Preview

Power of Positive Thinking Book Summary

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
2387 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Power of Positive Thinking Book Summary
THE

POWER

OF

POSITIVE THINKING

Table of Contents

1. Weakness……………………………………………………..3

2. Why this book?....................................................................3

3. Synopsis………………………………………………………4

4. How did the book help me overcome my weakness?……..9

WEAKNESS

The weakness on which I was working was pessimism. Pessimism is a state of mind in which one anticipates negative outcomes or believes that the evil, hardships, dangers, displeasures in life outweigh or dominate the good, luxuries, securities or pleasures in life. It affects ones thinking process adversely. It leads to loneliness, doubts on one’s own capabilities and constant anxiety.

I wanted to overcome this weakness, to develop self-confidence and redeem my self-esteem. This would fill my mind and eventually life with more optimism and happiness.

WHY THIS BOOK?

← The book is written Norman Vincent Peale, Father of positive thinking.

← It is a practical, spiritual, direct-action, self-improvement manual.

← Every chapter deals with an aspect of positive thinking.

← The principles and formulas set in this book, if sincerely and persistently practiced will show you an amazing improvement within yourself.

SYNOPSIS

In the first chapter the author deals with the cause of feelings of inferiority and insecurity and ways to overcome them and build self confidence.

Believe in yourself! The author says one should have faith in his abilities. To be successful and happy one must have a humble and reasonable confidence in his powers or capabilities. A sense of inferiority interferes in attainment of goals whereas self-confidence leads to self realization and thus further successful achievement.

According to the author, the sources of inferiority complex are usually some emotional violence done to us in the past or the consequences of certain circumstances or something that we did to ourselves in the

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    While it is important for an individual to have a high self-esteem in order to fulfill his or her goal, it is also important to know one’s weaknesses and respect the capabilities of others. Jean Twenge demonstrates this idea in her essay,“An Army of One: Me,” and shows how having high self-esteem without a solid basis for it can lead to children who feel superior to others. In contrast to the egotistical people illustrated in Twenge’s essay, in his essay, “Wisdom,” Robert Thurman discusses how the process of reaching enlightenment is difficult, but once achieved leads to a compassionate life where an individual can feel empathy with others. Subsequently, in her essay, “Selections from Reading Lolita in Tehran,” Azar Nafisi focuses on teaching…

    • 191 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The only weakness I have is adapting to change. I never knew I had this kind of trouble in life, but I learned about something I have to work on. After analyzing it I realize it is a problem. Because I get nervous when I start something new or when I get stuck doing something I cannot do, I start to get frustrated. After learning this about myself, I need to work on making my weakness into strength by adapting to any type of changes in my life. My strengths included following instructions and adhering to values. I am very good when I have instructions in front of me as I build something new or when I have an assignment. Following instructions is my biggest strength in my life because it is something I use every day. Adhering to values is something new that I learned about myself just because I never noticed it in my life. I am the type of person who will stand by the truth in every situation around my.…

    • 740 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    One of my huge weaknesses is low self-esteem and confidence (Bethel University, 2014). Having this as a poor skill in life makes a lot of the other skills hard to conquer. I think if I had a higher confidence level then maybe I wouldn’t struggle so much with public speaking, management of people and seeking support from others. I don’t give myself enough credit and I am hard on myself. Another weakness that I struggle with is the ability to focus on one thing at a time. I have struggled with this quality as far back as I can remember. My mind is always racing and trying to complete more than more thing at a time.…

    • 1059 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    There are certain weaknesses that I have to achieve such as being shy in front of people. In addition to, being nervous and frighten of patients. Getting a question that I can’t answer is a big weakness that I should work on. Lastly, being under pressure and just giving up.…

    • 189 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    For this paper, I researched two peer reviewed articles which discusses the effects of optimism and psychological health. The first one that I found is called Optimism and Physical Health: A Meta-analytic Review by Heather N. Rasmussen, Ph.D., Michael F. Scheier, Ph.D., and Joel B. Greenhuse, Ph.D. It was published in 2009. The second article that I located is called Perceived Academic Control: mediating the effects of optimism and social support on college students’ psychological health by Joelle C. Ruthig, Tara L. Haynes, Robert H. Stupnisky, and Raymond P. Perry.…

    • 822 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The reason self-esteem is increasing because people are using multiple ways to make themselves feel better. Some ways described in the book are; downward social comparison, upward social comparison, compensatory self-enhancement, discounting, external attribution, internal attribution and basking in the reflected glory. Downward social comparison is comparing your performance with the performance of someone who is doing even worse than you, whereas upward social comparison is surrounding yourself with successful people to make yourself feel more successful. Compensatory self-enhancement is when you acknowledge the poor grade you got in class but instead start to think about your excellent clarinet-playing skills. Discounting is reducing the…

    • 884 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Erikson’s stages of development are important for each child to go through. If a child fails to complete a stage they can have an unhealthy development and sense of self. In their current stage of development children need to feel valued and begin to develop a sense of pride in their accomplishments. (McLeod, 2008) If they are not feel valued or develop a sense of pride then the child begins to feel inferior therefore doubting his own abilities and may not reach his potential. (McLeod,…

    • 476 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Inferiority takes place from around six years of age to puberty. This phase is associated with mastering the task of development of the industry. Children are immersed in an environment that encourages their creativity and highlight their innate ability to use newly developed skills. These children are given the opportunity to create and produce lead to confidence and self-esteem. At this stage, Jazmine has shown that she has high self-esteem. She believes that she can do many things and knows that if she works hard then she can be accomplished. On the other hand, if this stage is not fully developed a sense of industry, children will easily feel inferior or incompetence to a friend or crouched to meet difficult challenges. This is not only hinder the child’s motivation to create and produce but also has a significant negative impact on how the child sees him/herself within the social context as well.…

    • 750 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Learned Helplessness

    • 1360 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Learned helplessness is the tendency to fail to act to escape from a situation because of a history of repeated failures in the past (Ciccarelli & White, 2009). To describe learned helplessness in person is that recognizing that repeated failures will arouse the idea of a difficult task and impossible to solve. They sometimes blame the outside factors for their failure than their lack ability or skill. This thought not only affect their willingness to learn but also their self-esteem. There are many situations that can explain learned helplessness. For example, if a person tries to fix a computer, after several attempts he is not able to do so. Then he may develop a thought of learned helplessness and believe that he cannot make it works. No matter how hard he tries, he is unable to fix the computer. The other example is when student attend the physic class. Then repeated experiences of failure occur to this student to get a high score. So, he thinks that he may not be able to have a good score on physics. It will affect the following action. He will not study, not doing the homework, and so on. When there is a time for the exam, obviously he cannot do it and fail the course. After that, he will think that he cannot do physics ever again in his life. This might also affect his mood, his performance, and self-esteem.…

    • 1360 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    “A positive attitude causes a chain reaction of positive thoughts, events and outcomes. It is a catalyst and sparks extraordinary results,” said Wade Boggs. Talent is nothing without optimism. A positive attitude is crucial for success because it motivates one to work harder and develops a passion for life.…

    • 154 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Critically review a positive psychology intervention of your choice. However the intervention needs to have been published in a scientific journal or scholarly book. Analyse the method and efficacy of the intervention. Include information about how the intervention outcomes were measured and if best practice was applied. How could the intervention or assessment method be improved for future delivery?…

    • 3634 Words
    • 15 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Low Self- Esteem is the underlying cause of most cases involving: fear, anxiety, anger, panic attacks (self-esteem attacks), dependence and lack of assertiveness, depression, eating disorders, domestic violence, teen and gang violence, addictive behaviors, relationship problems, child-abuse, social anxiety disorders, avoiding personality disorders, and dependent personality disorders.…

    • 1289 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Identify your successes. Everyone is good at something, so discover the things at which you excel, then focus on your talents. Give yourself permission to take pride in them. Give yourself credit for your successes. Inferiority is a state of mind in which you've declared yourself a victim. Do not allow yourself to be victimized. Express yourself, whether it is through art, music, writing, etc. Find something you enjoy. Everyone is born with talents and strengths.…

    • 295 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Problems with poor self confidence or low self esteem can effectively ruin your life. Anyone who has ever suffered in this way knows how difficult it makes things. Your work suffers - interviews can become terrifying, promotion prospects fade as job performance suffers, you avoid networking, public speaking is horrible, and so on. Social life can become painful instead of fun - meeting new people becomes a struggle, even going out with friends can be hard. And even if you manage to bravely force yourself to keep doing these things, the sparkle goes out of life when everything is a struggle. But it doesn't have to be like this...…

    • 7665 Words
    • 20 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Creating Confidence

    • 1819 Words
    • 8 Pages

    To get farther in life, you must overcome the impossible. But what is the defintion of impossible in your stand point? The only thing that is standing between you and the impossible is fear. How do you overcome fear? Confidence. Confidence is the most important key to being succesful thoughout life and you will need it to overcome the challenges you face throughout it. People who lack confidence will never be where they want to be in life, and will always have to sit back and watch others who are. You want to be confident in life because you have many benefits, its easy on how to be confident, and why being confident is important.…

    • 1819 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays

Related Topics