How Thinking Optimistically Can Change Your World Perspective

In some parts of the world, March is optimism month, during which the idea is promoted that we can actively change the way we think and start to view things more optimistically. We know that some people are naturally more optimistic than others, but whoever we are and whether we are inherently positive or not, we can work to train ourselves to create a lifelong habit of optimism, for a happier, healthier life.  

How Thinking Optimistically Can Help You. 

People will often assume that those with a more positive outlook on life are that way due to the fact they may have had an easy life, or that they’ve never had something major happen to them that shook their worldview, but this is not entirely the case.

Research suggests that optimistic people are happier because they actually gain happiness from their optimistic outlook. This can have health benefits as a happy life can lead to a longer and healthier life, especially mentally. So how do we ‘train’ ourselves to be more optimistic? There are a number of ways: 

How to help optimise your optimism. 

Coincidence Journal: 

Do you remember the last time you experienced good fortune, or a coincidence that benefited you? Perhaps you moved something valuable off of a shelf moments before that same shelf fell of the wall. We all experience these happy coincidences on a regular basis, but we can fail to notice them, as we may be too stressed or busy.  

It’s important to take note of these, so create a journal that you can add to every night (or when you’re free) and you’ll soon start to appreciate how much is actually going your way. Revisiting this journal will help you focus on the positive and gain a new perspective. 

Gratitude Journal: 

Creating a gratitude journal is another way to focus on the positivity in your life. 

Challenge yourself to write three things that you’re grateful for at the end of each day. If you can, try to make what you write each day different, to help highlight as many positive events in your life as possible. It will help you promote a more optimistic outlook.  

The best thing about keeping a journal is that if you’re feeling down or stressed, it can be a great reminder of all you have to be thankful for.  

Vision Board: 

When you set yourself goals, it’s important to visualise how you can achieve them. Creating a vision board can help you do this and see your aims clearly. 

The first step is to set your goal (or goals) and place them at the top of your board. Below this, draw a ladder, with each rung being a step towards achieving your goal. Break down your thought processes and be realistic; it’s important that you maintain the right difficulty level for each step, or you may lose motivation. As you move down the steps, you can mark the fact that you have completed them in whatever way you wish and get a visual sense of your progress. Your optimism will hopefully increase as you see yourself get closer to the overall goal.  

In case you feel that you could end up being too optimistic and this might actually end up being harmful rather than helpful, this is actually quite unlikely. Studies have shown that most people are consistently wrong in being too optimistic. On average, people expect good things to happen and bad things to not happen, and these optimistic beliefs are more positive than can be justified by reality.

But for the most part, this over-optimism does no harm. In fact, we may have evolved this way, as it give us a survival advantage. Being optimistic is extremely motivating and will make us try harder (creating a self-fulfilling prophecy). It also helps us to avoid stress.

So it’s official. You can’t be too optimistic!

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