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“Engage” Series Part 2: Be An Optimist

Optimists do better. Really. In most aspects of life, being an optimist is going to take you much farther than pessimism ever will. Optimists are less likely to struggle with depression, they make more money and are happier in their marriages. There’s evidence that an optimistic attitude can positively impact health as well, leading to longer, healthier lives with less chance of developing certain diseases, like diabetes and high cholesterol.

Optimism doesn’t come easily to everyone, however. Just because you’re naturally negative, though, doesn’t mean you can’t employ some simple techniques to focus on the positive and reap all of the mental and physical benefits of optimism. Here are a few quick tips for looking on the sunny side and why they’re important.

Don’t Force It

You’ve heard of “fake it till you make it,” but in the case of optimism, faking or forcing a positive mood might have adverse effects. In one study, participants were instructed to listen to classical music. Half were told to use the music to improve their moods, while the other half were given no instructed outcome. The group that wasn’t forced to use the music to improve their mood felt better after hearing it, whereas the music was little help to those specifically seeking a positive outcome.

Instead of trying to force yourself to feel happy, or putting yourself under the pressure of constant emotional evaluation, aim to immerse yourself in whatever you’re doing. Total engagement is going to prevent your mind from wandering towards negative thoughts or worries. When you’re given the opportunity to ruminate, you can bury yourself in negativity about your life and about yourself.

If you find yourself swimming in a sea of negative thoughts, fully engage yourself in an activity to lift your mind from the mire. Find a physical activity, like jogging or yoga, that demands your full attention. Check in with a friend or colleague, providing a kind word that will lift their spirits and yours.

See The Importance Of Goals

Optimists see the value and importance of setting goals, and they have high expectations for achieving them. This is what differentiates them from the pessimist. The key is to examine your longterm goals and break them down into smaller, more manageable goals. If you want to learn to run a marathon and set that as your goal, you can feel disappointed when you reach it. If you break it down into smaller, more manageable portions, like finishing a 5k, a 10k, a half, you can feel a sense of accomplishment with each milestone you reach on your way to the marathon finish line. With each small goal you accomplish, set another one and keep moving forward towards your main objective.

Don’t beat yourself up if you fail to achieve a goal, either. Instead of wallowing, refocus and line up a new goal to knock down. Over time you’ll build confidence, you’ll feel emboldened to set loftier goals and you’ll be able to accomplish even more.

Don’t Give Up

Optimists succeed more often than pessimists because they don’t give up. When pessimists throw in the towel, optimists try even harder to solve the problem at hand. “Whether the glass is half empty or half full,” Suzanne Segerstrom, PhD, said in Younger In 8 Weeks, “it needs to be washed, dried and put away in the cupboard, and optimism affects whether or not you are motivated to get that done.”

Optimism increases your expectations to achieve the goals you’ve set, and also increases your motivation.

Don’t Give In

When something bad happens to derail a goal, a pessimist sees it as a personal failure – one that will affect them for a long time and linger in their minds for even longer. Optimists know that not everything is within their control. Sometimes setbacks happen, but optimists don’t take it personally. They assess the situation and move on.

If you find yourself ruminating over a perceived failure, try this trick. Think about your situation and write down what happened, as well as everything you think about the cause and implications of the event. Once you’ve got it down, make an effort to flip the script and view every point from a different perspective – a more positive one. Take the aspects of the situation that feel personal and make them impersonal, changeable and impermanent. Strive to see your setbacks as opportunities.

The information in this article and all of the content in the Younger In 8 Weeks series, plus much more information on optimism, aging and living your happiest, healthiest life, can be found in Younger In 8 Weeks: the Ultimate Aging Guide.