Is your glass always half full or is it usually half empty?

If you are lucky enough to be an eternal optimist – enjoy! But if you are a pessimist through and through, do not despair – it is possible to change your attitude to life and reap the resulting rewards this can bring.

Your attitude to the slings and arrows that life continually throws at you can make all the difference to your long term mental well being, achievements and prospects.

Cluttering up your head with negative thoughts can leave you feeling despondent, drained and unable to see real opportunities when they present themselves.

This can lead to a vicious cycle of self fulfilling prophesies. For example, suppose you have a job interview, are you the type who believes you don't really stand a chance or do you feel confidant that the job could be yours?

Picture the interview room – if you believe you haven't a hope, do you suppose that you will come across as a confident, bright and likeable interviewee? – extremely unlikely.

In fact, you have a good chance of giving out the wrong signals before you even sit down.

However, let us suppose you are an optimist but you still don't get offered the job – how do you react to this undesirable piece of news?

Do you slip back into destructive thought patterns – 'it's just my luck' or 'now, I'll never get another interview' or do you think 'well maybe the job wasn't for me but I have gained some valuable interview experience, which will be really useful next time around".

Perhaps, this example seems too obvious but it is amazing how quickly we sometimes give up on ourselves and even worse blame everyone around us for our perceived misfortunes. But, it does not have to be like this.

Even as a seasoned pessimist you can change the way you view life and begin to develop a positive attitude to the world.

How can I be so sure?

Well, I have done it myself and next time I'll give you some ideas about how you can do it too.

Brigitte Girling, of Style2Live, can be contacted, 01379 897248,
or www.style2live.co.uk