Learned Optimism

There is a book by Martin Seligman, called Learned Optimism. In this book, Optimism is measured on 4 scales: Permanence, Pervasiveness, Personalization, Hope.

Pessimists believe that bad events are their fault, will last a long time and ruin everything. They feel helpless and think all the events in their lives are beyond their control.

Optimists believe that defeat is a temporary setback or challenge.

People who believe good events have permanent causes are more optimistic than those who believe they have temporary causes. If you think about bad things with generalizations that start with always or never, like I never pass math tests or I always miss the basket, you have a permanent pessimistic style.

This can be changed! There are some worksheets in the book to help you look at things differently and learn a new habit of thinking like an optimist. Self-hypnosis is also a great way to learn a new habit, or replace the habit of thinking pessimistically with thinking optimistically!

I took the test and came out as an optimist regarding good events and normal or average regarding bad events.

There is also information on the longevity of optimists. I will discuss this in the Hypnotic Fountain of Youth on August 9 in Marlboro, Massachusetts.