This past week I went to prison. Not for a crime, but to conduct several sessions on Cultivating Optimism. You may think that prison is an unlikely place for a topic such as optimism but I learned the opposite – that optimism is crucial in such a negative environment. Many of us experience negativity and stress every day – optimism can make a real difference in your life!

How many of us feel as if we are in prison? My coaching clients often tell me they feel stuck in a job they don’t like, in a marriage that isn’t working, or they feel they need to walk on eggshells. Isn’t that like an emotional prison?  While they may not be incarcerated they are held captive by their own thinking and believe that their situation is making them unhappy. There have been many studies that substantiate the idea that only about 10% of our life satisfaction and happiness is derived from our circumstances. Your circumstances are not the source of your unhappiness.

You can learn to be optimistic. Optimism is a skill. Becoming optimistic simply requires some attention and self-discipline. In the “Cultivating Optimism” sessions I taught the inmates the 4 powerful steps to create optimism through exercises in gratitude, reframing adversity, creating positive self-image and learning to not overthink.

Gratitude, if approached with some seriousness can lift your mood and help you see that life isn’t all that bad. When we experience adversity, it is easy to blame others and become pessimistic. You can learn to turn adversity into opportunity in a way that creates positive emotions which is critical to being optimistic. Too often people label themselves as a pessimist or an optimist. This flows from your self-image. You can create a new self-image of optimism. Lastly, if you are someone who ruminates and overthinks, learning how to stop overthinking can create hope instead of negativity.

To some degree we are all in a prison, held captive by our attitude and perception. Optimism is a skill that you can learn. Feeling grateful, overcoming adversity, improving your self-image and learning how to not overthink will help you break free from pessimism and unlock your potential to be optimistic. Optimists are healthier, have better jobs, handle stress and trauma better and live longer. Those benefits alone should be enough to motivate you to learn to cultivate optimism in your daily life. Looking on the bright side just became a whole lot easier.

Kirk

Tags: Cultivating Optimism, Happiness

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