Declutter Your Mind: How to Stop Worrying, Relieve Anxiety, and Eliminate Negative Thinking – S.J. Scott, Barrie Davenport To be positive, you have to unlearn old habits and negative attitude, and build new, positive, constructive ones. You need to learn to change your mindset. One of the most revealing traits of positive thinkers is to find excuses really; not because they don’t have imagination, but because they choose to find ways of dealing with the issues they must face. Seaward BL. Essentials of Managing Stress. 4th ed. Burlington, Mass.: Jones & Bartlett Learning; 2021. Norman Vincent Peale’s The Power of Positive Thinking was first published in 1952 after World War II. His book tried to give optimism to a post war culture; it also began the self-help genre. Peale’s book is based on the title as it encourages the reader to try his method of positive thinking to live a richer and more rewarding life. But explicit in the title is not just mere change, but instead his approach preachers power to transform the reader’s life. So how does he say that this is possible?

Now while The Power of Positive Thinking is based on Dr. Peale’s belief in God, he also says that belief in your own abilities play a large part in individual success or failure. Excerpt 1: “ Thoughts create words, for words are the vehicles of ideas. But words also affect thoughts and help to condition if not create attitudes. “ Identify areas to change. If you want to become more optimistic and engage in more positive thinking, first identify areas of your life that you usually think negatively about, whether it's work, your daily commute, life changes or a relationship. You can start small by focusing on one area to approach in a more positive way. Think of a positive thought to manage your stress instead of a negative one.Psychologist Martin Seligman, former APA president and founder of positive psychology, also condemned Peale's methods in his book, Authentic Happiness. He writes that, “positive thinking often involves trying to believe upbeat statements such as 'Every day, in every way, I’m getting better and better,' in the absence of evidence, or even in the face of contrary evidence.” [11] Seligman continues his critique saying, “if you can manage the feat of actually believing these sorts of statements, more power to you. Many educated people, trained in skeptical thinking, cannot manage this kind of boosterism.” [11]

It can sound a bit disheartening that we must learn how to think positive because it’s not an innate skill. However, the good news is, you can learn the skill of positive thinking fast and easy. Dr. Peale tells the story of a day on the golf course. It seems he hit the ball into some tall grass and when he finally located the almost hidden ball, he lamented about his chances of hitting it out. Well, his golf partner saw his dilemma and talked him through the problem. Dr. Peale took a swing, as instructed, and wound up hitting the ball near the green. He was delighted with the results and always remembered a comment made by his playing partner that day, ‘the rough is only mental.’ This book about positive thinking teaches simple, effective positive thinking techniques that anyone can use to become more positive and optimistic. Choose one of the books, read it a few times, and try to follow the guidance it offers. To Be Positive, You Have to Unlearn Negative Thinking Peale's friend could easily be shown the error of his ways by someone with more life experience. If I knew someone like that, I would punch him until he realised that happiness is not something that can be "chosen." We would not need psychologists, psychiatrists or people willing to listen and help each other if happiness was that simple. NVP tries to strengthen this platitude with another from former US President Lincoln: "People are just about as happy as they make up their minds to be." What nonsense. All this shows is that even charismatic leaders can be incredibly shallow at times.

During the following years, many new books have appeared on this topic and about the importance of a constructive and positive mindset for achieving success. 7 Positive Thinking Books to Read Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans. 2nd ed. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. https://health.gov/paguidelines/second-edition. Accessed Oct. 20, 2021. This book can help you break down worriesand stress understanding why these two (seemingly) proactive behaviors are, actually, unhealthy for your mind and your body.