| Optimism is the ability to be hopeful, confident about success, and to expect good things will happen. it is the ability to maintain a positive attitude. |
We know a person is optimistic when:-
- They believe they will succeed in the face of challenges.
- Look for opportunities and think of ways to make the most of them.
- They do not let bad experiences ruin their views about the future.
- They can acknowledge challenges and hardships, but believe that things will work out eventually.
In this Module, we take inspiration from Martin Seligman’s seminal work on Optimism. A clinical psychologist, he has been working for decades, studying optimism and methods to make it a skill to be learnt rather than an attitude to be admired in the rare few of us.
We will cover the following in this Module:
1. What is optimism and pessimism.
2. The advantages and disadvantages of both in our lives
3. Developing negative perspectives : Learned Helplessness; Causes of learning helplessness.
4. Difference in explanatory styles between optimists and pessimists.
5. Some areas not to apply optimism.
6. Activities, exercises and videos to start introducing the optimistic style in our lives.
