The situation: Jane and Anthony have differing ways of viewing the world. Jane is a pessimist (the glass is half-empty), while Anthony is an optimist (the glass is half-full). These outlooks influence how they experience similar situations.
Scene 1: Job loss. Jane is devastated, convincing herself that she is all washed up, she can never catch a break, it is useless for her to try to be successful, and she is never going to succeed at anything.
Anthony, however, has a healthier inner dialogue. He tells himself he may not have been good at that particular job, his skills and his company’s needs did not mesh and being fired was only a temporary setback in his career.
Scene 2: New jobs. Offered a new job, Jane, the pessimist, believes she was able to find a new job only because her industry is now really desperate for people and must have lowered their standards to hire her.
Anthony, however, feels he landed the new job because his talents were finally recognized and he will now be appreciated for what he can do.
As these examples illustrate, optimists tend to interpret their troubles as transient, controllable and specific to situations. Recent research by Dr. Martin Seligman confirms this.
When good things happen, optimists believe the causes are permanent, resulting from traits and abilities. Optimists further believe that good events will enhance everything they do.
Pessimists, on the other hand, believe their troubles will last forever, will undermine everything they do, and are basically beyond their control. When good things happen to pessimists, they see them as temporary and caused by specific factors that will eventually change and lead to negative outcomes.
Optimism creates better resistance to depression when bad events strike, better performance at work and better physical health.
In fact, one long term study at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN, found that optimists lived 19% longer than pessimists.
Optimism is also a powerful antidote to anger. Many participants in our anger management classes report their anger lessening as they learn to replace negative thinking with positive thinking.
Here’s some good news for negative thinkers: You can learn how to replace pessimism with optimism.
The starting point is to access your vulnerability to pessimistic thinking by taking the self-evaluation test you can find at www.authentichappiness.org
Your responses will be compared to thousands of other people in various categories, down to your Zip Code.
If you scored lower than you’d like, you can become more optimistic. As Dr. Seligman writes in Authentic Happiness, his latest book: ‘the trait of optimism is changeable and learnable.’
There is now a well-documented method for building optimism. It’s based on first, recognizing, and then disputing, pessimistic thoughts.
People often do not pay attention to their thoughts and thus do not recognize how destructive they can be in leading to negative emotions. The key is to recognize your pessimistic thoughts and then treat them as if they were uttered by someone else - an external person, a rival, whose mission in life is to make you miserable!
Basically, you can become an optimist by learning to disagree with yourself - challenging your pessimistic thinking patterns and replacing them with more positive patterns.
Note: This view of optimistic thinking is not the process of ‘positive thinking’ in the sense of repeating silly affirmations that you don’t really believe.
Rather, it is the process of correcting distorted or faulty thinking patterns that create health, career and relationship problems for you.
By teaching yourself to think about things differently (but just as realistically), you can morph yourself from a pessimist to an optimist - and tame the Anger Bee in the process.
About The Author
Dr. Tony Fiore is a So. California licensed psychologist, and anger management trainer. His company, The Anger Coach, provides anger and stress management programs, training and products to individuals, couples, and the workplace. Sign up for his free monthly newsletter “Taming The Anger Bee” at www.angercoach.com and receive two bonus reports.
Finding a bad credit mortgage lender is easier than you probably think.
Although several lenders and brokers advertise super low rates and
different types of home loans for people with good credit, a variety of bad
credit loans are available. It is possible to get approved for a home
loan with a score as low as 500. Here are a few tips on how to find a
bad credit mortgage lender.
Request Mortgage Information from Credit Unions, Banks, etc.
Even though a large number of banks, credit unions, and other lenders
do not offer home loans to people with poor credit, it doesn’t hurt to
inquire about their loan requirements. Some lenders have started
offering a variety of mortgages, including low credit score home loans. This
makes homeownership attainable. Because many traditional lenders favor
prime borrowers, you may not meet some lender’s requirements.
Apply for a Loan with a Sub Prime Mortgage Lender
If unable to get approved for a mortgage loan with a traditional
lender, consult a sub prime mortgage lender and request a mortgage quote.
These lenders are very helpful because they work with a variety of credit
situations. If acquiring a sub prime loan, good credit is not
necessary.
Although sub prime lenders can get homebuyers with poor credit
approved, there are drawbacks to these loans. For starters, bad credit will not
qualify you for prime rates. Hence, a bad credit mortgage loan will
consist of interest rates about two or three percentage points above the
current average. An interest rate increase usually entails paying a
higher mortgage payment.
Using Mortgage Brokers
There are numerous lenders offering sub prime mortgage loans. Prior to
applying, all homebuyers should shop around and obtain several quotes.
Comparing different mortgage lenders and loans is essential to
obtaining the best home loan. Shady bad credit lenders prey on those with few
options. However, having a low credit score does not mean you have to
accept a home loan with outrageous fees and terms.
To avoid being deceived by a dishonest mortgage lender, use an online
broker and obtain multiple quotes from reputable lenders.
Carrie Reeder is the owner of http://www.abcloanguide.com. View her recommended sources for a bad credit mortgage loan online.
View her recommended bad credit mortgage brokers online. Also, view her recommended online companies to help you with credit card debt relief.
As a retired entrepreneur, which to me equates to; Problem Solver, I believe that innovation and sure footedness is one of the keys to success in business. In business you must roll with the punches and continue to be the best, beat the competition, stay efficient and provide the customer with their desires if you wish to receive that unit of trade that we in the United States call a Dollar.
I see many similarities to this in the academic and scientific community as research and development companies vie for funding which is often limited and focus on research and studies with potential; Killer Applications down the road, which will indeed solve a problem or serve a need. The greater the need or the bigger the problem solved; the potentially more money for funding, which can be accrued for the grants, venture capital or funding of the project, program or latest technology.
One way I believe we could accelerate and push science is to accelerate the number of abstracts, theories or premises that would lead one to agree to continue or start research. In other words rather than hoarding ideas let’s get the ideas out there for all to see. Perhaps abstracts with notes attached, maybe even hand written to be all cataloged digitally for others later.
The person borrowing the idea, would footnote the original abstract writer so they get some academic brownie points too. I believe this would propel science and collaboration and accelerate flow of thought in all scientific endeavors. This itself is a merely a thought or idea. Perhaps not perfect or without potential flaws you see. But it might be worthy to someone thinking on how best to propel science in the future in the United States. So, consider this in 2006.
“Lance Winslow” - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; http://www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs/
People are always wanting to attract more visitors to their website. We all would like to see more traffic, however what are the best ways to promote a website, which does not cost an arm and a leg?
1. Pay per click advertising.
Pay per click advertising is becoming more and more popular with programs such as Google adwords reporting bigger profits on a regular basis. This is a way of getting your website on the first or second pages by you paying an advertising fee. You set the amount you are happy to pay per click and when somebody clicks on your ad, you have an extra visitor, however at a cost to you. It is important to remember not to spend more on the pay per click advertising than what you are likely to earn etc.
2. Writing articles.
Writing articles such as this one is a good way of promoting your website. Article websites such as http://www.ezinearticles.com and http://www.goarticles.com allow you to submit your articles for free. Other webmasters are able to use your articles on their website which gives you an extra backward link as you are able to add you website address at the bottom of the article. People who are reading the article on the article websites are also potential visitors.
3. Obtaining backward links.
If you are looking to increase your search engine position it is a good idea to try to increase the amount of backward links you have. This is not as easy as it seems as people are not always happy to add a link on their site to your homepage. It is worth making a few phone calls or sending a few e-mails and asking the question, if the person would like to exchange links. It is of more value to have a link from a website in the same type trade of your own.
4. Always include your domain address in advertising.
Wherever you advertise it is important to include your website domain address, and also at the bottom of any e-mails you send.
Stephen Hill has a number of websites including:
diabetes treatment
debt reduction advice
copywriting advice
