Breaking Murphy's Law How Optimists Get What They Want from Life - and Pessimists Can Too

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Edition: 1st
Format: Paperback
Pub. Date: 2007-09-01
Publisher(s): The Guilford Press
List Price: $15.95

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Summary

Pollyannas take heart, pessimists take note: Recent studies on achievement and well-being show that optimistic behavior contributes to better physical health, greater resilience in the face of life's twists and turns, and more satisfying relationships. As psychologist Suzanne Segerstrom reveals, optimists lay groundwork for the success they envision. While the rest of us worry whether our goals are attainable, those who practice optimism try to achieve theirs. Breaking Murphy's Law shows you simple ways to develop the skills that natural-born optimists use to get what they want from life. Dr. Segerstrom helps you break free from the inertia of cynicism and self-doubt and encourages you to engage the world around you. "Doing optimism"-by getting involved, working hard, and enjoying your achievements-establishes a positive feedback loop that's both personally transformative and self-perpetuating. This practical book imparts the lesson with a mix of humor and intelligence that will convince even the most hardened cynics that Murphy got it wrong. Book jacket.

Author Biography

Suzanne C. Segerstrom, PhD, is Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Kentucky, Lexington. She has conducted extensive research into psychological influences on the immune system, and on the relationship between optimism and well-being. Dr. Segerstrom's work has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, the Norman Cousins Program in Psychoneuroimmunology, and the Dana Foundation. She is also a winner of the prestigious Templeton Positive Psychology Prize, awarded in recognition of her work on optimism. She lives near Lexington, Kentucky, with her husband and their dogs.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgmentsp. viii
Prologue: Stop Trying to Be So Happyp. 1
Glass Half Full, Gloss Half Empty, or Glass That Needs to Be Washed?: The Optimistic Characterp. 13
The Persistence Instinct: Optimists and Their Goalsp. 34
Building (and Rebuilding) for the Future: Optimists and Their Resourcesp. 59
So Happy Together: Optimists and Their Relationshipsp. 82
Mixed Blessing: Optimists and Their Healthp. 105
Everything Good, Especially the Bad: Optimists and Their Vulnerabilitiesp. 130
Is an Optimist Born or Made?: The Optimistic Character Revisitedp. 154
Doing Optimism: Optimists, Pessimists, and Their Potential for Changep. 172
Epilogue: Confessions of a Reluctant Optimistp. 195
Notesp. 201
Indexp. 227
About the Authorp. 232
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.

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