CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
Why is Op mism Important?
Op mism plays a vital role in our ability to lead a happy and successful life. If
you constantly nd yourself with self-defea ng thoughts in your mind, you will
most likely become a vic m of such thinking in the future. If, however, you
focus your mind on posi ve things, you will most certainly a ract all such
posi vity into your life.
By consciously developing an op mis c outlook on things and promo ng only
posi ve thoughts in your mind, you will enjoy the many bene ts that come
along with it.
Can Op mism Be Learned?
The good news about op mism is that it is a skill that can be taught and
learned. Research shows that there are various strategies that we can use to
learn op mism.
Being op mis c is a skill that can be simple to learn but requires consistent
e ort and prac ce. There are several ways to learn op mism, and one such
way is through the ABCDE model proposed by psychologist Mar n Seligman.
The ABCDE represents Adversity, Belief, Consequence, Disputa on, and
Energisa on. These are the phases you need to go through for each problem.
Op mism is ul mately more about resilience than temperament. Most people
have experienced di cul es and failures in their lives. It’s the reac on to these
adverse situa ons and what people tell themselves in their subconscious minds
that ma er.
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Di erences Between Pessimists and Op mists
Pessimists can learn to be op mis c about failures by analyzing their reac on
to adversity and handling things di erently. An op mist might look on failure as
an unlucky situa on (therefore not personal), only a setback (not a permanent
issue) and just one failure in one of many goals (& therefore not pervasive).
So, we can see di erences between pessimists and op mists and how they
explain events to themselves in either a posi ve or nega ve way.
To explain this a bit further look at three primary di erences between
pessimists and op mists:
Personaliza on: Op mists believe events occur due to causes outside of
themselves. Pessimists blame themselves for problems. So, op mists
internalize posi ve events, and pessimists externalise them.
Permanence: Op mists see issues as temporary and good things happen for
permanent reasons. Pessimists see problems as permanent and good events
are only temporary.
Pervasiveness: A pessimist assumes failure in one area will replicate through
their life. An op mist would take a posi ve outcome and use that to brighten
the rest of their lives.
ABCDE model by Mar n Seligman
A – Adversity: When someone dashes past you, bumps into you and knocks
your drink to the ground.
B – Belief: You exclaim (and believe), “That person is deliberately callous and
sel sh!”
C – Consequence: Feelings of bi erness and anger gradually overwhelms you
and con nues with you for the rest of the day.
D – Disputa on: You realise that the nega ve feelings you are experiencing will
not yield any good for you, and so you decide to take a stand against it. You
place yourself in the other person’s shoes and begin to nd reasons for their
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ac on. Perhaps they needed to rush to the emergency room or to stave o
another per nent crisis. You allow yourself to forgive and forget, then move on.
E – Energisa on: Upon overcoming the nega ve feelings you once
experienced, you feel energised and happy to have successfully taken control
of your thoughts and calmed your mind. It is such an exhilara ng feeling to
realise that you are ge ng be er at thinking op mis cally.
In an op mist’s eyes the adverse event would be explained thus:
Personalisa on: External
I was going about my business, and someone bumped into me.
Permanence: Temporary
It was just a one-o occurrence, unlikely to happen again and no las ng e ects.
Pervasiveness: Speci c
The problem was due to that speci c person bumping into me. Not everyone
bumps into me.
A pessimist would explain the same event like this:
Personalisa on: Internal
I was in the wrong place and wasn’t watching what I was doing.
Permanence: Permanent
I’m clumsy, and I’m always bumping into people.
Pervasiveness: Global
I’m like that with everything I do. I’ll never manage to be good at anything.
So, the path to learned op mism is to learn to consider alterna ve reasons for
the adverse event and chose one that has least Permanency (i.e., temporary)
and least Pervasiveness (i.e., speci c).
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EXERCISE 1
In this exercise, we’re going to help you recognise Adverse experiences that
happen to you and reason with yourself about your Beliefs. You will inves gate
the Consequences of the pessimis c beliefs and then bring into ques on your
pessimis c beliefs by Dispu ng them. Having done that successfully you will
feel more Energised and op mis c and be er able to overcome adversity.
What you need to do complete the following ve Debate sheets over the next
two or three weeks. Note that the Adversity can be brought about through
nega ve thoughts about a posi ve event. For example, you might have a
promo on at work – a posi ve event. But, it brings about Adversity because
you’re worried that you cannot do the job.
So, you must write down the event that causes the Adversity. Ask yourself
about your Beliefs and what the evidence is for those beliefs. Think about the
Consequences of your pessimis c beliefs, what it means, what’s the outcome
likely to be. Then you must Dispute the beliefs. You must argue with yourself. It
may help you to step outside of your involvement at a personal level and think
of someone telling you about their beliefs. Can you tell them why they are
wrong and why their beliefs are wrong? Ask a friend what they think if you’re
stuck for ideas.
Yes, I know, it’s a lot to do, and it’s not easy, but it is the key to successfully
using the ABCDE technique and turning you from a pessimist into an op mist.
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Example Debate Record – Posi ve Event
Debate Record Date: June 30, 2018 Time: 15:22
I wrote an ar cle on my blog, and it was picked up by the
press. That resulted in loads of hits to my website.
Adversity
Now the organizers of a huge interna onal summit have
asked me to give a presenta on. Nearly 1000 a endees will
be there.
I’m not good enough to give a presenta on; I don’t know
enough about the subject.
I’ve never given a talk in front of an audience before. I’m
Belief
going to be completely out of my depth, will get a terrible
recep on and the organisers probably won’t pay me. I wish
they hadn’t asked me to talk and I wish I’d not wri en the
ar cle.
I’ll have sleepless nights about this. The press will pick up on
my dreadful presenta on, and I’ll be the laughing stock.
Consequence
If I say I’m not going to accept the request, the organizers will
think I’m a fraud and don’t know what I’m talking about.
But hold on. I must be pre y good, or they wouldn’t have
asked me. Thousands of people talk in front of audiences
without any problem.
Disputa on
I do know my subject well, I’ve been learning about it for
years and have wri en a very successful book. It will be a
great promo on for me & could be the making of me.
I can do this, I’m now feeling relaxed about it and know that
I’m more than capable. I can use the book I’ve already
Energisa on
wri en as a guide for the presenta on. This will give me a
wonderful opportunity to expand my business.
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Example Debate Record – Nega ve Event
Debate Record Date: June 30, 2023 Time: 15:22
I wrote an ar cle on my blog, and quite a lot of people
Adversity commented on it saying that I was wrong and my wri ng
was poor.
They are right. I don’t know my subject very well. I failed
Belief English at school so there’s no way I should be wri ng blog
posts. In fact, the whole website is poor.
I’ve lost all my enthusiasm now. I’ll close down the site. It
Consequence was going to be a site I earned money from, but I’ll have to
go and get a job now.
But this was just one post I made. I’ve posted dozens of
ar cles over the past year, and people have always
commented about how good they were and how much
they learned from me.
Disputa on
Besides, it’s good to cause some controversy from me to
me. It makes people react and take note. Anyway, It
wasn’t badly wri en.
This should make my blog even more popular, why on
earth should I want to stop now. Controversy is good, and I
Energiza on should write more ar cles where people ques on whether
I’m right. That could open up a real debate and bring in a
lot more readers and poten ally money.
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Debate Records
Debate Record 1
Debate Record Date: Time:
Adversity
Belief
Consequence
Disputa on
Energiza on
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Debate Record 2
Debate Record Date: Time:
Adversity
Belief
Consequence
Disputa on
Energiza on
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Debate Record 3
Debate Record Date: Time:
Adversity
Belief
Consequence
Disputa on
Energiza on
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Debate Record 4
Debate Record Date: Time:
Adversity
Belief
Consequence
Disputa on
Energiza on
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Debate Record 5
Debate Record Date: Time:
Adversity
Belief
Consequence
Disputa on
Energiza on
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CONCLUSION
Learning to be an op mist is simple, but not easy. It takes daily prac ce.
However, the good news is that it’s possible and you can turn yourself into the
op mist you always wanted to be.
If you’ve followed this workbook, you will be able to start to lay really good
founda ons and start to look at the way you think and why you think that way.
Make sure every me you feel pessimis c about anything ll out one of these
Debate Records. Don’t rush the exercise, take your me and properly debate
with yourself about your beliefs.
If you feel that you need to ask someone else about issues, that will genuinely
help. It will bene t you to see outside of your beliefs and bring an extra
dimension to your thinking.
Within a short while, you’ll begin to understand where your pessimis c
thoughts originate from and turn them around. You'll see the many bene ts of
being an op mist, and why cul va ng an op mis c and posi ve outlook on life
is essen al to your wellbeing, rela onships, and career.
To your success!
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