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Learned Optimism

How to Change Your Mind and Your Life

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Learned Optimism

By: Martin E. P. Seligman Ph.D.
Narrated by: Martin E. P. Seligman Ph.D.
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About this listen

You can acquire optimism and significantly improve your life! Are you an optimist or a pessimist? How often do you take on exciting new projects or celebrate your successes? Now psychologist Martin E.P. Seligman, one of the world's experts on motivation, shows you how to chart a new approach to living with "flexible optimism." Dr. Seligman's principles of reasoned, flexible optimism will help you rise above pessimism and the depression that accompanies negative thoughts.

Learned Optimism shows you how to:

  • Attain maximum personal achievement
  • Boost your mood - and your immune system - with healthful thoughts
  • Help your children by practicing the patterns of thought that encourage optimism at an early age
  • Change your interior dialogue and experience the astonishing positive results

©1991 Martin E.P. Seligman, Ph.D., All Rights Reserved (P)1991 Simon & Schuster Audio, All Rights Reserved Personal Development Personal Success Psychology Psychology & Mental Health Health Inspiring Mental Health
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Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

If you really want to get into this book/subject, best to get the hardcopy as it refers to some 'exercises' that need to be done prior to continuing. Rather pointless if you don't have the extra papers they refer to.

Too text book

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This book showed me that being positive is not the same as being optimistic, that it is more useful to have a different approach to how you view ypur successes and your faillures, and that you can improve your optimism through a couple of simple techniques.

Very Worthwhile!

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This book is only an hour long. It gets straight to the point and drives a simple yet effective message that opens your eyes and allows you to instantly apply what you’ve learnt and start improving your thoughts. Honestly, I wouldn’t leave a review unless it was that helpful. Thanks.

Quick and practical

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The book is pretty practical and succinct. But the test is pretty awful, any answer could work in most cases and the scoring feels arbitrary. I also disagree with how the book tells you that if you always blame external circumstances rather than your own agency, you'll be in a better mood and otherwise unaffected. The first two parts about persistence and pervasiveness were quite insightful.

useful, but could be more

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Simple, easy to understand principles and explanations. Google search the 48 questions for the test.

Short and sweet

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I found this book genuinely interesting and valuable. Some of the thinking I already use or have in the past. This book was a great refresher & learning tool. The one negative was the reference to a worksheet (or activity) that I found I couldn't do due to not having access to what the reader was talking about. Although this didn't really impact heavily on the content or value of the book overall.

I'll definitely be reading/listening to this again

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you need the question card to continue on with this audio, maybe download it somewhere

need a question card.

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Useful. I'd heard some of it before but this guy invented mamy of the ideas he taljs about. but too short!

Too short

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Audible have false advertised this book - it is an abridged version - massively abridged. The author talks about a test to do but it’s not included. The actual book is probably excellent just not this version

Not the whole book

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Unfortunately this was only the abridged version, I didn’t read properly before purchasing. Also it was the same cost as a full book usually is for the monthly subscribers which is deceptive because it’s only a few hours long. The written components I have had to search for online (the 48 questions quiz etc) because of course they cannot be included as audio - I’m not sure how audible could get around this but again it feels deceptive to buy a book with half of it missing. Links to the quiz and written components could be provided. Or a disclaimer that there are important parts missing and this is only an abridged version more prominently displayed might help avoid disappointment for customers.

Only an abridged version, written parts needed are missing

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