DAY 150 - BECOMING AN OPTIMIST… SO WHAT IF YOU HAVE TO LIE TO YOURSELF!

Day 150

My research on happiness has convinced me of the importance of optimism in my quest for happiness.  To be lucky, healthy and successful, you need to be an optimist.   Here is how it works:

If you think you will fail at something, you will give up more easily than if you are sure you are going to succeed.  People who tend to be optimistic are therefore far more perseverant than those who are not, which invariably increases their chances of success.

Thomas Edison is said to have tried and failed to create the light bulb many times.  As he was working on trying to find the right wiring for his invention, his detractors wanted him to admit he had failed, he simply replied:  “I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work”.

If I want to lose weight, but I keep on telling myself that I’m not going to be able to stick to any type of exercise or diet, I’m giving up before I even start.  Last January, when I asked people what their resolution was for 2011, many of them told me they never made any resolution, because they were too afraid they weren’t going to stick with them.  If you don't believe you can succeed, you won't.  It's as simple as that.

So, if optimism is one of the essential ingredients to health and happiness, why not try to become more optimistic.  It doesn’t mean you need to become the bubbly annoying person who always seems cheery for no apparent reason (ok that sounds a little grumpy of me, but you understand what I’m talking about). 

  

If I observe the optimists around me, I notice that many of them tend to lie to themselves in a positive way.  These lies help them persevere in trying to reach their goals.  It fuels their engine to go further.  So why not lie to yourself (you do it anyway - see my post entitled Truth or Lie on day 114).  If it is going to help you get to where you want to go, and you’re not harming anyone by doing it, what do you have to lose?

Optimists tend to have good self-esteem and positive thoughts.  They also see themselves as being responsible for their success, as opposed to looking at it as being the result of random chance.   

In order to achieve that optimism, you need to slowly try to control your self-talk, your inner dialogue.  I know it sound cheesy, but maybe by saying to yourself that you are great when you feel you’re not, and by fighting off negative thoughts and replacing them forcefully with positive ones, even if they sound phony at first, you can begin the necessary transformation.

Everyone needs to figure out how to become more of an optimist for themselves.  For some people, it will take more battling than for others, but in the end, if you know that it is one of the surest ways to health, happiness and success, why not try to put all the chances on your side.