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Tips On Growing Your Optimism
- Take the long view – “Don’t cry over spilled milk.”
- If something good happens – expect that that’s how things usually are –“Good things happen to me a lot.”
- If something happens which seems bad – expect that it’s limited in time and unusual – “This event will be over soon.” The key is specifically defining the event. Don’t make it general like “My work is always overwhelming” rather frame it as “This task”.
- Have the attitude there is an answer, if you don’t know that answer right now tell yourself: “There is an answer, I just don’t know it yet.”
- Focus on possible solutions rather than problems. When a concern comes up, immediately start thinking of it in terms of possible answers, and be certain there is an answer even if you don’t know it yet.
- Make a list of good things happening for you / to you.
- Practice gratitude – with all your might – go out of your way to say thank you, even if someone seems obnoxious, we bet you can find something for which you can express gratitude.
- Every night take 4 minutes and write down 7 things for which you feel grateful.
- When a seemingly impossible challenge or problem is resolved, take a few minutes to reflect on how it was solved. What happened specifically? Now store that knowledge in your optimism data bank to draw on the next time you feel you are faced with an “impossible” challenge.
- When faced with a tough, perhaps painful, situation, remember you have gotten through other tough times. Reassure yourself that this, too, will work out. Ask a friend or colleague to remind you that you’ll get through the challenge, reassuring words matter.
- Turn to your spiritual or religious beliefs. One of our favorites is to remind ourselves that we do believe in a higher power and that "we don’t know what is in our own best interests.” There are so many times we have been surprised with positive outcomes to what seemed like terrible situations!
- Ask yourself: “In the big picture, how important is this?”
- As the well-known book advises: “Don’t sweat the small stuff, and it’s all small stuff.”
- Start a discussion at work with positive comments.
- Make goals attainable. Anything can be handled in small enough chunks - so if a task or problem feels overwhelming, break it into small parts and just tackle the first one until it’s handled and then move to the next step.
- Get feedback from others on what they notice is working well in your life. Get ideas on how to make things even better. (Note how much more positive it is to say, “What can I do even better next time” rather than “What did I do wrong?”
- Positively note your successes. Make a big deal of them for yourself. Celebrate! Give yourself rewards, especially rewards you will feel good about (possibly healthy rather than unhealthy food, for example).
- Find ways to feel empowered. Be proactive with your life.
- Find ways to say thank you to 10 people a day
Share your ideas on optimism. We learn from one another, and a great way to feel good is to share good ideas. So tell us your ideas by emailing us at contact@cgrowth.com. We will post as many ideas as we can! Thanks!!
We wish you a happy, gratitude filled day!
Marcia Hughes & James Terrell
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