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Learned Optimism: How to Change Your Mind and Your Life
 
 
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Learned Optimism: How to Change Your Mind and Your Life (Paperback)

by Martin E. Seligman (Author) "THE FATHER is looking down into the crib at his sleeping newborn daughter, just home from the hospital ..." (more)
4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (60 customer reviews)
List Price: CDN$ 18.95
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Product Description

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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 --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

“Vaulted me out of my funk. . . . So, fellow moderate pessimists, go buy this book."
— The New York Times Book Review

”One of the most important books of the century--an absolute must-read for all persons interested in genuinely understanding and helping our fellow human beings.”
—Dr. Robert H. Schuller, author of Tough Times Never Last, But Tough People Do

"Dr. Seligman makes an optimistic case for optimism: you can learn it, you can measure it, you can teach it, and you will be healthier and happier for it.”
—Dr. Aaron T. Beck, author of Love is Never Enough

“A system for reforming the most entrenched pessimist.” —Philadelphia Daily News
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THE FATHER is looking down into the crib at his sleeping newborn daughter, just home from the hospital. Read the first page
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Learned Optimism: How to Change Your Mind and Your Life
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Customer Reviews

60 Reviews
5 star:
 (39)
4 star:
 (11)
3 star:
 (5)
2 star:
 (3)
1 star:
 (2)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.4 out of 5 stars (60 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating and well, optmistic, Mar 6 2008
This is a fascinating book that leaves the reader feeling, well, optimistic. Optimism means having a strong expectation that, in general, things will turn out all right in life, despite setbacks and frustrations. Dr. Seligman goes further and defines optimism in terms of how people explain to themselves their success and failures. Everyone experiences failure at some point in their lives. What differentiates the optimist from the pessimist is a persons ability to see their failures as due to some factor or circumstance that is changeable rather than as a result of some personal defect that they feel powerless to change.

Learned Optimism is an interesting read for those who want a deeper understanding of how to achieve and help others attain states of happiness, success and better health. The material was enjoyable to read and share with others. I will definitely use these practical and easy to use strategies with myself, my clients and my children. The focus on positive self-talk and recognizing a persons strengths is much more appealing and instructive than other books which magnify weaknesses and try to fix a person. I highly recommend this important book as well as Dr. Seligmans website www.authentichappiness.com which is an excellent resource for free assessments and positive psychology information.
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars BUY THIS BOOK NOW, Oct 21 2008
By Sean A. Fahey (Oshawa ON) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
I have read many many many self-improvement books and by far this was one of the best I have ever read. Need I say more? Just buy it! You will be happy you did literally.
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars More of a "why..." than a "how to..." book., April 15 2004
By Renaaah "Renaaah" (Bronxville, New York) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Learned Optimism: How to Change Your Mind and Your Life (Paperback)
This was a fairly interesting read. Seligman spends 80% of the book discussing what he has discovered about learned optimism over the years, and what other researchers have found on the subject. All of this information helps build an strong case for the idea that we humans can, and should, learn to be more optimistic.

That being said, I gave this book such a low rating because I feel that the title is completely misleading. I didn't want to read all sorts of information about WHY changing my mind and life is important and possible. I wanted to learn HOW, and that's what the title promises.

To be sure, there are some suggestions of how to learn optimism, but such little space in the book is dedicated to this topic that I felt misled and "ripped off" by the title.

It's like reading a book called "Instructions for Knitting a Sweater for your Baby" and discovering that only the last chapter is in fact instructive; the first 100 pages are about the history of knitting, the need for babies to wear sweaters, what happens to those poor babies who don't wear sweaters, and why the author considers himself to be the best darn knitter in the entire county. Enough already!

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 		 Most recent customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Une des clés de la résilience
Ce livre m'a permis de découvrir comment on peut évaluer la présence de l'optimisme chez une personne et comment on peut l'aider à faire grandir cet état cognitif et émotif. Read more
Published on Jun 9 2004 by Alain Samson

5.0 out of 5 stars A classic
Unlike many of the positive thinking books that attempt to woo the reader into believing that optimism is the answer to life's ills, this well-researched book explains optimism... Read more
Published on May 4 2004

3.0 out of 5 stars ***** for self-help, 0* for scholarship
This book starts by demonstrating that animals can learned to be helpless. Seligman then goes on to examine the explanation styles that people have and how these beliefs affect... Read more
Published on Feb 9 2004

5.0 out of 5 stars Unlearn Pessimism
Martin E.P. Selligman has written a ground breking book on how to unlearn pessimism and Learn Optimism. Read more
Published on Dec 31 2003

3.0 out of 5 stars A psychology book. Some interesting ideas.
This was more of a psychology book rather than a self-help book. There were more contents on ¡§What is the problem ?¡ instead of ¡§How to tackle the problem ? Read more
Published on Dec 28 2003 by Desmond Chow

2.0 out of 5 stars Okay...But not great
This book does offer some useful advice, thus the two stars but it is not a great book.

I would recommend Patterns Of Depression or any good NLP book by Bandler and Grinder... Read more

Published on Dec 8 2003

5.0 out of 5 stars Optimist or Pessimist?
Most of us know how to be pessimists. Fortunately, I was reered in a home with my parents were usually happy and positive and actually condoned on negatove thoughts. Read more
Published on Nov 30 2003

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Book
I am currently writing my master thesis in leadership philosophies. Learned Optimism confirmed my research that terms like proactivity, faith, will to win and the behavioral... Read more
Published on Aug 26 2003 by Dottie

5.0 out of 5 stars FASCINATING PAGE TURNER
I'am 16 I recommended this to teens espically goths and Pessimists .It has scientfic evidence that shows the benefits of the sunny side(like we opptmists have said all along. Read more
Published on July 30 2003 by Julia

5.0 out of 5 stars He's optimistic about optimism!
Learned optimism

When Martin Seligman deliver his APA presidential address, I was in the back of the room. Read more

Published on May 28 2003 by Dr Cathy Goodwin

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