Learned Optimism

Without realizing it, most of us impose limits on our personal achievements and happiness by approaching life's problems and challenges with unnecessary pessimism. In Learned Optimism, Dr. Martin Seligman, one of the pioneers in cognitive psychology and motivational research, tells how to identify self-defeating thought patterns -- and how to harness the powers of the conscious mind to break those vicious cycles. By examining the importance of "explanatory style" -- the method in which problems and setbacks are explained to the self -- Seligman offers a comprehensive series of exercises to help target unhealthy habits of pessimistic thinking and bring them under control.