Relating to this focus on mental health, over on my blog the theme this week has been on the topic of optimism. Not mindless optimism, but learning to see what the evidence says about being more
optimistic.
Unlike pessimists, optimists see the glass as half full rather than half empty. They feel immense gratitude for whatever they do have. They look for the silver lining in those clouds up above, and sometimes just see the beauty in those clouds. And they are succeeding in so many aspects of life as a result.
Winston Churchill once said, “The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.”
With today’s current events that we live through and hear about in the media, it is so easy to focus on the negative side of life. But even a little bit of optimism in the event of
difficulty, disappointment, or struggle can go a long way. Studies show that optimistic people are not only happier on a day-to-day basis, but they are also healthier and live longer lives than those who aren’t optimistic. A simple change in outlook can have an enormous positive impact on one’s professional and personal life.
According to renowned Stanford psychologist Dr. Carol Dweck,
optimists have what we call a growth mindset. Unlike pessimists with a fixed mindset, optimists view challenges, obstacles, effort, criticism and the success of others in a radically different way.
In her research with 10 year-olds, Dr Dweck was inspired by how certain kids embraced challenges and were excited about being given the opportunity to solve a difficult project despite their youth.
Growing from kids to adults, the developmental pathways of these youths impacted how they viewed success and failure.
Optimistic students with growth mindsets remained active and engaged when they got depressed. They continued to groom themselves, got out of bed, and tackled school problems head on. Those with a pessimistic fixed mindset, however, will let school work go, withdraw from their
social relationships, and opt to cut themselves off from the world when faced with failure.
In his book Learned Optimism, Martin Seligman highlights the benefits of optimism according to hundreds of studies. The research has shown the impact of being an optimist versus being a pessimist. For example, optimists tend to do much better in school, exceed the predictions of aptitude tests, have
greater success when they run for office, show greater persistence when looking to achieve goals, age better, usually experience better health and may even live longer.
With this brief idea of the impressive evidence for leading a more optimistic life, what can you do to improve your optimism?
You can go and read what to do here at this article I wrote this week:
