The problem with positive thinking

All the evidence I’ve seen shows that positive thinking and confidence improves performance. In anything.

Give someone an easy math problem, watch them get it right and then they’ll do better on the ensuing standardized test than someone who just failed a difficult practice test.

No, positive thinking doesn’t allow you to do anything, but it’s been shown over and over again that it improves performance over negative thinking.

Key question then: why do smart people engage in negative thinking? Are they actually stupid?

The reason, I think, is that negative thinking feels good. In its own way, we believe that negative thinking works. Negative thinking feels realistic, or soothes our pain, or eases our embarrassment. Negative thinking protects us and lowers expectations.

In many ways, negative thinking is a lot more fun than positive thinking. So we do it.

If positive thinking was easy, we’d do it all the time. Compounding this difficulty is our belief that the easy thing (negative thinking) is actually appropriate, it actually works for us. The data is irrelevant. We’re the exception, so we say.

Positive thinking is hard. Worth it, though.

Buying Ice-cream

(This post will be short because I am writing from the ipod) Today I bought some ice cream, and when I saw the options infront of me. There were so many different flavors, too many options and then I thought that it would be nice to write about this in a post and to compare with life.

I know everybody has a favourite type and flavor of ice cream, mine is chocolate with vanella. But I know that there are other flavors like strawberry or cherry etc. The think is that even when I really like chocolate and vanella I also pick up other flavors.

But ok let’s give this post a little more of information. Let’s say that we really like strawberry, and everytime I eat ice cream I select strawberry!! Because you know strawberry is the best!! Then one day I find a fly on me strawberry ice cream, I really get mad and I then have to select other flavor, so I chose chocolate, and I really like it. Also I think that chocolate is great but I can’t stop thinking about the strawberry and the fly.

After a few days I go bad to this store and buy again some strawberry ice cream, and when I am enjoying it I realize that there is a hair inside my ice cream! I get really upset!! And because I really want to eat ice cream I chose again chocolate. And I start thinking about changing from strawberry to chocolate but I can’t take out of my mind the sweet and yummi taste of the strawberry!! But now I start thinking about the chocolate too and how it makes me feel good when I find something wrong on the strawberry ice cream. So next time I go to this store I have to chose between strawberry and chocolate. Now I have to decide and knowing that I might find something in the ice cream of strawberry I select it. And once again I find a fly on it, the. I go back and buy one of chocolate that will make me feel happy again!! I know deep inside that on the chocolate one I won’t find anything but in the strawberry one I may find something wrong, and even knowing that I chose strawberry!!

So people welcome to my world!

And people I like chocolate!!

Ok, lets face it!

Ok  mates let´s face this.

Today I went back into school and seriously it made me think about it.

Through these past holidays I thought that to get some improvements I need more than what I have already done.

Ok, let´s see what I have already done:

• I have been learning Japanese, but I have done it  the way I thinks is correct.
• I haven´t put so much attention in my courses either.
• I stop learning Japanese for about two months. (that sucks)
• I realized that my Japanese went down a little (I know it sucks too)
• I said I would learn another language this year. ( and I haven´t even decided which one will be yet)
• I said I will improve my English by hearing the BBC podcasts on my iPod. (I did it once, which is not enough I guess)
• I have been drawing instead of learning Japanese or English or my mysterious new language. ( I know it is not bad to draw when you like it and you are not so bad at it, but I rather prefer to learn some kanji than make some strokes)
• I have been playing with my iTouch more than learning Japanese, and even when I downloaded some apps intended for learning I haven´t used them too much.
• I have been -and I know this might sounds crazy- trying to get a girlfriend, the problem here is that I really wanted to get this girl but she didn´t wanted the same so I ended up becoming her wiping blanket and nothing more, even though I keep fighting -not as I used too- knowing that I might get nothing.
• I stopped listening to Japanese music and podcast because I was mocked and then they took my only source of Japanese podcast.
  

  Alexander Arguelles

Anyway today I will start doing something that hopefully will change my life completely.  For the last couple of weeks and now recently I decided to move on and change this life, and get into a new and upgraded one. I remembered that I had a book called “Shadowing: Let´s Learn Japanese”, and because I want to improve my Japanese speaking skill I thought that maybe using this book at least 20 minutes per day may help me. Then I also promised myself that I will use the SRS software to get and remember more vocabulary, I mean I once  made a presentation of this software and then  I just sold the product but didn´t believe on it. But now I will use it. Also a couple of days ago -I don´t know how but I ended up watching a video on Youtube about this guy who says that shadowing is the true and most effective way of learning a language. How is that? Go to youtube and find about it, I am not going to explain it here.

Shadowing

So what am I going to do from now on?:

• First write this post. DONE
• Second: I will star doing the shadowing stuff, just like this guy says. I might not follow all his rules but I bet that if I just put a little bit more of effort I will at least get a better level of Japanese/English.
• Focus myself really into the kanji world. I will do a complete deck of flashcards to learn on my iPod. It will take a while just to create them but with the help of my Japanese friends I bet I will do well.
• Because of the last point the SRS software will become one of my main study sources and because it just takes an hour to review this software and maybe another hour to put more flashcards I bet I will do well with this one as well.
• Do some exercise also.
• As for now I will stop thinking about young pretty ladies, -even though I´m still thinking that they (the one I like) are quite pretty.
• I will give my best to get a good grade at the end of this semester .

So people, I am writing this post the 2nd of February 2010, I will post my experiences in about 4 month from now, saying if the SRS and Shadowing methods worked. And also talking about my sentimental life -which I am pretty sure you will hear often- and my scholar life as well.

Gambare!!!!!