Is it still February? It may feel as though this month will go on forever, and indeed it’s often touted as one of the hardest of the year. The glow of the festive season is a distant memory, but spring still isn’t here – in fact quite the opposite in the past few days with sleet, freezing temperatures and storm Ciara causing havoc.
For this reason this blog seemed like a good opportunity to talk about optimism. It’s something we often take for granted, content to label ourselves as either a glass half-full person or a glass half-empty person, but in fact it’s possible to learn to be more optimistic, with small, incremental changes.
Optimism is proven to be good for you. Studies show that an optimistic outlook can improve health and life expectancy, increase performance and reduce stress, which has a knock-on positive effect on health.
One of the most famous authorities on the psychology of optimism is the American psychologist Martin Seligman, who is well-known for his theory of learned helplessness. His book, Learned Optimism: How to Change Your Mind and Your Life, argues that it is possible to make yourself happier and more productive through learning optimistic behaviours.
He summarises: “The defining characteristic of pessimists is that they tend to believe bad events will last a long time, will undermine everything they do, are their own fault. The optimists, who are confronted with the same hard knocks of this world, think about misfortune in the opposite way. They tend to believe defeat is just a temporary setback, that its causes are confined to this one case. The optimists believe defeat is not their fault: Circumstances, bad luck, or other people brought it about. Such people are unfazed by defeat. Confronted by a bad situation, they perceive it as a challenge and try harder.”
Dr Seligman argues that it is possible to escape pessimism and learn to be an optimist, by learning a new set of cognitive skills. With time you can change your thought patterns to consciously label bad events as temporary, confined to just one case, and not your fault. This is an approach incorporated into Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), which some people find hugely helpful in dealing with mental health problems such as anxiety, PTSD and depression.
If you think you might like to know more about CBT you can visit your general practitioner for advice. But if you are just interested in improving your health, happiness and outlook on life, then it’s worth thinking about Dr Seligman’s research next time a minor negative event occurs. Spilled tea on your jumper? You’re not clumsy, you were just in a rush. Did badly on a presentation at work? You’re not bad at your job, it was a difficult task. These techniques can enable a sense of long-term hopefulness. It’s worth noting that they won’t work for serious catastrophes, and that the idea is not to become arrogant and simply blame other people for your own mistakes, but in the right context, Dr Seligman can help you to feel that your glass is a little more full.