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the power of positive thinking was finally proven to be
scientifically true.
Peale had based his books on testimonials and sup-
portive biblical passages. The problem with that was
that the people he needed to reach the most—skeptics
and pessimists—were precisely the kinds of people who
would not be anxious to take anything on faith. But once
you’ve digested the remarkable writings of Seligman,
you can go back and read Peale with a new sense of ex-
citement. If you don’t accept his religious references, it
doesn’t matter—the personal testimonials are stimu-
lating enough to give his writing great power. Although
his most famous book is The Power of Positive Thinking,
I have derived much more motivation from Stay Alive
All Your Life and The Amazing Results of Positive
Thinking.
If you are now skeptical about your power to debate
your own pessimistic thoughts, keep in mind that most
of us are already great debaters. If somebody comes in
and takes one side of an argument, we can usually take
the other side and make a case, no matter which side
the first person took. Debate teams have to learn to do
this. Team members never know until the last second
which side of the argument they will be debating, so
they learn to be prepared to passionately argue either
side.
If you catch yourself brooding, worrying, and think-
ing pessimistically about an issue, the first step is to rec-
ognize your thoughts as being pessimistic. Not wrong or
untrue—just pessimistic. And if you are going to get the
most out of your bio-computer (the brain), you must ac-
knowledge that pessimistic thoughts are less effective.
Once you’ve accepted the pessimistic nature of your
thinking, you are ready to take the next step. (This first
step is crucial though. As Nathaniel Branden teaches,