Michael S. Broder - Positive Attitude Training: How To Be An Unshakable Optimist

Positive Attitude Training

Positive Attitude Training

How to Be an Unshakable Optimist

Michael S. Broder, Ph.D.

Published 2019 by Gildan Media LLC

aka G&D Media.

www.GandDmedia.com

Copyright 2019 by Michael S. Broder, Ph.D.

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, by any means, (electronic, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the author. No liability is assumed with respect to the use of the information contained within. Although every precaution has been taken, the author and publisher assume no liability for errors or omissions. Neither is any liability assumed for damages resulting from the use of the information contained herein.

First Edition: 2019

Front cover design by David Rheinhardt of Pyrographx

Interior design by Meghan Day Healey of Story Horse, LLC.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request

ISBN: 978-1-7225-0170-9

eISBN: 978-1-7225-2269-8

10987654321

Contents

Introduction

I ve never believed that like eye color, youre either born an optimist or a pessimist. Optimism is merely an attitude. And it is your attitudes that determine not only how you feel at a given time, but in reality, the quality of practically every part of your life! The best news of all is that your attitudes toward yourself and others, as well as virtually anything and everything in your life, are one hundred percent under your controlonce you have the will, the determination, and the strategies to take charge of them.

The will and determination, of course, only you can provide. Thus, Ill assume that by buying this book, youve joined that club. Now, for the strategies, youve certainly come to the right place. When I first wrote Positive Attitude Training in 1992 as an extremely successful audio program, my intention was to make it an arsenal of timeless tools, clinically proven techniques, and solutions to issues that that we all face in the course our daily lives. The fact that this book has been written 27 years after the concept of Positive Attitude Training was introduced is a testament to the timelessness of the methods youre about to learn.

So think of Positive Attitude Training as your go-to source for overcoming issues caused by emotional states like anxiety, depression, guilt, and anger; not only managing stress but also making it work for you; setting and reaching goals; changing and being in control of your habits; maximizing your self-confidence and self-image; letting go of the past; making major life changes; and a whole lot more.

My website, drmichaelbroder.com, contains many single-issue, user-friendly audio programs, which go into further detail on each of these (and many other) issuesand can be downloaded for free if you need more help in any areas. Our mission is simply to give you the tools you need to make your life exactly how you want it.

So, welcome to this new phase of your life, in which as an unshakable optimist, self-imposed limitations will soon be a thing of the past. So many new possibilities await!

Michael S. Broder, Ph.D.

ONE

Choosing Your Attitudes

F or over forty years Ive used, as well as trained thousands of mental health professionals to use, the methods Im going to talk about in this book, which are all clinically proven to help people choose the attitudes by which they lead their lives. The key word here is choose, and I will constantly be reminding you that your choices are what empower you to make your life exactly what you want it to be.

Positive Attitude Training is grounded in cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and also uses many of the techniques of rational emotive behavioral therapy (REBT). This is a well-researched, well-tested, and extremely user-friendly approach that you can easily learn. If you make the commitment to use these principles in your daily life, youll turn your negative thinking and negative emotions around rapidly.

Many of the principles of cognitive-behavioral therapy were developed by two mentors of mine, Dr. Aaron Beck, the originator of CBT, and Dr. Albert Ellis, who created REBT. Both of these pioneers radically changed the landscape of how we view our attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors, as well as our ability to optimize them.

Both CBT and REBT can be applied to any area of your life, and indeed we will touch on practically all of the issues that we encounter in our daily lives. I will present many user-friendly exercises that you can apply to almost any situation. Some of the material will contain things that youve known all along but perhaps never heard articulated, while other ideas may be entirely new.

You may find it helpful to keep a diary to keep track of the insights that come up along the way, or you may find that some of the material raises more questions than answers. If thats the case, the answers will come along, but in the meantime you may want to keep track of the questions so that when the time is right, you can plug them into the appropriate exercise.

Lets begin with the definition of an attitude. An attitude is an organized and enduring set of beliefs and feelings toward an object, a person, or a situation. Our attitudes predispose us to behave in certain ways toward something or someone. In other words, our attitudes make our reactions to things predictable.

Attitudes have three components: a cognitive component, your beliefs; an emotional component, your feelings; and a behavioral component, your actions, or what you do about the attitudes you have.

Our attitudes are often developed when were very young. In many cases, they are quite ingrained in us. Theyre often taught to us in such a way that we grow up believing that we have no choice. Sometimes our blind acceptance of attitudes causes us to have fear, anger, depression, prejudice, and self-doubts. This can make us quite vulnerable to the negative effects of daily stress.