Monday 23 November 2015

you can't get success and happiness through positive thinking

This blog has looked at the issue of what motivates us:
Jay Doubleyou: motivation

In particular, the issue of 'positive thinking':
Jay Doubleyou: smile or die: the power of positive thinking

A lot of people don't like the idea:

when experimental subjects are told of an unhappy event, but then instructed to try not to feel sad about it, they end up feeling worse than people who are informed of the event, but given no instructions about how to feel. In another study, when patients who were suffering from panic disorders listened to relaxation tapes, their hearts beat faster than patients who listened to audiobooks with no explicitly ‘relaxing’ content. Bereaved people who make the most effort to avoid feeling grief, research suggests, take the longest to recover from their loss.
The Antidote: Happiness for People Who Can't Stand Positive Thinking: Oliver Burkeman: 9780865479418: Amazon.com: Books



Published on Mar 13, 2013

Oliver Burkeman, winner of the Foreign Press Association Young Journalist of the Year Award, explores "happiness for people who can't stand positive thinking" in his best-selling book The Antidote: Happiness for People Who Can't Stand Positive Thinking.

Burkeman says "For a civilisation so fixated on achieving happiness, we seem remarkably incompetent at the task. Self-help books don't seem to work. Few of the many advantages of modern life seem capable of lifting our collective mood. Wealth -- even if you can get it -- doesn't necessarily lead to happiness. Romance, family life and work often seem to bring as much stress as joy. We can't even agree on what 'happiness' means".

Oliver Burkeman seeks answers from an unusual collection of people -- experimental psychologists and Buddhists, terrorism experts, spiritual teachers, business consultants, philosophers -- who share a single, surprising way of thinking about life. They argue that 'positive thinking' and relentless optimism aren't the solution, but part of the problem. And that there is an alternative, 'negative path' to happiness and success that involves embracing failure, pessimism, insecurity and uncertainty -- those things we spend our lives trying to avoid. Thought provoking, counterintuitive and ultimately uplifting, The Antidote is a celebration of the power of negative thinking.

New York based Burkeman, is a regular contributor to The Guardian. His work has also appeared in Esquire, Elle, GQ, the Observer and the New Republic. He holds a degree in Social and Political Sciences from Cambridge University.

Happiness for people who can't stand positive thinking - YouTube



Published on Jun 20, 2012
An illustrated introduction to The Antidote: Happiness for People Who Can't Stand Positive Thinking. 

The Antidote by Oliver Burkeman - YouTube
Oliver Burkeman | Journalist and Author | Books

He is ell-known for his regular column in the Guardian:
This column will change your life | Life and style | The Guardian

And this blog has done several pieces on his column:
Jay Doubleyou: this column will change your life
Jay Doubleyou: how useful is your job?
Jay Doubleyou: how do you make decisions?
Jay Doubleyou: what's it costing you to sleep?
Jay Doubleyou: what are you good at?
.
.
.

No comments: