A few ideas here on practicing optimism, even when we don’t feel like it, to develop and bolster our resilience, for the good and not-so-good times. (Not always easy of course to assume an optimistic outlook, all of the time, in every circumstance).
I’ve broadly based it – in italics below – on the work of Buchanan and Seligman (1995).
It covers how we interpret what happens to us when we have an optimistic outlook; how these interpretations are likely to be more optimistic and a virtuous cycle results; how we can start to develop the skill of optimism.
So, with an optimistic outlook, when good things happen to us, our interpretation/assumption is that it’s:
– Permanent: it’s always like this
– Pervasive: it affects my whole life
– Personal: it’s down to me (this is what tends to happen with me/it’s just the way things go in general/how things turn out in my world)
When bad things happen, the opposite interpretation applies. It’s:
– Temporary
– Specific: it’s just in this case
– External: it wasn’t down to me (this isn’t what tends to happen with me/in general things like this don’t go this way/not how things turn out in my world)
(With a pessimistic outlook, the interpretations are reversed when good and bad things happen: with the good, it’s temporary, specific and external in nature; with the bad it’s permanent, pervasive and personal in nature).
It follows then that with an optimistic outlook, our assumptions/interpretations of what happens in our world and the way the world works are likely to be more positive. As a result, we’ll tend to look for and therefore see more positives in our day-to-day lives. In this sense, we’re encouraging more good things to happen to us, and we maintain a virtuous cycle.
If we do want to get better at being optimistic, what can we do about it? Here are a few suggestions to try:
💡When things don’t go well/we experience a setback or disappointment, let’s ask ourselves: “What would an optimist do/be thinking here?” and trying to follow suit
💡Practice gratitude: this will encourage optimism and hope – where there’s life there’s hope, and where there’s hope there’s life: to encourage us, to motivate us to move forward and to achieve
💡As and when necessary refuse to engage with unhelpful, negative thoughts. If we are doing that, let’s ask ourselves “Am I being unnecessarily negative/catastrophising here?”, and if we can do that, bring to mind the suggestions above.