Confronting the worst-case scenario saps it of much of its anxiety-inducing power. Happiness reached via positive thinking can be fleeting and brittle, negative visualization generates a vastly more dependable calm. — Oliver Burkeman Copy Share Image
Reassurance can actually exacerbate anxiety: when you reassure your friend that the worst-case scenario he fears probably won't occur, you inadvertently reinforce his belief that it would be catastrophic if it did. You are tightening the coil of his anxiety,… — Oliver Burkeman Copy Share Image
Ceaseless optimism about the future only makes for a greater shock when things go wrong; by fighting to maintain only positive beliefs about the… — Oliver Burkeman Copy Share Image
“And here lies the essential between Stoicism and the modern-day 'cult of optimism.' For the Stoics, the ideal state of mind was tranquility, not… — Oliver Burkeman Copy Share Image
“By the second day, the song lyrics had faded, but in their place came darker irritations. Gradually, I started to become aware of a… — Oliver Burkeman Copy Share Image
Through positive thinking and related approaches, we seek the safety and solid ground of certainty, of knowing how the future will turn out, of… — Oliver Burkeman Copy Share Image
“All these counterproductive ways of thinking about failure manifest themselves most acutely in the phenomenon of perfectionism. This is one of those traits that… — Oliver Burkeman Copy Share Image
“Ceaseless optimism about the future only makes for a greater shock when things go wrong; by fighting to maintain only positive beliefs about the… — Oliver Burkeman Copy Share Image
“The greatest benefit of negative capability—the true power of negative thinking—is that it lets the mystery back in.” — Oliver Burkeman Copy Share Image
What made Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Edison and Albert Einstein such creative geniuses? It wasn't reading books or watching YouTube talks about How To… — Oliver Burkeman Copy Share Image
“Perhaps you don’t need telling that self-help books, the modern-day apotheosis of the quest for happiness, are among the things that fail to make… — Oliver Burkeman Copy Share Image
Who says you need to wait until you 'feel like' doing something in order to start doing it? The problem, from this perspective, isn't… — Oliver Burkeman Copy Share Image
“Incremental theory’ people are different. Because they think of abilities as emerging through tackling challenges, the experience of failure has a completely different meaning… — Oliver Burkeman Copy Share Image
It is illuminating to note, here, how the daily rituals and working routines of prolific authors and artists - people who really do get… — Oliver Burkeman Copy Share Image
