How Important is Optimism?

I've been immersed in holidays and projects, and one project caught my eye and ear.

My long-time friend and colleague, Bud Bilanich, has a wonderfully practical book out titled, Straight Talk for Success. I say "ear" because I'm doing the voice over for the audio book version and it gives me a chance to experience the content in more than one way.

 Given the economic situation facing us, Bud's chapter on "Optimism"--written a while back--is a useful one.

Bud notes that optimism not only propels us toward our goals but allows people to experience hopefulness. In a crisis, optimists see problems as temporary. They don't blame themselves and they don't feel doomed.  He also offers some factoids related to optimism:

• 75% of Americans consider themselves to be optimists.

• 99% of workers prefer a positive job environment. (No surprise there!).

• 90% of people say they are more productive around positive people.

The one profession where pessimists do better than optimists is law. Bud wonders if that may not explain all those lawyer jokes.

Learned Helplessness

Martin Seligmam of the University of Pennsylvania says, "People who don't think they can make positive changes develop a condition called "'learned helplessness." Taken to extremes, it can lead to despair and depression. According to Bud, optimists generally do not fall into the trap of learned helplessness.

What Can You Do?

• Focus on what you can do and control.

• Understand and tap into your inherent strengths.

• Mentally rehearse how you will handle problems.

• Accentuate the positive.

• Focus on possibilities instead of limitations.

Some good suggestions from The Common Sense Guy.

What do you do to stay optimistic when it seems as if gloom is the theme of the day?

Comments

[Dan Erwin]

Hi Steve: Don't know how aware your readers are about Seligman. He's distinguished prof at Penn and a psych groundbreaker. He has almost singlehandedly moved psychology from a focus on the abnormal and problems, to a focus on strengths, taking charge of your life, etc. Learned Optimism is not his only significant work. His book, "what you can change. . . and what you can't" is an eye-opener for the self-improvement industry. Of course, exceptionally well-researched info.

[Steve Roesler]

Right, Dan. I live 20 miles from the Penn campus and have taught in the Wharton Executive Program, so have followed Seligman's work since the outset. The "What you can, what you can't" approach is, indeed, a key to self development.

Thanks for stopping by. . .

[Jo]

Hi Steve, hope the new year is treating you well.

I used to follow a colleague's lecture on optimism with a lecture on defensive pessimism (Kaplan I think). That was a rally size class and a lot of students would come up afterwards to say how relieved they were that they didn't have to be optimists!

There is some empirical research that optimists do better when allowed to be optimists as do pessimists do when they are allowed to do things their way - plan particularly. We pulled out advice for optimists and pessimists to work together.

Optimists should never tell pessimists that they are imagining things. It only makes them feel worse. If they want information, give it to them, and they will make a plan, a thorough one.

And pessimists should tell optimists to get out of the office and go to the beach, whatever. They aren't going to do any work anyway. The work will get done faster without them. And never ever ask optimists to take the blame. They are happy people. They don't do blame!

Lol! Have a good year!

Something up with CommentLuv : Jo from http://flowingmotion.wordpress.com

[Kim]

Up until 2 years ago my feet landed on the "glass half empty" side of the bed in the morning. I was a negative nelly. I got a wake up call through depression.

Now - I focus on gratitude. I have my own carnival of appreciation pretty often. I also set my intention toward being positive. I try to do this everyday. When I'm struggling with being negative, I head to nature or exercise to jolt my system. I stay away from behaviors that foster negativity - such as spending, eating out or consuming alcohol. It's made a huge difference in my attitude.

[Miki]

Hi Steve, happy 2009! Another thing to remember is that talking focuses your mind. The more you talk negatives the more you'll think about them and vice versa.

Negativity, and even depression, are fueled by a MAP of instant gratification and entitlement. Not to sound like a pessimist, but the sooner people shed those two attitudes the better, 'cause they ain't a gonna happen anymore. Those days are pretty much over—I hope!

[peter vajda]

One snowy, winter day a colleague of mine had to drive to meet a client. All the way to the client's destination, my colleague repeated over and over again, affirmations such as "I'm safe", "The roads are safe." "I drive with ease and grace." etc.

As he was rounding a final curve in the road, the car slid and he crashed (lightly) into a tree. In my experience, the downside of "positve thinking" is this: when there's a conflict between a thought (the mental affirming) and an emotion (the fear that resides in the body, fear that accompanies having an accident, for example), the emotion will always win out. Thus, my colleague's fear was really driving-literally and figuratively regardless of the positive affirmations. This is one reason positive affirmations, and even prayer, do not work for many people. They are fear-based.

When one is affirming, exuding "optimism" and the like, while underneath there is a cauldron of negataive emotions, there is a tremendous effort to make "optimism" work. In other words, in my experience, a mental approach to optimism, to thinking positvely, for many, is actually "work" and at some point for these some, even "thinking positvely" becomes a futile proposition. It's hard!

We live in a world of polarity, like it or not - hot and cold, above and below, light and dark...and when one believes they can only live on the "happiness" end of this polarity, they come to experience a fair amount of frustration as they deny the other end of the polarity.

For me, optimism needs to be coupled with trust, surrender and with inner work to move to understand, metaboloze and begin to eliminate the "shadow" side of one's self. Without looking into the shadow/dark side of one's self, the bright/light side will often remain hiden under the bushel basket...and for these folks being optimistic is often a pretending or appearance, a "faux" self, rather than a deep, inner truth and a "real, authentic" self.

While for the neuroscience materialists, self-talk might create new neurons and poof! a life of well-being, I don't personally know of one person who's actually changed or transformed dramatically, or for the long term by doing so. For the neuroscienece spiritualists (me), the "thinking" needs to be done at a level above and beyond the mind-brain (i.e., at a heart-soul-body level)with attendant lifetime practices that support trust, being OK with, and learning about one's self from expeiencing the "dark side" and absolute surrender to what is - good or bad. These are the truly optimistic and trusting.

As Kim alludes to, this entails deep lifestyle changes. Many feel they can live their life as it is as long as they "think positively" from time to time.

Without honest, sincere, self-responsible and deeper changes, i.e, values, beliefs, actions, and movement away from the "ego", positivity doesn't get one very far and sooner rather than later, recidivism sets in.

It takes a great deal of work and steadfastness to drive with ease and grace and be ease and grace at the same time. Thinking alone doesn't do it.

[Wally Bock]

What a timely post, Steve. You ask "What do you do to stay optimistic?"

I find that I don't need any special help to stay optimistic. It's my natural state. But sometimes despair creeps in. Then what I need is techniques to recover optimism.

I use a technique I learned from Fred Smith. Smith had been talking about the precarious early days of FedEx. A questioner asked if he "wasn't scared." Smith said he'd been a Marine platoon commander in Viet Nam and no business situation would scare him after that. I make a comparison to truly awful situations to recover optimism.

I try to concentrate on the immediate things that need doing. There are studies of people who function well in high-stress situations that indicate they concentrate on what needs to be done, rather than what could happen to them.

I sometimes write my worries on a piece of paper and put the paper in my "worry file." Just putting it away seems to put away anxiety.

Prayer is a thread that runs through my life. It certainly helps me maintain and recover optimism.

[Steve Roesler]

Hi, Jo,

That sounds like a good "one-two punch" class offering.

I had a related email response that I posted today; check it out if you get a chance.

Here's to an optimistic year ahead...

[Steve Roesler]

Kim,

Thank you for weighing in with such a straightforward, real-life example.

After reading your comment I realized that I left off a couple of suggestions from Bud's book, one of which was: Take time for gratitude.

The negative kinds of activities that you describe really hadn't occurred to me before in this context. Sound advice for everyone...

[Steve Roesler]

Hi, Miki, and here's to a good year head for you as well.

I appreciate the links and suggest that our readers have a look.

[Steve Roesler]

Peter,

I was hoping that this would catch your eye and your thoughts, since so much of your work and life relate well here.

It's fascinating that "optimism" is able to generate spirited, analytical, and quite personal responses. I hope the conversation continues.

[Steve Roesler]

Wally,

The term "natural optimist" would apply to me as well, although I confess that I haven't really sat down and become intentional in the ways that you have. In re-reading your comment and the others, what becomes clear is the importance of accurately identifying reality, then, having the depth of self-understanding to learn how to approach it. As you point out via Fred Smith, it doesn't hurt at all to ask: "How bad is X compared with the very worst thing I've experienced?"

Proper perspective based on accurate assessment--combined with immediate, related actions, offer a useful formula.

[Gina]

Optimism, if anything, is going to grant the individual good health. When someone is sullen and depressed all the time, this can't help but worsen ones health. Optimistic people seem to live longer, healthier lives, and this is important to see in the workplace as an example for others.

[Forbrukslån]

I actually read somewhere that pessimism "killed" people; optimistic people didnt get heart problems as often as people that were pessimistic. Reason good enough to stay optimistic =)

[Isabela]

cool post!

[nelly]

This is great info

[AMERICA'S UNEMPLOYED]

Well being optimistic is an overall better way of living in my opinion.

[California Jobs Hiring]

great post...thanks for sharing...