So, which are you - an optimist or a pessimist?Medical research has proven that optimists live longer, get sick less and are happier than pessimists.Evidence also suggests that optimists tend to handle uncertainty, challenges, problems and failure far better than pessimists.Why is this?Whether you are an optimist or a pessimist this is a mindset you have chosen to operate from in your life.There are a number of factors both - nurture and nature - that contribute to either life approach.It's really quite simple - how you were raised and how you responded to your early conditioning and experiences have a tremendous impact on your attitudes and mindsets later in life.We couldn't choose our parents or caregivers or the way they raised us but we could control how we chose to respond to these early influences.Your teachers, churches and even your friends either validated your early beliefs or attitudes and you chose to accept this influence or you fought against it.Not everyone raised in a negative family environment is a pessimist and conversely not everyone raised in a nurturing and positive environment turned out to be an optimist.There are numerous factors that have influenced your beliefs and still do to this day.The human mind is a very complex organ.But in many ways it behaves consistent with what is fed into it over the years.By this I mean that it is easier for a pessimist to have a pessimistic life outlook than a positive one and vice versa - it is easier for an optimist to be optimistic than pessimistic or negative.Without going into a great deal of brain and mind research suffice it to say that a person can change their attitudes and life outlook if they choose to and do the necessary inner work to accomplish this change.The problem is that pessimists tend to believe that that's "just who they are' while optimists would say, "why would I ever want to be a pessimist." The pessimist says, "why be so optimistic when things go wrong.What's the point? Deal in reality.Things are bad and getting worse.".The optimist says, "no matter how things go I have a better chance of having them work out for the best if I stay positive.I mean I have nothing to lose by being positive.".In their own way both are right in their viewpoint but who would you think has a better chance of having things work out for the best?Over 60 years ago in a great book.Optimism, the biology of hope the author shares valuable medical evidence that pessimists get sick more and die earlier than their opposite.Why would either life approach make a difference in an outcome?For starters optimists tend to look for solutions while pessimists tend to stay stuck in the problem.Optimists tend to accept what they can't control and let it go and move on while pessimists tend to see themselves as victims.Optimists believe it will all work out and act accordingly - they get busy evaluating, considering options, come up with plans and appropriate actions to deal with circumstances.Pessimists believe it's going to all crash and burn and act accordingly - circle the wagons and dig in and wait for disaster or something even worse to strike.With all of the evidence available regarding this subject you might ask why in the world would anyone want to be a pessimist or remain stuck in this mindset? Great question and I'd have to refer you to hundreds of studies to make my case but let me make it easy.Pessimists like being negative and pessimistic and could never picture themselves as an optimistic person - see the rational here? Their pessimist viewpoint is exactly what keeps them stuck.Is life better for optimists than pessimists? The answer is yes.Is life more fun, less stressful and easier for optimists than for pessimists? Yes.Do optimists have fewer problems and face fewer challenges or adversity than pessimists? No.Then why do optimists tend to be more successful, creative, resourceful, happy and emotionally grounded than pessimists?Simple - let me give you a formal definition of an optimist.Somebody who tends to feel hopeful and positive about future outcomes.How about a pessimist.Somebody who always expects the worst to happen.Got it? So, Optimists or Pessimists - and the winner is.
Monday, September 17, 2012
Optimist Or Pessimist - And The Winner Is?
So, which are you - an optimist or a pessimist?Medical research has proven that optimists live longer, get sick less and are happier than pessimists.Evidence also suggests that optimists tend to handle uncertainty, challenges, problems and failure far better than pessimists.Why is this?Whether you are an optimist or a pessimist this is a mindset you have chosen to operate from in your life.There are a number of factors both - nurture and nature - that contribute to either life approach.It's really quite simple - how you were raised and how you responded to your early conditioning and experiences have a tremendous impact on your attitudes and mindsets later in life.We couldn't choose our parents or caregivers or the way they raised us but we could control how we chose to respond to these early influences.Your teachers, churches and even your friends either validated your early beliefs or attitudes and you chose to accept this influence or you fought against it.Not everyone raised in a negative family environment is a pessimist and conversely not everyone raised in a nurturing and positive environment turned out to be an optimist.There are numerous factors that have influenced your beliefs and still do to this day.The human mind is a very complex organ.But in many ways it behaves consistent with what is fed into it over the years.By this I mean that it is easier for a pessimist to have a pessimistic life outlook than a positive one and vice versa - it is easier for an optimist to be optimistic than pessimistic or negative.Without going into a great deal of brain and mind research suffice it to say that a person can change their attitudes and life outlook if they choose to and do the necessary inner work to accomplish this change.The problem is that pessimists tend to believe that that's "just who they are' while optimists would say, "why would I ever want to be a pessimist." The pessimist says, "why be so optimistic when things go wrong.What's the point? Deal in reality.Things are bad and getting worse.".The optimist says, "no matter how things go I have a better chance of having them work out for the best if I stay positive.I mean I have nothing to lose by being positive.".In their own way both are right in their viewpoint but who would you think has a better chance of having things work out for the best?Over 60 years ago in a great book.Optimism, the biology of hope the author shares valuable medical evidence that pessimists get sick more and die earlier than their opposite.Why would either life approach make a difference in an outcome?For starters optimists tend to look for solutions while pessimists tend to stay stuck in the problem.Optimists tend to accept what they can't control and let it go and move on while pessimists tend to see themselves as victims.Optimists believe it will all work out and act accordingly - they get busy evaluating, considering options, come up with plans and appropriate actions to deal with circumstances.Pessimists believe it's going to all crash and burn and act accordingly - circle the wagons and dig in and wait for disaster or something even worse to strike.With all of the evidence available regarding this subject you might ask why in the world would anyone want to be a pessimist or remain stuck in this mindset? Great question and I'd have to refer you to hundreds of studies to make my case but let me make it easy.Pessimists like being negative and pessimistic and could never picture themselves as an optimistic person - see the rational here? Their pessimist viewpoint is exactly what keeps them stuck.Is life better for optimists than pessimists? The answer is yes.Is life more fun, less stressful and easier for optimists than for pessimists? Yes.Do optimists have fewer problems and face fewer challenges or adversity than pessimists? No.Then why do optimists tend to be more successful, creative, resourceful, happy and emotionally grounded than pessimists?Simple - let me give you a formal definition of an optimist.Somebody who tends to feel hopeful and positive about future outcomes.How about a pessimist.Somebody who always expects the worst to happen.Got it? So, Optimists or Pessimists - and the winner is.
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