1. The Art of Optimism
Emma Kenny

2. Optimism Versus Pessimism
A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty

3. Optimism
Tendency to look on the more favorable side of events or conditions
Tendency to expect the most favorable outcome
Belief that good will prevail
Positive thinking

4. Are you an Optimist? Optimism is not… Reckless Fantasy-based
Unrealistic
Limited to certain people

5. Why Optimism? Inoculates against depression Improves overall health
Improves recovery from illness
Combines with talent and desire to enable achievement
It influences people to like you
It generates positive energy, causing good things to happen
It beats pessimism

6. Why not Pessimism? More illness Lowers immune function
“Straight line to depression”
Lowers resilience
Lowers success
Almost no advantages

7. Explanatory Styles Way we explain events, good or bad Permanence
Pervasiveness
Personalisation
Defining events
Permanence- the state of being permanent
Pervasiveness- that it is in every aspect of everything
Personalisation – believing it’s because of who we are
Defining events- you can be defined by them but only if you wish to be

8. Explanatory Styles—Permanence
Extent to which causes of events are permanent
High bad permanence = causes of bad events are permanent
Contributes to lengthy feelings of helplessness, or excessive helplessness from small setbacks
Low bad permanence = causes of bad events are temporary
Helps a person bounce back
High good permanence = good events have permanent causes
People try harder after they succeed
Low good permanence = good events have temporary causes
People give up even when they succeed, see success as a fluke

9. Explanatory Styles—Pervasiveness
Refers to the causes of good/ bad events, universal vs. specific
High bad pervasiveness = bad events have universal causes
Low bad pervasiveness = bad events have specific causes
High good pervasiveness = good events have universal c’s
Low good pervasiveness = good events have specific c’s
Exercise: Choose the statement that best describes you.
When one area of your life suffers, you can store it away and attend to other important areas of your life
When one thread of your life snaps, the whole fabric unravels

10. Explanatory Styles—The Stuff of Hope
SOH = permanence (time) + pervasiveness (cause)
Finding temporary and specific causes for misfortune, and permanent/ universal causes for positive events, leads to greater hopefulness
Finding permanent and universal causes for misfortune, and temporary/ specific causes for positive events, decreases hope

11. Explanatory Styles—Personalisation
The perceived locus of responsibility, internal vs. external
When bad things happen, we can blame ourselves (internalize) or we can blame others or circumstances (externalize)
Internalization
Of bad events (blaming ourselves)  lower self-esteem
Of good events (crediting ourselves)  higher self-esteem
Externalization
Of bad events (blaming circumstances) preserves self-esteem
Of good events (crediting others) lowers self-esteem

12. Explanatory Styles—Re-defining, Changing Perspectives
Maybe a bad event is actually good?
Failure leads to greater resolve
Loss breeds opportunity
Only time will tell if this event is good or bad
Law of averages
I’m due for a break
Pay attention only to what’s right with a situation

13. Action in the Present What am I doing right now?
Focus exclusively on actions, not their outcomes
Number of steps
Time invested
Overall effort
Strategies
Connections
 Creates the basis for realistic optimism

14. ABC’s
Adversity
Belief
Consequence (feeling)

15. Overcoming Pessimism Dispute!
Step 1: Recognise pessimistic thoughts
Step 2: Distract or dispute
Dispute!
Successfully disputed beliefs are less likely to recur when the same situation presents itself again.

16. Disputing Using perspective Examining evidence
Is my belief reasonable, or out of proportion?
Distancing—if someone else judged me as critically as I am judging myself, would I accept their conclusion?
Examining evidence
Find alternative explanations
Challenging implications
Discarding beliefs that are not useful or destructive

17. Being Present More control More fulfillment Experiential awareness
More enjoyment of now
Immersed in living

18. Gratitude Feel blessed Be thankful for small things
Be aware of everything that is around you
Learn the art of ‘seeing’
Take 20 minutes every day to simply be

19. Finally!

20. Look After Yourself
Health
Nutrition
Exercise
Relationships

21. Family Essentials Webinar Series
We hope you enjoyed our 2015 series of webinars.
Look out for our 2016 schedule coming soon!

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