Martin Seligman, Director of the Department of Positive Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania and researcher into learned optimism and happiness, uses a process of “disputation” evolving from cognitive therapy. This ABCDE process outlines the necessary steps to challenge Pessimistic Explanatory Style and change it to Optimistic Explanatory Style.
Why is this so important to writers? Because writers lose time, energy and creativity to prolonged and irrational negative responses to the vicissitudes of the writing life. Learned Optimism can change that.
Learning to dispute with rational and factual evidence is the foundation of changing your pessimistic thinking. This is not “positive thinking” in the sense of finding and using more lighthearted affirmations, or in imposing someone else’s positive thoughts as if they were your own.
This is you, learning how to delve into your rational strengths and challenge the negativity that can grab your writing life by the neck.
And speaking of writing…that’s the best way to learn. So grab a notebook and start to practice your ABCDEs.
Here’s how:
A stands for Adversity - Here’s where you write down the event or experience that triggered your pessimistic thoughts. Simple and matter-of-fact, no associated thoughts or feelings. Just like this: “I got a rejection letter,” or “I’m insanely jealous of my friend who just got a book contract,” or even something that doesn’t feel writing-related but has impacted your writing.
B stands for Belief – Write down the words you use to explain the adversity exactly as you say them to yourself. This is where you write the comments such as, “I’m a terrible writer, too old for this profession, with outdated and stale ideas – maybe I should go back to my full-time day job”; “Mom was right – I’ll never go anywhere with this…and what am I going to do for money?”; and “I’m not getting to use the full powers of my writing abilities.” No stuff about how you’re feeling…just the attitude, in the exact language. This is your Explanatory Style.
C stands for Consequences – Write down the impact your negative thinking has: how do the words make you feel? What impact do your words have on your work? Examples? “I feel defeated and lousy”; “I feel very, very scared that I will never publish”; “I feel cheated, despondent”; “I feel hopeless and defeated, like I’ll never break down the walls protecting the commercial enterprise publishing has so largely become.” If you have these, or other, thoughts, you know they impede your writing.
D is for Dispute – A dispute is a rational challenge to your emotional belief, which is often less fact than attitude. Here are a few ways to experiment (that’s right, you might not be successful the first time, so keep trying!):
–Factual Evidence. Challenge your pessimistic emotional beliefs with a list of facts. Are you truly inadequate as a writer or artist? Are you truly uncreative, or are there emotional, negative blocks getting in the way? List all the facts that contradict your pessimistic statements. (Still believe your belief is true? See Deal With the Truth, below.)
–Less Destructive Alternatives. One way to try this is to pretend you are a caring friend of yours – how would she or he respond to your concern? Do you know a natural optimist? What would her point of view be?
–Deal with the Truth without Self-Judgment. Let’s say you’ve decided that your negative comments are true – your work is not up to par, you are not working to capacity, you are not able to generate ideas the way you’d like to, etc. Is the negative way you tell yourself the truth useful? No. Negative thinking doesn’t result in positive change. But true optimism isn’t sugar-coating. So look at the truth of your situation and plan to change it: do you need stronger critique? Classes? More workshops? A coach? A therapist? Do you need specific, written goals and plans for your project? Your weakness and human imperfections are normal, and you’re more likely to move forward when you accept them as so. When you’re not yelling at yourself, you’re freer to make plans for how you want to change or grow.
–Dispute With Action. Negativity tends to lead us to self-involvement, and it never hurts to distance ourselves from that by engaging in something outside ourselves, whether it’s helping a fellow writer with his concern, or taking a break for involvement in a social justic project. Research on happiness demonstrates that people who consider themselves happy are generally involved in ‘selfless’ activity that coincides with core values and beliefs. Building those activities into our lives keeps our own pessimistic reactions in perspective.
E is for Energization – Read your disputes out loud. How do you feel when you hear the words? The measure of an effective disputation is the energizing effect it has on your emotional state. If your feelings haven’t changed, try again. Sure, this sounds like a ‘Catch-22’, but it’s true. Remember, a dispute is a heartfelt, rational change of though, and if it’s not substantial enough, it won’t help you.
Your notebook will be your workbook for change. Sure, it’s hard work. Disputing takes time to learn; don’t give up; ask questions.
But we know how to work hard at writing. Why should revising ourselves be any different?
