Counterfactual Thinking Paper

J.J. Watt has also said many strong quotes and said some that can be applied to anyone. One of Watts more popular quotes is “Stop making excuses and start making things happen”. To me this quote means that you shouldn’t say you can’t do something because of something and instead make things happen and make improvements or just do something about what you are trying make an excuse for. .

You should focus on what you can control, not what you can’t control. For an example in school you can’t control how your teacher grades your project. You can control the effort you put into your project though. Believe you can succeed. If you can’t believe you will do well, you probably won't do as good as you would have if you believed you could succeed.

The motivation that results from the doubt or disbelief of others is very powerful and it has the ability to make the impossible a reality. We have all heard the stories of the wealthy businessmen and the famous sports athletes who defied the little chance they had to succeed in life. These are true examples of what a person can accomplish when he uses the doubt of others to motivate himself to accomplish an extremely difficult goal. The significance and pleasure of this type of motivation can not be denied. However, it is even more important for a person to be internally motivated and not have to rely on the influence of others.

This quote means that even when you try agin it still may fail, but through failing you become better. A time I have failed, but have failed better was when I was trying to read a book,but I would have to start over because I would not read it for a few days, and forget what would happen in the first half of the book. Now I read when I have down time, but sometimes I

John Mason wrote in his book, You're an Original Don't Die a Copy, a quote from Rev Hawes. “Aim at the sun, and you may not reach it, but your arrow will fly farther than if aimed at an object on a level with yourself.” Rev Hawes meant that when you create and decide to take on a goal it should not be too easy even though there's a chance you might not succeed. In the quotes . the arrow is you and the sun is your goal. When we set a difficult goal, we will go

Many believe that you can only be optimistic if you are successful, as good things happening to you can cause a better mood. However, Seligman believed the opposite. He thought that having an optimistic outlook creates success. Things cannot go well for you if you always think on the bad side of things, therefore, if you are more optimistic, you will be able to bounce back faster from hardship and be more able to become successful once again. However, pessimism can also be learned. If a person believes that everything bad that happens is their fault, they will become more pessimistic and unwilling to try new things, as they believe they will mess up. This thought can be taught in young children. Often, children who are abused or bullied at a young age can develop a pessimistic outlook as they are told that bad events are their

The children’s story “The Little Engine That Could” portrays a little engine who wishes to carry a larger train over a hill. Throughout the story he tells himself “I think I can…I think I can”. The outcome is that he manages to successfully transport the larger train over the hill. The moral of this story is that if a person thinks positive then he or she will produce great results. In other words if you think you can accomplish a task then chances are you probably will. The secret is a positive thought process. If a man changes the way that he thinks he changes his life.

You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them. Maya Angelou, Letter to My Daughter “You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them.” is a famous quote from Maya Angelou in her book “Letter to My Daughter.” This quote is arguably true. There are many circumstances that people come into face with, some are controllable while others are way out of control.

It is not mentally not looking at circumstances with eyes that see only what you want to see”. In other words using Positive Self-Talk shows us the truth on real situations. For example: you were trying out for the school volleyball team and you messed up on bumping the ball, when the negative thoughts occur that is when the positive self talk will take place “ok I’m now going to focus on what I need to complete in order to make it on the team.” There is a way in which you can develop a positive self talk habit, there are 3 steps and the first one is “Mantra”, choose a mantra and find a positive self talk for example; “I feel strong”. This positive self talk will encourage you to feel motivated. The second step is “Practice Multiple Scenarios”after using the positive self talk from step one, repeat the line so you can practice having it sink in your brain. It will help you during real situations in sports a example for this step is “Anything can happen, and I’m definitely not out of this, Don’t let up”. Finally, the last step called “Creating A Positive Mental Image Or Visualization” this technique can help you create a visual picture on what you are doing and saying This powerful combination will create a positive message.

Counterfactual thinking is the cognitive process in which individuals can simulate alternative realities, to think about how things could have turned out differently, with statements such as ‘what if’ and ‘if only’. Counterfactuals can be either upward, in which alternative realities are improved, or downward, in which alternative realities are worsened. Reflecting on previous outcomes can make individuals experience regret and this review will focus on the effects of counterfactual thinking and feelings of regret, which has been referred to as a ‘counterfactual emotion’.

The concept of interest is self-efficacy. This began in 1977 with Bandura’s social learning theory that was renamed social cognitive theory in 1986, of which self-efficacy was one of the major concepts of his theory. Self-efficacy makes a difference in how people will feel, think, behave, and motivate themselves. A low sense of self-efficacy can be associated with stress, anxiety, depression, and feelings of helplessness. Such individuals also have low self-esteem and become pessimistic about their accomplishments and personal development. In thinking terms, a strong sense of efficacy facilitates cognitive processes and performance in a variety of settings, including the quality of decision-making and academic achievement. When it comes to behavior, self-efficacy can be said to influence people’s choice of activities as self-efficacy levels can foster or decrease a person’s motivation. People with high self-efficacy approach difficult tasks as challenges and do not try to avoid them. People’s self-efficacy beliefs determine their level of motivation, as reflected in how much effort they will

Virtually all people can identify goals they want to accomplish, things they would like to change, and things they would like to achieve. However, most people also realize that putting these plans into action is not quite so simple. Bandura and others have found that an individual’s self-efficacy plays a major role in how goals, tasks, and challenges are approached.

The first reason why your thoughts determine your successes or failures is if people say “you can’t, you wont”. When someone says “I can't do this” the person will think that they can’t so whatever

Three of which include, his or her cognition towards situations, his or her emotional status, and the decision-making process of that individual. Self-efficacy affects an individual’s cognition towards a situation due to the fact that a person’s view can greatly influence the outcome of that situation. Therefore, thinking in an optimistic manner can be beneficial, whereas thinking in a negative manner towards a circumstance can be detrimental. Self-efficacy can affect the emotional status of an individual, in that a resilient sense of self-efficacy enables an individual to recognize that it is normal for him or her to feel discouraged in certain situations, and this transpires in a determination to persevere and turn the outcomes of his or her circumstances into success. The manner in which self-efficacy affects an individual’s decision-making process is that it facilitates the individual to recognize that there is always a choice for choosing the way he or she will experience a certain situation or circumstance. In summation, the concept of self-efficacy pioneered by Albert Bandura elucidates that through an individual mastery of his or her thoughts emotions and decisions with the guidance of past circumstances he or she will be able to recognize the ability to shape the outcomes of his or her situations and circumstances. Therefore, the concept of self-efficacy has proven to be a paramount dynamic in the positive field of psychology regarding the prerequisite for behavior

However, if we choose to give up on ourselves in the middle of the journey just because we have low self-esteem and do not believe that others can support us, we can never be successful. Hence, only the person who endures throughout the journey and believes strongly in hope is qualified enough to be successful.