Martin Seligman, a renowned psychologist and clinical researcher, has been studying optimists and pessimists for 25 years. Pessimists believe that bad events are their fault, will last a long time, and undermine everything. They feel helpless and may sink into depression, which is epidemic today, especially among youths. Optimists, on the other hand, believe that defeat is a temporary setback or a challenge--it doesn't knock them down. "Pessimism is escapable," asserts Seligman, by learning a new set of cognitive skills that will enable you to take charge, resist depression, and make yourself feel better and accomplish more.
About two-thirds of this book is a psychological discussion of pessimism, optimism, learned helplessness (giving up because you feel unable to change things), explanatory style (how you habitually explain to yourself why events happen), and depression, and how these affect success, health, and quality of life. Seligman supports his points with animal research and human cases. He includes tests for you and your child--whose achievement may be related more to his or her level of optimism/pessimism than ability. The final chapters teach the skills of changing from pessimism to optimism, with worksheet pages to guide you and your child. --Joan Price
I have read 30 self-psychology/motivational books, and this is by far the best! The author presents an entirely different approach to changing your outlook. He shows the reader how to apply the psychological concepts of Cognitive Therapy to his/her own situation.
Finally, someone who does not just say to blindly be an optimist! He teaches you to become a REALIST, by showing you the tools to realize what a situation really is. Sometimes it's bad, but that does not mean that you are bad, or that it is necessarily your fault. Beliefs are the key to the equation. If you believe that you are the cause of everything bad in your life, or that you are helpless to change your situation, then you will become depressed. He helps you to interupt the equation of Action-Belief-Consequence, and look at it from a fresh, objective standpoint.
The only bad thing I have to say is that the middle of the book is a little dry. That is the area where he is supporting his claims with proven research. This part of the book is important to convince a more cerebral reader, and to separate his fact-based book from the litany books written during this self-help/motivational revolution that are all bells and whistles. So, it does serve a purpose.
This excellent book contrasts pessimism and optimism in a compelling manner. It serves as an excellent eye opener, particularly for the individual with a negative explanatory style who is prone to depression. The book is also invaluable for the unrealistic optimist who believes they will find a parking spot just by thinking about it. Well balanced, well researched, and well presented, this book should be on the bookshelf of every family.
In addition, I unequivocally recommend Optimal Thinking: How to Be Your Best Self, a classic book that reveals to the reader the language of the best self. Optimal Thinking empowers you to balance optimism and pessimism with optimal realism (making the most of what is). These books in combination enable you to make the most of your thinking and life.
