Stress Management & Performance Improvement Articles

In Part  One we dealt with Optimal Experiences and how they can help us become Peak Performers. The Flow Researchers found that highly successful people display what they call, and “autotelic personality.” This is a self starting, independent, self confident person with high self-esteem. Common to most of these types is an optimistic outlook.

As Brian Tracy puts it, these people, “when they see a problem, look for the opportunity, rather than, when seeing an opportunity, look for a problem.”

Dr. Martin Seligman of the University of Pennsylvania has spent more than 25 years studying optimists. He wanted to know why some people quit and become helpless. And others, no matter what the odds, refuse to give up.

Seligman’s research first led to the development of the “Learned Helplessness” model.  He proved that certain behavior patterns when habitually repeated led to helplessness.

He then wondered, if we can learn helplessness, can we learn to be an Optimist? He discovered, yes we can! The results of Dr. Seligman’s research and his formula for training yourself to be an Optimist are in his book, “Learned Optimism”. It is also available, abridged, on audio cassette. However, the book gives much more, valuable information.

Dr. Seligman found that how we speak to ourself,  our internal dialogue, determines whether we are optimists or pessimists. He calls this our “explanatory style.” He isolated 3 important pairs of words that make the difference. These pairs are: personal or non personal; permanent or temporary; pervasive or specific.

Optimists describe good/positive events using personal, permanent, pervasive terms. “Good luck always happens to me.” And they describe negative/adverse events in non personal,temporary and specific terms. “He’s just having a bad day. He didn’t mean what he said.”

Pessimists are the opposite. They discount good by saying it is temporary, non personal and specific. And negative events to the pessimist are personal, permanent and pervasive. “It’s just my luck. Get a little ahead and something always goes wrong.”

To change from a pessimist to an optimist Dr. Seligman presents the process he calls Disputation.

Using his ABCDE Model to change our explanatory style:

• We name the Adversity,
• Question our Beliefs,
• Analyze the Consequences,
• Dispute the inaccurate, and
• Become Energized through new insight and understanding.
  

To Dr. Seligman optimism is not pollyanna type glossing over of real problems. It is not naivete. It is accepting Life as inherently good and worthy of our concerted efforts.