Henning Schwinum argues optimism is contagious and spreads faster than pessimism, which kills productivity. He walks through concrete tactics: positive affirmations, finding humor, reframing failures, journaling wins, and surrounding yourself with positive people.
Chapters
Surround yourself only with positive people because misery loves company, and there's absolutely nothing positive in that. Among all the blogs, newsletters, or publications that I follow, there was a recent uptick in content on optimism. After months of news on pandemic closure, stay at home, and recession, I guess we all can use some good news. Optimism is defined as hopefulness and confidence about the future or the successful outcome of something. Applied as a tactic or displayed as a leadership trait, it can be a lot more it can become a state of mind. Because optimism is infectious. So if you can't seem to cure your blues yourself, try hanging out with a more positive crowd. When you see that others can indeed be happy in spite of their troubles, you'll have more faith in your ability to do the same. Because the same circumstance, the same trouble can be viewed optimistically by one person, the glass half full, and pessimistically by another, the glass half empty. And pessimism is equally infectious. It has the ability to put us in an unproductive state, one that prevents us from producing the results that we want. The way that we put ourselves in a negative mental state is by focusing on something and investing it with meaning beyond what it really deserves. You see something you don't like and then you start telling yourself why it is wrong and how it should be different. All until you've worked yourself up over the fact that the world doesn't exactly match your vision. And negative people don't realize they are negative. When you describe them as such, they will reject your assessment or they will argue that they are realistic. A person who wants to focus on what is negative without taking up the mantle of a pessimist. I personally think optimism is better and so the question is, what can we do to make everyone a glass half full person? Much has been written about it, so here's just a compilation from a variety of sources. Sources Start the day with a positive affirmation. Tell yourself out loud that today will be a good day. Focus on the good things. It may be small, but there is a bright side to every obstacle. Don't sweep your negative feelings under the rock. Resilience requires emotional complexity, which means both positive and negative emotions. Find humor in bad situations. Sometimes it may have to be darg humor. Practice self compassion. Change locations. Talk to someone new and tell yourself I can take this one day at a time. Turn failures into lessons. There is a lesson to be learned in everything. Treat yourself. Know what you love, and then the smallest of treats has a huge impact. Do not engage in negative self talk. Just don't do it. Find the positive flip side and talk about that to yourself. Give back. Altruistic behavior will make you feel better about yourself. Start writing. Make a list, or keep a journal of your accomplishments. Focus on the present. Most sources of negativity stem from a memory of a recent event or an exaggerated imagination of a potential future event. And, of course, surround yourself with positive people. Positivity does love company, too.
