--- product_id: 3774379 title: "Learned Optimism: How to Change Your Mind and Your Life" price: "€ 42.40" currency: EUR in_stock: true reviews_count: 13 url: https://www.desertcart.be/products/3774379-learned-optimism-how-to-change-your-mind-and-your-life store_origin: BE region: Belgium --- # Ranked #37 in Popular Psychology 20+ years clinical research Optimism as a trainable skill Learned Optimism: How to Change Your Mind and Your Life **Price:** € 42.40 **Availability:** βœ… In Stock ## Summary > 🌟 Unlock the science of happiness and never miss the optimism wave! ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** Learned Optimism: How to Change Your Mind and Your Life - **How much does it cost?** € 42.40 with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.be](https://www.desertcart.be/products/3774379-learned-optimism-how-to-change-your-mind-and-your-life) ## Best For - Customers looking for quality international products ## Why This Product - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Key Features - β€’ **Impact Every Area of Life:** Enhance your performance at work, school, and relationships with proven psychological tools. - β€’ **Train Your Optimism Muscle:** Learn practical, actionable methods to shift from pessimism to a resilient, positive outlook. - β€’ **Boost Mental & Physical Health:** Clinically shown to reduce depression and strengthen your immune system. - β€’ **Scientifically Proven Techniques:** Backed by over two decades of rigorous clinical research to rewire your mindset. - β€’ **Realistic Positivity, No Blind Faith:** Develop a balanced explanatory style that embraces optimism without ignoring reality. ## Overview Learned Optimism by Dr. Martin Seligman is a groundbreaking bestseller that combines 20+ years of clinical research with practical techniques to help you overcome depression, boost your immune system, and cultivate a realistic, trainable optimistic mindset. Ranked among the top psychology and self-help books, it offers scientifically validated strategies to transform your explanatory style and improve your life across work, school, and personal relationships. ## Description NATIONAL BESTSELLER β€’ The father of positive psychology draws on more than twenty years of clinical research to show you how to overcome depression, boost your immune system, and make yourself happier. "Vaulted me out of my funk.... So, fellow moderate pessimists, go buy this book." β€” The New York Times Book Review Offering many simple techniques anyone can practice, Dr. Seligman explains how to break an β€œI–give–up” habit, develop a more constructive explanatory style for interpreting your behavior, and experience the benefits of a more positive interior dialogue. With generous additional advice on how to encourage optimistic behavior at school, at work and in children, Learned Optimism is both profound and practicalβ€”and valuable for every phase of life. Review: like how we can live happier - I was introduced to Martin Seligman during a University class called "Positive Psychology". To those that are unfamiliar with the sub-field, positive psychology is an offshoot of traditional psychology. It focuses on different aspects of psychology, like how we can live happier, healthier, more productive, and more fulfilled lives. Learned Optimism sets out on a quest to change a fundamental aspect of human personality. While we have all been asked the question, "Is the glass half empty or half full?", who knew a book could help change your answer? Is that an overstatement? Absolutely not. Seligman explains that people have different ways of explaining events. When an event happens, it can be seen as neutral. The milk spilled; WE are the ones who say that is a 'good' or 'bad' thing. While many self help books try to address the issue of positivity, they advocate blindly holding an optimistic attitude. I have read many pop psychology and self help books, ranging from "The Power of Positive Thinking" to "How to Win Friends and Influence People", to "Think and Grow Rich" (I'm still trying this one - no luck so far). Some of these self-help books advocate an almost faith-based approach to changing one's behavior. Simply will something, and if you desire it enough, you can manifest it! Allow your inner thoughts and desires to carve out your external world! Think positive and you can do anything! I believe Zig Ziglar said that no matter how positive somebody was, if they aren't a certified cardiovascular surgeon, he wouldn't trust them to give him open heart surgery! I agree, and I think positive thinking without realism, prudence, and planning is pointless. In Learned Optimism, this problem is addressed. Seligman points out that being positive isn't something you turn on and keep on 24/7. When a bad thing happens, an optimistic person doesn't paint over it, declaring "It will be totally fine, I'm happy!". The difference is that an innate optimist would say that negative events are external and temporary. This distinction is an incredible revelation, and we all do this to an extent! When treated rudely, perhaps by a clerk, a pessimist might declare that "People are rude, this is the way things are.", and that the clerk "Was a jerk". They might be upset or offended, taking the clerk's actions as an attack toward them. An optimist, according to Seligman, THINKS differently. They might say "THIS (particular) Clerk is acting rude." He or she "must have woken up on the wrong side of the bed." This difference in explanatory style was the key concept I took away from this book. While events simply occur, one's interpretation can be positive or negative. So if it's a choice, then how do we change from being pessimistic to being optimistic? You'll have to read the book to find out. Either way, just know that while positive psychology is a new field, I gained more from this scientifically accredited book than I did reading 5 self-help books. Apply the concepts and principles within, and you might just surprise yourself! :) Review: Like the light bulb in the joke... - Learned Optimism is a - sometimes uneasy - mix of the theoretical and the practical. Seligman is clearly captivated by his subject, which he has made his life's work. Not surprisingly then, he sees the value of an optimistic outlook in every aspect of life. It's not just that optimists do better than pessimists at school, work and sports, but they even live longer. Seligman makes the case that "the arrow points both ways": that pessimism is not a consequence but also a contributing cause of depression and that an optimistic "explanatory style" for the misfortunes of life, large and small, can actually prevent a descent into morbid depression. He even says he can predict the outcome of elections by analyzing the explanatory styles of the competing candidates - because in a head-to-head contest the most optimistic candidate will prevail. In Part 1 of the book he lays out the theoretical case for optimism and the techniques by which it can be measured. In Part 2 he describes how the optimist's advantage is played out in the different "realms of life", such as work, sports, politics, etc. In Part 3, he explains self-help techniques for moving from pessimism to optimism. I found Part 1 the most interesting - not least because I got to fill out a couple of tests to help me discern my explanatory style and determine if I was currently depressed (and how deeply). It turns out I am moderately optimistic about bad events and moderately pessimistic about good ones. But I am not at all depressed, so I guess I must have learned to live with the contradiction. Part 3 gets us into the land of the light bulb joke (where to change, the light bulb must truly desire change). I am convinced from my own experience that optimism is like a muscle that can be worked and strengthened. I also recognized in Seligman's techniques ones that I had stumbled onto myself. In the final analysis, whether the reader will find reading Learned Optimism helpful will depend on the reader. Judging by the desertcart reviews, the experience for some will be life-changing; for others not so. Perhaps underlying explanatory style may have something to do with that. Perhaps also a self-help book is not the best therapy for the truly, deeply depressed (as the book suggests, you can improve your outlook but you have to be motivated to start a mental workout routine and stick with it to see the positive results). However there is much to learn here and I would not hesitate to recommend the book to anyone interested in understanding more about the origin and effect of individual explanatory styles - including one's own - and what can be done to change them. ## Features - Learned Optimism: How to Change Your Mind and Your Life ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | Best Sellers Rank | #20,118 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #37 in Popular Psychology Personality Study #300 in Happiness Self-Help #336 in Personal Transformation Self-Help | | Customer Reviews | 4.3 out of 5 stars 3,221 Reviews | ## Images ![Learned Optimism: How to Change Your Mind and Your Life - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71Zp0t4sG0L.jpg) ## Available Options This product comes in different **Media Language, Media Format** options. ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ like how we can live happier *by A***. on November 27, 2016* I was introduced to Martin Seligman during a University class called "Positive Psychology". To those that are unfamiliar with the sub-field, positive psychology is an offshoot of traditional psychology. It focuses on different aspects of psychology, like how we can live happier, healthier, more productive, and more fulfilled lives. Learned Optimism sets out on a quest to change a fundamental aspect of human personality. While we have all been asked the question, "Is the glass half empty or half full?", who knew a book could help change your answer? Is that an overstatement? Absolutely not. Seligman explains that people have different ways of explaining events. When an event happens, it can be seen as neutral. The milk spilled; WE are the ones who say that is a 'good' or 'bad' thing. While many self help books try to address the issue of positivity, they advocate blindly holding an optimistic attitude. I have read many pop psychology and self help books, ranging from "The Power of Positive Thinking" to "How to Win Friends and Influence People", to "Think and Grow Rich" (I'm still trying this one - no luck so far). Some of these self-help books advocate an almost faith-based approach to changing one's behavior. Simply will something, and if you desire it enough, you can manifest it! Allow your inner thoughts and desires to carve out your external world! Think positive and you can do anything! I believe Zig Ziglar said that no matter how positive somebody was, if they aren't a certified cardiovascular surgeon, he wouldn't trust them to give him open heart surgery! I agree, and I think positive thinking without realism, prudence, and planning is pointless. In Learned Optimism, this problem is addressed. Seligman points out that being positive isn't something you turn on and keep on 24/7. When a bad thing happens, an optimistic person doesn't paint over it, declaring "It will be totally fine, I'm happy!". The difference is that an innate optimist would say that negative events are external and temporary. This distinction is an incredible revelation, and we all do this to an extent! When treated rudely, perhaps by a clerk, a pessimist might declare that "People are rude, this is the way things are.", and that the clerk "Was a jerk". They might be upset or offended, taking the clerk's actions as an attack toward them. An optimist, according to Seligman, THINKS differently. They might say "THIS (particular) Clerk is acting rude." He or she "must have woken up on the wrong side of the bed." This difference in explanatory style was the key concept I took away from this book. While events simply occur, one's interpretation can be positive or negative. So if it's a choice, then how do we change from being pessimistic to being optimistic? You'll have to read the book to find out. Either way, just know that while positive psychology is a new field, I gained more from this scientifically accredited book than I did reading 5 self-help books. Apply the concepts and principles within, and you might just surprise yourself! :) ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Like the light bulb in the joke... *by D***H on February 9, 2008* Learned Optimism is a - sometimes uneasy - mix of the theoretical and the practical. Seligman is clearly captivated by his subject, which he has made his life's work. Not surprisingly then, he sees the value of an optimistic outlook in every aspect of life. It's not just that optimists do better than pessimists at school, work and sports, but they even live longer. Seligman makes the case that "the arrow points both ways": that pessimism is not a consequence but also a contributing cause of depression and that an optimistic "explanatory style" for the misfortunes of life, large and small, can actually prevent a descent into morbid depression. He even says he can predict the outcome of elections by analyzing the explanatory styles of the competing candidates - because in a head-to-head contest the most optimistic candidate will prevail. In Part 1 of the book he lays out the theoretical case for optimism and the techniques by which it can be measured. In Part 2 he describes how the optimist's advantage is played out in the different "realms of life", such as work, sports, politics, etc. In Part 3, he explains self-help techniques for moving from pessimism to optimism. I found Part 1 the most interesting - not least because I got to fill out a couple of tests to help me discern my explanatory style and determine if I was currently depressed (and how deeply). It turns out I am moderately optimistic about bad events and moderately pessimistic about good ones. But I am not at all depressed, so I guess I must have learned to live with the contradiction. Part 3 gets us into the land of the light bulb joke (where to change, the light bulb must truly desire change). I am convinced from my own experience that optimism is like a muscle that can be worked and strengthened. I also recognized in Seligman's techniques ones that I had stumbled onto myself. In the final analysis, whether the reader will find reading Learned Optimism helpful will depend on the reader. Judging by the Amazon reviews, the experience for some will be life-changing; for others not so. Perhaps underlying explanatory style may have something to do with that. Perhaps also a self-help book is not the best therapy for the truly, deeply depressed (as the book suggests, you can improve your outlook but you have to be motivated to start a mental workout routine and stick with it to see the positive results). However there is much to learn here and I would not hesitate to recommend the book to anyone interested in understanding more about the origin and effect of individual explanatory styles - including one's own - and what can be done to change them. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ original framework to understand our inner-dialog *by R***R on March 30, 2024* This book is beautifully written, reads like a thriller, and packs plenty of wisdom in each page. The author not only understands the field as an expert but writes well, and conveys the core ideas in a useful way. This book showed me how much of a pessimist I was in certain areas. Many of us "realists" unfortunately are pessimists too - I realized, and limit ourselves unnecessarily in areas where such self-imposed limits are not warranted. This book has a toolkit for us to evaluate the "narrative" that we have within ourselves, and it also allows us to evaluate the narratives that others have based on statements they make. I have not seen this toolkit presented in this manner anywhere else. The author requires us to behave as a scientist or detective, exploring the inner-dialogs and how it shapes our views and feelings - not just in ourselves but in others too. This ties in to ideas of mindfulness or awareness, because, without mindfulness or deeper awareness, it is difficult to engage in the "watching" of the inner narrative. I was hoping the author provide more details on the CAVE technique that he speaks about, but the specifics of that were not disclosed in this book. I have added plenty of highlights and notes, and plan to revisit them periodically, also try to practice the techniques that the author shared (ABCDE, PPP etc). I think the techniques in this book will not only lead to better or more accurate cognition of events, and situations, but also, an overall improved, hopeful and optimistic outlook in general. ## Frequently Bought Together - Learned Optimism: How to Change Your Mind and Your Life - Flourish: A Visionary New Understanding of Happiness and Well-being - Authentic Happiness: Using the New Positive Psychology to Realize Your Potential for Lasting Fulfillment --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - πŸ›’ **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** β€” Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** β€” Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - πŸ’° **No Hidden Fees** β€” All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - πŸ”„ **15-Day Free Returns** β€” Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - πŸ”’ **Secure Payments** β€” Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** β€” Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.be/products/3774379-learned-optimism-how-to-change-your-mind-and-your-life](https://www.desertcart.be/products/3774379-learned-optimism-how-to-change-your-mind-and-your-life) --- *Product available on Desertcart Belgium* *Store origin: BE* *Last updated: 2026-08-26*