Pessimism - the rubber band technique

Let's imagine: you are always putting yourself down.

You want to change - that alone is a step in the tight direction!

Problem: despite your best efforts you keep falling back into the habit of putting yourself down.

To overcome: when you realise you're doing this, choose some other behaviour - immediately!

How?

1. Place a rubber band around your wrist, and every time you catch yourself putting yourself down, snap the rubber band and deliberately choose to replace the negative self-talk with a positive statement.

2. The rubber band is a pattern breaker that gets your attention and reminds you that you are choosing a new behaviour.

3. It acts to snap you back into the present moment, so you can consciously choose a new behaviour until that new behaviour becomes your automatic response.

4. Every time you find yourself engaging in the behaviour you want to change, snap the rubber band, remind yourself that you have chosen a new behaviour and immediately replace the old behaviour with the new behaviour.

Mind reading - for pessimists?

Israeli Mind-scanner May Take Over US Airports

As part of stringent measures to beef up airport security, US authorities may use an Israeli-made mind-reading scanner that allegedly predicts whether a passenger is a potential threat or not.

The Transportation and Safety Administration (TSA) and the Homeland Security are considering the installment of a controversial mind-reading system, that was recently developed by the Israeli-based WeCU Technologies, in all American airports, AP reported on Thursday.

The device, which functions by blending high computer technology and behavioral psychology, is essentially designed to "get inside the evildoers head" without the subject's knowledge and prevent him or her from placing the lives of fellow travelers in jeopardy...

“One by one, you can screen out from the flow of people those with specific malicious intent,” Givon claimed.

The controversial device has sparked an outcry among civil rights groups, who argue that a system that combs through your brain to look for evil intentions is "Orwellian" and akin to "brain fingerprinting." (Source)