The Eternal Optimist: Living up to the name

It's not easy being an “eternal optimist”. I have my challenging days when things just don’t go as I’d hoped, wished or expected, when people have disappointed me and systems have brought me to the edge of hysteria. Indeed, as I get older, I find the things that cause me these challenges are increasing rather than reducing. Remaining happy and optimistic on such days is an effort and I often just want to “kick the cat” (figuratively not literally), and rant at anyone who will listen. So why, then, do I persevere in trying to put a positive spin on things?

I could refer you to a variety of medical research papers and quote the statistics on why a good mental attitude leads to a longer and healthier life. Perhaps a piece on the business benefits and why clients, staff and introducers all react better to those displaying a positive attitude might persuade you. Touching on the philosophy of stoicism and the benefits it bestows might hit the right chord. The answer, though, is much simpler. What other choice do we have if we don’t want to spend our days angry and frustrated?

Everyone has challenges in their day, period. The most successful (and often the happiest) people that I know have had to face overwhelming challenges and overcome them. Indeed it is often that journey that has led to their well-deserved success. It isn’t the size of the challenge that is important, though: most of us will be as upset about a small family squabble as we are about larger business issues. It is about how we choose to react to issues that is important. That choice is the key part. Ultimately, if we take some time to consider what is happening, we can have a choice as to how we feel.

Easy to say...

It’s not an easy choice, however, and each of us have to work out for ourselves how best to make it. For some it’s about saying “It could have been worse”; for others it’s embracing the learning and growing opportunities that challenges provide. Perhaps it’s taking comfort in the simple words “This too shall pass”. For the stoics (a philosophy I strongly recommend you read up on) it’s about accepting the nature of things and taking comfort in the fact that you have simply done your best and have acted correctly by your own standards and values. (“If anyone can refute me – show me I’m making a mistake or looking at things from the wrong perspective – I’ll gladly change. It’s the truth I’m after, and the truth never harmed anyone” – Marcus Aurelius.)

However you do it, it won’t be easy. Putting on a smile is a start (there is a lot of research on the positive benefits of smiling), as is using more positive language when discussing and considering the challenges themselves. It is, for me at least, a constant battle, but one that does become easier with time and practice. For those of you who enjoyed the recent Euros, let me leave you with a thought about the Tartan Army to put this piece in perspective. They were, by and large, just happy to be there, they enjoyed the experience and took pleasure in the small successes before they went home dreaming about the World Cup… perhaps not a bad analogy for a day in the office.