Last week I discusssed that 40% of your happiness is based on your behaviors. One of the behaviors that can increase happiness is optimism. Now how can you practice optimism?
You can start by keeping a best possible selves diary. While there are many ways to practice optimism, this specific activity has shown the best results in increasing well-being. To try this out schedule 20-30 minutes in which you can be in a quiet place alone with your thoughts. Think about what you expect your life to be five years from now. Visualize a future for yourself in which everything turns out perfectly and then go write these thoughts down. The writing part of this activity is important so do not skip it.
If you enjoyed the above activity continue to go back to it for the next month. Be as specific as possible about your future. Think about your most important goals and what they would look like if they all came true.
Another strategy is to think of different ways to interpret a situation. I remember when we were debating scheduling in my school. When they announced the change of schedules I felt very defeated and thought that there are no way students can be successful with this new schedule (45 min class time to 90).
When I calmed down, I asked myself a series of questions that helped me
What good can come from this schedule change?
Does it present any opportunities for me or my students?
What can I learn from this decision-making process that will help me in the future?
What answering these questions did was help me stop the cycle of negativity and truly see some opportunities to make things better through the change in scheduling.
I also know on a personal level that sometimes I need to fight off pessimistic thoughts. For example, I texted my friend (okay I never text people just trying to use a modern example) and they do not get back to me. I start thinking do they not like me? Do they not want to do this activity?
When I catch myself in this type of thought process I immediately stop and ask myself
What are other reasons why they have not got back to me? Maybe they are busy, and they are thinking of ways to make time to get together.
All the above strategies are hard work. It forces us to look at the world in a more positive outlook while making generous assumptions. If you persist however the benefits could be immense.
Optimism is a huge part of everyday life. It can have a great or horrible effect on you depending on your use of it. I tend to not be very optimistic and I begin to stress. Using this technique I think I can overcome that negativity and welcome a better positive outlook on situations. There have been times where I am going through negativity but I stop and consider the questions of other possibilities and it assists me with taking a step back and reconsidering my attitude. I believe I can be more positive and it is not a super hard thing to do it just takes commitment.
ReplyDelete- Keegan Byrd
I think optimism in different categories of life can help turn any bad turns of events in to a better outcome. When using the idea of happiness and a more positive perspective, the attitude can be changed based on any specific issues that are dwelling upon you. Despite negativity sometimes occurring more frequently then the optimistic point of view, it can help a person out much more in the long run.
ReplyDeleteIt's always good to try to be optimistic even in seemingly impossible situations, but it is not always easy to be that way. Sometimes one little good thing can just make my day so much better, but one little bad things can just as easily make my day go bad. Sometimes when I'm having a bad day I tend to be pessimistic and overthink many things, but usually things turn out just fine. Usually there are many reasons why this or that did not happen and I learned that it is important to consider some of the possibilities that could happen. I want to try out writing a dairy to myself and see how it works out. Though I don't think there will be immediate changes, there will be changes if I continue to do it.
ReplyDelete-Matthew Tao
Matthew tell him how the diary works out
ReplyDeleteOptimism is clearly important for everyone but I think this idea serves a great purpose in the lives of high school seniors like myself and my classmates. For most of us, we have just recently chosen a college or have not yet made a decision, and much of our future remains in question. With such heavy decisions looming, it could be very beneficial to sit down and think of positive scenarios that could result from the different schools we are looking at. we can do the same idea if we are at a crossroads for declaring a major down the road..
ReplyDelete-mike campbell
It is incredibly important to be optimistic, but it is also very easy to be pessimistic instead. It is easy to focus on the tests, homework, and other demands of the day, and become overwhelmed, leading to a pessimistic attitude. That is why I think the 3 good things that we do at the beginning of class are very important. They get you to be grateful about some of the things you do have, which goes a long way to being able to be more optimistic going forward in the day.
ReplyDeleteJacob Brandt
For me, optimism is a crucial part of my daily activities. Staying positive helps me prepare better and plan more efficiently. Staying optimistic allows me to feel confident when playing sports because I focus on the next play after a mistake has been made. For me, optimism is essential for all walks of life.
ReplyDelete- Jacob Snyder
In contemporary culture, it's difficult for one to possess any sort of optimism. In class, we briefly discussed how the effects of social media can have an adverse effect on your mental health. These days, we live in a very perfectionist culture, or at least, a fake it till you make it culture. This is evident in many "influencers" who attempt to influence the general population with their "perfect" lifestyle. I'm willing to wager that if challenged, their lives wouldn't nearly be as perfect as they would make them out to be. Influencer culture has a direct adverse effect on the mental states of us today, leading to lower levels of optimism.
ReplyDelete-- John Basmaci
DeleteUnfortunately highschool has created a culture of pessimism. By that I mean the attitude of 'school sucks' or 'will this matter in 10 years' is unusually represented in the words and actions of students. Being optimistic is what I practice as often as possible because it contributes with better mental health. I remember a while ago when I received a horrible haircut I wrote down in a notepad "read this in 5 months [the time I thought it would take for my hair to fully grow back] and realize it was only hair are you're fine now". so I can agree to the journaling exercise.
ReplyDelete- Amondo Lemmon
DeleteThis practice of being optimistic instead of pessimistic plays an important part in my life as well, particularly on the sports field. As a soccer goalkeeper, when I was younger I would become very frustrated if my team gave up a goal and my level of play would often decrease as a result. However, now I have come to understand that optimism is the better practice, thinking forward to different ways that my team could get back into the game in that same scenario. Optimism can be applied to many walks of life in a similar fashion, but this is just a prime example in my life.
ReplyDelete-Spencer Nattans
Optimism is just seeing the world through a different lesnse for people. We often hold onto the bad of everyday life and think nothing of it as it's just normal for us to do so. No one ever thinks "Hey, today I'm going to be positive and think happy today." that's just too unrealistic as humans we are more likely to be cynical now than before. We see things as the means to an end or just try getting from point A to point B. If we just remember three good things like you keep telling us in class, we could possibly make it through the day rejuvenated and ready for all the bad that could happen.
ReplyDelete-Michae Brown
I actually did try the writing activity and felt a lot better afterwards. I wrote for only about 5 of the 20 minutes and the rest of the time i was just thinking. I do not think that i have ever actually thought about the future that much before, especially in anything longer than a year or two into the future. This helped me a lot with visualizing a path for myself and creating a plan on the best way to achieve my goals, thank you.
ReplyDelete- Henry Jones
I think optimism is a great tool to have. However it is very hard to achieve. The steps noted seem like a good way to kick off one's optimism.
ReplyDeleteAs I read this piece on Optimism I kept thinking that this works hand in hand with the idea of patience. Patience makes one think about how the outcome can affect someone. Optimism is something that society should be looking at more, because society always highlights the bad things that are going on. -Ben Hooper
ReplyDeleteThis entry really struck a chord with me, similar to the last one. This really applies to my life as well. I have often caught myself in those negative thought loops when I text my friends, when they do not respond. It has taken me a long time to get to my current point of optimism. I have done the second option many times where I think about the positive reasons for things rather than the negative reasons. I really appreciate this entry. It really made me feel good because it made me realize what I have been doing truly is working.
ReplyDelete--Will Cook
I believe that positivity and optimism are crucial in all parts of life. Two specific examples to me are on the lacrosse field and in the college application process. On the lacrosse field, if you dwell over making a bad play you will play just as bad the rest of the game. However, if you learn from that mistake and focus on making the next play you will be successful. I was recently waitlisted at my top choice college. I was originally very upset, however I took the opportunity to do more research about the schools that did accept me and this has made me very excited to attend their admitted student days and learn more about them.
ReplyDelete- Ryan Kempske
Optimism is a huge part in happiness. If someone were to always look at the bad side of things then they will always feel extra stress or even become upset, but if they were to be optimistic then they would see the good side and be happier with less stress. Optimism is definitely a key factor to happiness in that it promotes positivism in almost every thing and every situation.
ReplyDelete~ Nick Bush
Can we also just say: having optimistic people in our loves makes everything better! Sometimes when I'm having trouble being positive, I follow the advice you talk about in your kindness post: I think about how much my positivity means to other people, and how if I'm in pain, tired, down-in-the-dumps, they likely are too - and so if I can muster a joke or a smile or a act of service on their behalf, I'll do it!
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