Optimism: Have you got sunglasses for that future? ☀️😎

In this edition, we’re discussing what optimism is, and how we can apply it for everyday life! Ready? Let’s get started:

After going through several anecdotes, case studies, and research papers, I believe that a good definition for optimism would be:
A realistic belief that good things will happen, that challenges can be overcome, and holding to a hopeful, confident outlook of the future.

So, with that in mind, let’s dive a bit deeper:

🧑‍🎓 You can LEARN to be Optimistic 🧑‍🎓

Since optimism is a belief/expectation, it means that this is a learned trait, not just something people are born with; a skill that begins simply with an active choice to look at things with a positive outlook. Learned traits can also be improved on, which means that optimism can begin as simply regularly and actively choosing to be positive in the majority of life situations you face.

This takes on a growth-mindset philosophy that an awesome Youtuber: Ruri Ohama mentions a lot - The Kaizen approach:

Kaizen: The philosophy of continuous practice and improvement

Here, we are describing optimism as an active choice done repeatedly, because it requires a conscious decision each time. Think of it like any other skill, sport, etc.; you only get better with practice. You must choose to be positive, and have a positive outlook over the long-term. In addition, optimism is realistic, it imagines the positives for scenarios. It doesn’t imagine catastrophizing something, and even if there is a bad outcome, an optimist is prepared for it by choosing to find the positive in that situation.

Let’s demonstrate with an example:

Your manager has scheduled a meeting with you and told you nothing about it.

- A pessimist feels anxious, fearful, and threatened, often thinking they might be in trouble, receiving disciplinary action, or displeasing their boss. They tend to ruminate on the worst possible outcomes.

- An optimist remains calm and confident, seeing no reason to panic without additional information. They might even anticipate a promotion. Viewing the situation as an opportunity, they consider it a chance to discuss something important with their manager. At best, it's a positive outcome; at worst, it's a learning experience that helps them grow. It's a win-win scenario.

KEY POINTS:

1. Choose to plan and see positive results as a regular life habit.

2. Optimism sees problems as opportunities in disguise!

3. Optimism is realistic, daring to do great things is realistic!*

* Optimism starts with taking small steps, choosing to see the good in everyday situations, an objective view with a positive outcome.

🌱 How does Optimism benefit you? 🌳

Great question! There are a lot different benefits to taking an optimistic view of life, but significant ones from the anecdotes and study papers include: a stronger sense of purpose, greater success in life, being happier, being more goal-oriented, an improved quality of life and relationships, and being a lot more motivated to succeed when having positive expectations.

This can lead to a “positive feedback loop”: When you have worked hard to achieve something good, it happened, you felt good, and you want to repeat that cycle, but usually with something more difficult.

In addition, optimists have the benefit of being more proactive, taking initiative, being able to see problems as solvable opportunities to learn and grow, having lower rates of trait depression and anxiety*¹ , stronger self-belief, larger creativity and willingness to try new things, identifying opportunities, intellectual flexibility, and a personal drive for success.

*¹ Trait = non-clinically diagnosed, more of a pre-disposition

There are even some physical benefits too!*² Some examples include:

• From the study done by: A. Rozanski et. Al., (2019), Optimism can act as a, “preventive long-term medicine”, whereby it reduces the risk of fatal and non-fatal heart attacks, stroke, and/or new onset angina.

• A protective factor: From the study by A. J. Morte et al., (2022), and J. Boselie, and M. L. Peters (2023), optimism helped patients by reducing the intensity of pain they felt. Optimism also helped with physical rehabilitation, and less depressive symptoms.

*²There are more than these as well! But they are a bit beyond what we want to learn today in how we use Optimism.

Does this sound good? I hope so! Optimists have dreams and goals backed by inner drive and hard work. We need more optimists because, as Kevin Kelly says in his TED talk, they create the future and make things better when they collaborate. Many top companies have optimistic leaders, like Steve Jobs and Elon Musk, who are prime examples of how optimism can lead to incredible success.

Optimism helps us to find solutions to problems, make a plan, be flexible and confident with the plan, and find a way through even if there are setbacks by having the positive expectation that it will succeed.

🚶‍♂️ So, what are the small steps of optimism? 🚶‍♂️

Where do we begin to be more optimistic? Well, other than last week’s newsletter about gratitude as one place to start (click here to read more); this is where we come to our framework and application. The first step for optimism:

Actively choose a positive approach on a regular basis.

🛑 STOP 🛑 What’s something you can choose to be optimistic about right now? Have you got a problem at the moment? Well “problem” = “opportunity in disguise”, so solve the problem. Find the positive, even if the positive is just that you solved the problem! Perhaps something happened recently that made you feel bad? Don’t ruminate or brood on it, but rather, find the positive learned from the experience.

What we’re trying to do is create a micro-habit. Something small and easy to replicate, even just seeing problems as “opportunities in disguise” is a great starting point. It’s something that can be done each day. Alternatively, you could do something as small as telling yourself that you are going to have a good day today, then expect and keep an eye out for the good things that happen. At the end of the day, you can even reflect and write down the good that happened too.

The point of this is that, with time, we want to be able to turn this “active choice” habit into a more “passive” habit, like a reflex.

As we grow and start using optimism, we learn to not only hope for good things, but to expect them to happen as well. We can get the confidence to dream/envision something, then make active steps that get us there (goal setting – COMING SOON). We gain more sense of purpose, increased life quality, and overall can feel happier with a more positive approach to life.

🎤 My optimism anecdote: 🎤

I learned optimism from a mentor a few years ago. His positive outlook gradually influenced me, turning my pessimism into a habit of expecting good things. Being around an optimist as well as open to learning helped me absorb this mindset naturally. Over time, optimism became an active choice, especially during tough times. The tools I am giving you are the same ones I use as a reflexive micro-habit – expecting good, and looking for positives/growth in negative situations.

I used to start the mornings by telling myself it would be a good day, and that helped too. It made me just that little bit more aware of the positives, and helped me be more expectant for good things to happen. To stay optimistic two additional things outside of looking for positives actively are: goal setting, and finding things to be grateful for when I wake up and right before I go to bed. These habits still help me to be optimistic for the future.

🫵 Want to try it out? 🫵

In this edition, we are going to adapt an exercise from a research article that describes The Best Possible Self (BPS)*:

1. Think about what your ‘best possible self’ would be. Thinking about your ‘Best Possible Self’ means that everything you imagined yourself doing has gone as well as it could. You have succeeded at all your goals, all your dreams have come true, and you’ve reached your full potential. Give yourself a few minutes to think it over.

2. Now, for five(-ish) minutes, write about your best possible self. The important thing is to keep writing.

3. Now think about that ‘best possible self’ for five(-ish) minutes, what is this person like? Imagine your life as this person.

*Full exercise can be found in the ‘Methods’ section of this paper 👉 (M.L. Peters et. al., (2010))

💪 Bonus exercise: 💪

What is something new you can start today, or this week that gets you on the road to being this ‘Best Possible Self’? – Try to have it as something that isn’t automatic, like you’re going to work or a class that is already on the road to the ‘Best Possible Self’. If you already feel you’re on the way, then look for the positives this week! Write them down, and keep this as a small habit.

✍️ Quote to ponder: ✍️

Rome was not built in a day – Alain de Lille

📖 Want something else to read? 📖

Blogs where I expand on the Newsletter and show you more about how I use these tools: 👉 Here
More newsletters 👉 Here
Sci-Fi Fantasy Short stories 👉 Here 

🎨 Lastly, this edition’s Artwork Alcove design: 🎨

At the time of writing, these are just artworks, but soon, these are going to be made into t-shirts and posters, so watch this space for when they are ready for purchase!)

Before the sign-off for this week:
Optimists can and do work together to make the world a much better place. It has the effect of ‘compounding interest’ where by having more optimists work together, they can create something even better than if they were alone or in a much smaller team. This is why we need more optimists in the world and why it is so important to learn to be an optimist.

If you liked what you read today, give the exercise a go, or share some of the content with others! We’d love to make this into a big community that wants to apply and inspire long-term sustainable positive lifestyles in ourselves and others! If you have any ideas, suggestions, or comments please leave them here, or you can add them to the post on my Instagram (where I am more active), Facebook, or X/Twitter @the_norskiwi_nz

Until next time!

Much love to you all, and see you in the next one!
🍵Cheers!☕

Norskiwi