Optimism: The key to living longer and happier

By Nancy Proffitt, Certified Business Coach, Proffitt Management Solutions

Mahatma Gandhi, Thomas Edison, Helen Keller, and Christopher Reeves are just a few names that come to mind in a discussion about optimism and success.

People who are successful in life measure high on assessments of optimistic attitudes. It would be easy to presume they are optimistic because they are successful, but there is enough research to show that the optimism comes first.

Traditional wisdom puts forth the idea that to be successful, you must have two things:

• Talent, aptitude or skill.
• Motivation

More recent research shows that a third element contributes strongly to success:

• Optimism, particularly in the face of adversity.

People who score high for optimism consistently demonstrate excellence in everything from sports to health, elections and sales. When Metropolitan Life used an assessment of optimistic attitude to select and hire salespeople, those scoring highest on the optimism scale outsold others in their first year by 27 percent.

Optimists are more resistant to infectious illness and are better at fending off chronic diseases of middle age. Dr. Martin Seligman, author of Learned Optimism, has shown that optimists not only do better educationally and in their careers, they also enjoy superior health and longevity

Optimism helps every time your work gets hard. It can make the difference between getting the job done well or poorly — or not at all. Even in non-competitive tasks, such as paper work or writing, an optimistic attitude can make the difference. Procrastination is the result of not having an optimistic mindset to start and finish a task.

But at the root of putting things off is the internal dialog when facing an unpleasant, routine or boring task. A pessimist thinks all sorts of negative thoughts when facing such tasks. The optimist thinks positive thoughts that actually encourage and energize.

Failure often does not stem from laziness, or from lack of talent or lack of imagination. It’s often simply lack of the right attitude and belief on ones self to persevere.

Optimism Can Be Learned

Pessimists, passive optimists and dynamic optimists all selectively focus their attention. Dynamic optimists interpret their experiences differently than other people.

The differing ways in which optimists and pessimists focus their attention lead to noticing different things, experiencing different motivations, and taking different actions. The pessimist focuses on problems, pains, and pitfalls. The passive optimist sees only what is encouraging and enjoyable, but blinds him- or herself to potential obstacles. This leads to missed opportunities or limited success.

The dynamic optimist dwells on the constructive and enjoyable while de-emphasizing pain, difficulty and frustration. Such a person can look at a frustrating event, fully accept its reality, and then choose to interpret the event in a way that leads to action, growth and mastery. They recognize dangers but have a wider vision open to solutions, possibilities and assisting forces.

Optimism is 100 percent a choice, as is any part of our attitude. Choose to make a difference in your attitude to be more optimistic and success will be tenfold to that of thinking of pitfalls, pains and obstacles first.

Nancy Proffitt, MBA, Certified Business Coach is the president of Proffitt Management Solutions and Proffitt Management Leadership Institute, an internationally recognized Leadership coaching firm dedicated to unleashing the full potential of individuals and organizations. She may be reached at 561-682-6060 or email: Nancy@proffittmanagement.com. Visit her website at www.proffittmanagement.com and her blog www.profitablebusinesscoach.com/blog