. ÿ

Breaking Murphy's Law

Breaking Murphy's Law
Author: Suzanne C. Segerstrom
Publisher: Guilford Press
Total Pages: 241
Release: 2011-03-18
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 1609189361

Pollyannas take heart, pessimists take note: Recent studies on achievement and well-being show that optimistic behavior contributes to better physical health, greater resilience in the face of life’s twists and turns, and more satisfying relationships. As psychologists Suzanne Segerstrom reveals, optimists lay groundwork for the success they envision. While the rest of us worry whether our goals are attainable, those who practice optimism try to achieve theirs. Breaking Murphy’s Law shows you simple ways to develop the skills that natural-born optimists use to get what they want from life. Dr. Segerstrom helps you break free from the inertia of cynicism and self-doubt and encourages you to engage the world around you. “Doing optimism”--by getting involved, working hard, and enjoying your achievements--establishes a positive feedback loop that’s both personally transformative and self-perpetuating. This practical book imparts the lesson with a mix of humor and intelligence that will convince even the most hardened cynics that Murphy got it wrong.

Optimists Always Win!

Optimists Always Win!
Author: Kimberly S. Reed
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 176
Release: 2021-01-12
Genre: Self-Help
ISBN: 075732357X

Difficulties and struggles are unavoidable in life, but a person has complete control over one’s personal response to the situation. This book offers readers a plan for responding with optimism for both the challenges and blessings that come their way. Our brain’s default setting is negativity. Ask anyone who has ever tried to lose weight, achieve a new skill, or incorporate a new habit and they can tell you that our natural tendency is to levitate toward mediocrity. However, optimism overpowers that negativity or tendency to be mediocre. International speaker and diversity/inclusion strategist Kimberly Reed’s book Optimists Always Win!: Unlocking the Power to Reach Life’s C-Suite isn’t merely motivational mumbo jumbo. It is designed to help readers develop a process to stay optimistic all the time. Reaching life’s C-Suite means obtaining a level of happiness, peace, wisdom and growth in all areas of our lives. It’s choosing optimism instead of anger, bitterness, or revenge. The life events that unfold for Reed in Optimists Always Win! will do just that—challenge anyone facing what seems to be an impossible situation and show that victory is absolutely possible. Her heroic battle with her mother’s terminal illness and sudden loss as well as her subsequent battle with cancer will encourage others that one doesn’t have to face adversity with pessimism or hopelessness. Relying heavily on her faith in God and the optimism that she learned to cultivate, Kimberly Reed teaches her readers the ten discouragement eliminators she used, which helped her succeed not just in her fight against cancer but as she lives each day as her best self. The message of this book is simple: difficulties and struggles are unavoidable in life, but a person has complete control over one’s personal response to the situation. Readers of this book will discover the following ten tools to eliminate discouragement, grow their faith, and engage an optimistic attitude for their own battles with the wisdom Kimberly was taught and subsequently put into practice during her own diagnosis and ultimate victory. They include: · Discouragement Eliminator #1: Staying Away from Kryptonite · Discouragement Eliminator #2: Defining Your Life’s C-Suite · Discouragement Eliminator #3: Quieting the Soul · Discouragement Eliminator #4: Gratitude · Discouragement Eliminator #5: Faith at the Speed of Light · Discouragement Eliminator #6: Unlocking Your Y.E.S. (You Empower Self) Factor. · Discouragement Eliminator #7: Be Willing to Give What You Require · Discouragement Eliminator #8: The Art of Becoming a Chameleon · Discouragement Eliminator #9: The Power of Your Rearview Mirror · Discouragement Eliminator #10: Taking the Elevator to Life’s C-Suite These tools will help develop the fortitude to face every area of life with faith and optimism. All Book Royalties Are Being Donated to a Premier Academic Research Institution for Integrated Breast Cancer Fund and Patient Care, and American Cancer Society AstraZeneca Hope Lodge in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Imperfect Spirituality

Imperfect Spirituality
Author: Polly Campbell
Publisher: Cleis Press
Total Pages: 306
Release: 2013-10-15
Genre: Body, Mind & Spirit
ISBN: 1936740184

Discusses how to render everyday moments and challenges into opportunities for spiritual growth, describing how to build a traditional spiritual life on top of a modern routine by engaging in short meditations and mindfulness.