[ 14 ] As they grow, children experience small triumphs, such as learning to tie shoelaces. Parents can help turn these successes into a sense of control, and that breeds optimism. [ 15 ] Pessimism is a hard habit to break—but it can be done. In a series of landmark studies, Dr. Carol Dweck11 of the University of Illinois12 has been working with children in the early grades of school. As she helps floundering students to change the explanations for their failures—from \must be dumb\to \didn't study hard enough“—their academic performance improves.
[ 16 ] Pittsburgh's Dr. Levy wondered if turning patients into optimists would lengthen their lives. In a pilot study, two groups of colon-cancer patients were given the same medical treatment, but some were also given psychological help to encourage optimism. Results showed that this worked. Now a major study is planned to determine whether this psychological change can alter the course of the disease.
[ 17 ] So, if you're a pessimist, there's reason for optimism. You can change. Here's how, says Steve Hollon, a psychologist at Vanderbilt University13:
[ 18 ] 1. Pay careful attention to your thoughts when bad things happen. Write down the first thing that comes to mind,
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[ 19 ] 2. Now try an experiment. Do something that's contrary to any negative reactions. Let's say something has gone wrong at work. Do you think, I hate my job, but I could never get a better one? Act as if that weren't so. Send out resumés. Go to interviews. Look into training and check job leads
[ 20 ] 3. Keep track of what happens. Were your first thoughts right or wrong? \them,\yourself a chance.\
[ 21 ] Positive thinking leads to positive action, and reaction. What you expect from the world, the evidence suggests, is what you're likely to get. .
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