Optimism leads to success not the other way around and

OPTIMISM IS PART OF THE JOURNEY NOT THE DESTINATION

In the redefinition  of HOPE the O stands for Optimism.  

A lot of “motivational folks will tell you  to set little goals and  eventually  you’ll meet your big goals.  We often interpret that  as success leads  to success…. if that were true the equation  would  look like this

Hope  follows  success—Well… that’s  not how it  works in  real life  or in neuroscience.  

The formula  is the opposite.  Hopeful people are more successful and optimism is a big part of  that hope or  happiness that contributes to success.  In “positive psychology” study  after study after study after study (did I mention there is research  here?) research has shown that more hopeful, happy people reach their goals than  having reaching a goal  make  you happy.

So the setting little goals is  not meant to  actually  help you reach the big so much as it is a optimism  booster.  

Why else is it  productive to optimistic?   There are two simple reasons.  Sometimes  in order  to make a hope into a reality you are going to need  help from others who believe in  your efforts.  You can’t be very  convincing (or fun to be around for that matter)  if  you are constantly  saying “I doubt” or This probably won’t”…. Often when you  make such  statements as  an important  member  of a team seeking something you subtly encourage  the same behaviors  from others  and then not succeeding  seems to be somewhat of an expectation.  Also  the more people who have that attitude  on your team  the more positive  energy is drained away.  The pessimists  seem to suck  the life out of  hope and thus I often refer to these as “vampire” types.  They are the Yes that could work but….chorus in the room.  They may eventually agree  to go along in public but in private groups they may openly air doubts about success and generally  drain much needed morale  from others.  

It is hard to have peace and joy when some are  betting on  failure and misery.  

So  to summarize…. research  shows that  optimism leads to success —not really the other way around.  Optimism  adds energy and it is important to  spot those who will  be the vampires.    I am not suggesting  that optimism  has to trump  realism… like  I wouldn’t  expect the captain  of the Titanic to  come over the loud speaker and  announce “FREE ICE FOR EVERYONE!!!”   I would  however suggest in thinking  through a situation where  you would like to be hopeful that “hey I know a lot  of people pullling for us here…”  I know these people have a lot of skills and  know how to do hard  work  and they won’t  give  up no matter how many different things  they have to  try.”   

Well speaking  of not giving up… The  next  post is about Persistence 

Seeking Peace and Joy  is all about  the journey and the joy in the adventure of  seeking it.  So  thanks for reading this and  please persist long enough to read the next entry….

I am optimistic that you will.