Positive Thinking

1. Positive Thinking Group members: Wayne Alan Cloud Sabrina Louise

2. The Expectation towards positive events • write down your probability (0~100) A) people say you are talented B) look younger than you really are when you get old C) have a nice trip D) 3000 NT dollars for you to spend randomly E) at least accomplish one life goal F) maintain good relationship with your family G) friends who live far away come to visit you H) your achievement being recognized by people

3. Count your score • people say you are talented 85 • look younger than you really are (when you get old) 12 • have a nice trip 55 • 3000 NT dollars for you to spend randomly 48 • at least accomplish one life goal 80 • maintain good relationship with your family 80 • friends who live far away come to visit you 95 • Your achievement being recognized by people 75 total 530 score (530÷8) 66.25 • Low 0~45 • Middle 46~74 • High 75~100

6. Your Thoughts towards Negative Events • Case1 As you slowed down before the red light, the car behind you bumped into your trunk. Your car was crushed badly, and the bump also caused a sprain on your neck. • If this accident happened to you, do you think you are very luck or very unlucky? very lucky +3 +2 +1 0 -1 -2 -3 very unlucky Why?

7. Case 2 You desperately need a loan from bank, and you are going to meet the bank manager to explain your situation. The bank manager is very busy and you need to wait for a long time before he comes to meet you. By the time he comes, he refuses to loan you the whole sum of money. Rather he is willing to loan you half of the sum you’ve asked. • very lucky +3 +2 +1 0 -1 -2 -3 very unlucky • Why?

8. Case 3 You lost your wallet one day, in which you put a little money, a credit card, and some personal souvenirs. The next day, you found your wallet in the police station. The cash and the credit card were gone, but your personal souvenirs still remain. • very lucky +3 +2 +1 0 -1 -2 -3 very unlucky • Why?

9. Positive Thinking

10. Root of Positive Thinking • Norman Vincent Peale. “The Power of Positive Thinking” • “Think defeat and you are bound to feel defeated. But practice thinking confident thoughts, make it a dominating habit. …Feelings of confidence actually induce increased strength” (Peale 12).

11. What is Positive Thinking? I • It trains the human mind to change a perceived reality by repeatedly making positive mental statements • It derives a positive sense of well being and optimism • It is a process of choosing positive emotions from stimuli in the environment and applying them to perceptions and beliefs • It helps create an outlook that translates hardships into a new or better chosen reality.

12. What is Positive Thinking II • Psychologists, researchers and medical professionals define positive thinking as self-talk that is realistic and self-affirming.

13. Self-talk I • Self-talk is the endless stream of thoughts that run through your head every day. These automatic thoughts can be positive or negative. Some of your self-talk comes from logic and reason. Other self-talk may arise from misconceptions that you create because of lack of information.

14. Self-talk II • Why not? • Let me try that again. • I’m going to take a chance. • Let me think of another way to approach that. • You know what, I can do that.

15. The Power of Positive Thinking

16. Formulation of Positive Thinking • Use only positive words in your conversation to evoke mental images of strength, happiness and success. • Visualize your success. • Associate yourself with people who think positively.

17. Medicine and Positive Thinking • Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) (National Alliance on Mental Illness, 2003). • Stress management skill (The United States-based Mayo Clinic)

18. The health benefits of positive thinking • Increased life span • Lower rates of depression • Lower levels of distress • Greater resistance to the common cold • Better psychological and physical well-being • Reduced risk of death from cardiovascular (heart and blood vessels) disease • Better coping skills during hardships and times of stress

19. - Increased life span • A recent study in the Netherlands (Giltay, et al, 2004) :most optimistic: 45 %less likely to die during the ensuring decade than those who were the most pessimistic. • New York Times, (“Power of Positive Thinking May Have a Health Benefit”)linking positive emotions with a stronger immune response when people receive a flu vaccine.

20. -The Placebo Effect • The placebo effect – feeling physically better after taking offered medication that actually has no medicinal value.

21. The Law of Attraction

22. What is it? It is a law that states that our thoughts affect the things that happen to us. We will receive whatever we focus our thoughts on. It turns our thoughts into reality. The universe will respond to our thoughts and give us what we want.

23. How it works The law of attraction transforms our thoughts into reality. It does not differentiate between right or wrong, good or bad. Whatever is the subject of our thoughts, be it desired or undesired, will eventually come true.

24. Example If you are constantly worried about not being able to achieve something, your thoughts will transmit signals to the universe and it will respond by making your worst fears come true. On the other hand, if you focus your thoughts on succeeding, the universe will receive that message and give you success.

25. Implication The universe does not sense your intentions in your thoughts. It merely gives you what is on your mind the most. In order for us to be successful, we must train ourselves to focus on what we want instead of what we don’t want.

26. How to Control our Thoughts It is impossible to control every one of our thoughts, there are simply too many. One way to control our thoughts is to rely on our feelings. Good thoughts produce good feelings while bad thoughts produce bad feelings. We can use this as an indicator of our thoughts. Therefore we must try to “feel good” everyday.

27. Application Once we begin to understand the importance of our thoughts. We must then learn to tune our thoughts to a “good frequency”. That means that when we feel a bad mood coming, we must turn it into a good mood.

28. Application continued Know what we want Ask the universe for it. Receive

29. Knowing What we Want Sometimes we live our lives without a clear goal. We first need to clarify the things that we desire most in life. Try writing it down on paper.

30. Asking for what we want Once you are clear of your goals in life, the next step is to ask the universe for it. It is simple, ask and you shall receive.

31. Receive Many of us have trouble believing that anything good will come without a price, but in actuality, it is that simple. After we ask the universe, we must feel as if we have already received what we asked for. We must feel every detail of it, we must truly believe that we have already received it.

32. The Power of Negative Thinking

33. The fallacy of positive thinking • Positive thinking helps us solve the problems in everyday life. • Positive thinking doesn’t solve any problem in the real world. • Thinking positive will eventually lead to a good result. • Using positive thinking to cover the mistake will make the situation even worse.

34. Negative Thinking in Walter Reed • Walter Reed Army Medical Center has the highest success rate at saving wounded soldiers in history, 10%. • The leader encourage all the staffs to think negative to find the source of problem and always prepare for the worse. • They successfully decrease the death rate from 25% to 10%.

35. Positive thinking in Walter Reed • In the aftercare of Walter Reed, there were moldy and rodent-infested rooms, staff shortages…. • Manager of aftercare, Lt. Gen. Kevin Kiley think positively. “While we have some issues here, this is not a horrific, catastrophic failure.” • The manager try to consider the event in a positive aspect, but it didn’t solve the problem.

36. The Viewpoint of Negative Thinking • Negative thinking asks us to "look upon the problem as it is” instead of sugarcoating it. • It is so crucial that you look upon your hatred and realize its full extent. • What is important is only the recognition of a mistake as a mistake. • Recognize that the right kind of negative thinking is a good thing—let's think positively about thinking negatively.

37. Evaluation of Positive Thinking • What are the problems of positive thinking? • To what extent do you believe in the effectiveness of positive thinking? • Would you apply positive thinking in your life?

38. Conclusion • Positive Thinking can lead you to a more successful life, greater satisfaction and happiness. • Positive Thinking can sometimes bring negative effect on people. • Balance oneself to consider both sides of the problems.

39. Reference • GAWANDE ATUL. The Power of Positive Thinking. New York Times, May 1, 2007 • Wiseman Richard. The Luck Factor. New York: Hyperion Books, 2004 • When Positive Thinking Leads To Financial Irresponsibility Like Compulsive Gambling. Chicago: University of Chicago Press Journals, ScienceDaily, 22 April 2008. <http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080421111630.htm>. • Vincent Peale Norman. The Power of Positive Thinking. Adult Publishing Group, 2003 • Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy. National Alliance of Mental Healthhttp://www.nami.org/Template.cfm?Section=About_Treatments_and_Supports&template=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=7952 • RICHARD A. FRIEDMAN, M.D. Yet Another Worry for Those Who Believe the Glass Is Half-Empty New York Times, January 9, 2007