"MindSigns" Offers Hope, Optimism in Troubled Times

Tear This Book Apart and Spread it Around for Greatest Impact

VIENNA, VIRGINIA, APRIL 7, 2003 -- Consciously choosing beneficial thoughts is valuable for mental well being. Thats the premise behind a new book, MindSigns Personal Billboards," which offers provocative questions and affirmations to remind us to think positively. The book contains 52 signs -- one for each week of the year - to tear or cut out and post anyplace where they can visually motivate a positive mental attitude.

Author Ron Ball, who started developing "personal billboards" to help his teenage daughter through her bout with depression, found that they had an uplifting effect on the whole family. "I thought the signs could have a similar effect on other people, helping them stay positive through challenges and difficulties," Ball said. "Then I realized that today we're all dealing with so much bad news - terminal diseases, economic turmoil, terrorism and war - and hoped the book could help kids and adults stay positive through it all."

We keep hearing how we need to help children deal with what's going on, but the truth is we all need to figure out how to deal with it. We're overloaded with downbeat news and information that can make us feel afraid, uncertain, or insecure. When we stop and focus on our thoughts, it's surprising what's buzzing around in our heads day and night," Ball says. "Instead of yielding to negative or fearful thoughts, we can opt to consciously choose more positive or beneficial thoughts."

Research seems to bear out Ball's thinking. According to studies conducted at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, happy people initiate adaptive, helpful thoughts and behaviors. Dr. Ed Diener, of the University's Department of Psychology, says that people might increase their subjective well being through control of their thoughts.

Dr. Martin Seligman of the University of Pennsylvania, a respected author and researcher in the field of optimism, believes that people can choose how they think. According to Dr. Seligman, people can control their thoughts much like controlling their muscles. He says that peoples styles of thinking then become their habits.

The mind signs helped with Ball's daughter. "Depression feels like being locked in a cage," Lauren Ball said. "The signs my dad created made me smile and feel happy. They were uplifting."

Ball said that, in a desire to do his part to help while Lauren got professional treatment for her depression, he started putting up mini-billboards all over the house -- on walls, mirrors, doors, the refrigerator, just about any flat surface. It was Lauren's response that made him start thinking about a book that would help others as well. He started writing everything down, keeping a notepad by his bed, in the car, everywhere he went.

The result is MindSigns Personal Billboards." The 128 page book, MindSigns Personal Billboards," published by Inroads Publishing, is available from the www.mindsigns.com Web site or through www.amazon.com for $19.95 plus shipping and handling. For more details, visit www.mindsigns.com.

About the Author

Ron Ball has had an eclectic career. He has been a marketing executive, photographer, radio producer and interviewer, plus an advertising and direct marketing copywriter. He brings over 25 years of experience and know-how in leadership, motivation, and team building. Ron heads up a speaking and consulting firm located near Washington, DC.

Book Statistics

Title: MindSigns Personal Billboards"
Author: Ron Ball
ISBN: 0-9727671-0-X
Category: Motivation, inspiration, self-help, success
Length: 128 pages
Pricing: $19.95
Publisher: Inroads Publishing, 2003
Binding: Perfect bound, oversize trade paperback

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To contact the author directly, or for a review copy, call (703) 255-5261 x6.