Stress Reduction Through Optimism

Studies have proven that the people who experience less stress are those who see the world as a “glass half full” rather than as a “glass half empty”. They also tend to live longer.

Chronic stress, and the many issues that are associated with it, are one of the most common reasons people visit their doctor.

Given these facts, why wouldn’t you want to have a better perspective on life and the world in general? After all, if that leads to improved mental and physical health, it seems like the proverbial no-brainer.

And there is a direct connection between your outlook on life and your stress hormone levels, according to researchers from Concordia University: “An optimist’s levels are steady, while a pessimist’s soars out of control and become unmanageable.”

Optimism vs. Pessimism

So what is optimism?

Simply put, it’s a belief that everything will turn out OK, and when something does go wrong, there is no point reacting to it with a doom and gloom response.

Optimists are persistent, refusing to give up because of an obstacle.

The other perspective, pessimism, is a world view that takes the worst possible case scenario and assume that’s what will happen.

Ironically, it is this negative attitude that often does hold pessimists back – they assume something good won’t happen to them, and it frequently doesn’t.

For example, if somebody goes to work every day expecting not to enjoy it and not to get a promotion, they will come over, to their boss (and co-workers), as somebody who is unhappy and the opposite of inspiring – which are not the traits you want to see in somebody in a managerial position.

And when a pessimist does get passed over for that promotion, they will use that to confirm their outlook on the world. An optimist, on the other hand, is more likely to use the situation as a learning experience for the next time.

Pessimists Can’t Control Their Cortisol

The problem is that pessimists find it difficult to control their cortisol levels (cortisol is known as the stress hormone) once those levels start to rise.

Compared to optimists, their cortisol peaks at higher levels, and they cannot easily reduce those levels again.

And higher stress levels come with a cost:

• Cholesterol Levels. According to the Harvard School of Public Health, optimists have higher HDL (i.e. good) cholesterol levels than pessimists, who struggle to increase their levels.
• Emotional Instability. Everybody experiences stressful situations at some time or other, but pessimists are less able to bounce back from them (even relatively small stressors), and as a result, they are more likely to suffer mental health problems (e.g. depression) than optimists.
• Heart Problems. Cardiovascular diseases are more common in pessimists than in optimists. There was a study, published In the Psychological Bulletin, that showed optimism actually protects you from heart disease, to some degree at least.
• Increased Sickness. The immune systems of pessimists are typically weaker than those of optimists, which means that they are less able to fight off diseases and infections.
• No Silver Lining. They say that every cloud has a silver lining, but pessimists find it difficult to see that silver lining. Optimists, on the other hand, do, and their silver lining is learning from what happened so that they can help prevent the same thing happening again in the future.
• Shorter Lifespan. As if having a negative outlook on life weren’t bad enough, they end up living shorter lives than optimists – largely because of the effects on their health that their pessimism causes.

Can You Change Your Outlook To Be More Optimistic?

Some people (probably pessimists) believe that you are either born an optimist or born a pessimist – but this is not the case.

How you view life, with all of its ups and downs, is entirely up to you.

Yes, this does mean you might need to learn ways to deal with difficult situations, but that’s just one more life skill to add to all the others that you had to acquire over the years.

And it may take a while, depending on how deeply entrenched you are in your pessimism.

So What Can You Do When Something Bad Happens?

By “bad”, I’m not talking about getting stuck in traffic, or there being a long line at the bank.

No, I’m talking more about events and situations that have the potential to be life-changing.

For example, if you are being made (or are likely to be made) redundant at work, or you discover your wife wants a divorce.

You have two choices:

1. You can become all stressed out, lose your mind, assume your life is over, and generally be down, which is what a pessimist’s natural instincts will be.
2. You can deal with the situation, assume that whatever it is will pass, and that you can come out on the other side stronger than you are now, which would be an optimist’s reaction.

Spheres Of Control

One of the keys to happiness is understanding that there are:

1. Some things in life you can directly control.
2. Some things you cannot control but you can influence.
3. Some things you simply cannot control at all.

This is neatly summarized in this diagram:

The things you can control might include what time you leave home to go to work each morning.

The things you can influence, but not control, might be decisions your boss makes. Perhaps you were one of several people who presented options to your boss on what direction to take with a certain project, but ultimately, it is your boss who decides what will happen.

And the things you cannot control might include traffic problems on your way to work, as well as, of course, natural disasters.

So, if a pessimist gets held up in traffic on the way to the office, they are likely to put it down to “bad luck”.

An optimist, on the other hand, might have allowed a few extra minutes of contingency, in case something unplanned happened en route.

The pessimist would see this as the optimist having “good luck”, whereas the truth is that the optimist was better prepared.

As the Roman philosopher Seneca is quoted as saying, “Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.“

The moral then, is to:

1. Do whatever you can to take charge of what you can control.
2. Ensure you exert the most influence possible on whatever you can, even if you cannot completely control it.
3. Don’t worry about things you cannot control, although you can and should try to make plans in case those events occur, where this is practical.

Who And What Has Influence Over You?

It is said that you are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.

What do you think will happen if those five people are also pessimists, like you?

You’ll probably do a lot of complaining and sharing of “it’s not fair” stories, but consider how likely it is that, together, you’ll support each other’s journey to optimism.

Not very, I would say.

So, one key way to improve your outlook on life is to surround yourself with people who are positive and who can influence you to change your outlook on life too. (By the way, notice how those people cannot control your outlook, but they can influence it – by their own behaviours.)

But of course you are exposed to a lot more than just other people and their attitudes.

We are bombarded these days with programming, because that’s what it is – news, TV shows, movies, music, books, and probably more.

Almost all of these have a message, which may be obvious or disguised, and in many cases, especially the news, it tends toward the bad rather than the good.

So, what you can do is try to eliminate, or at least minimize, these negative sources from your life, and try to expose yourself only to positive ones.

And once you find something that puts you in a better mood, do more of it! These might include:

• Particular pieces of uplifting music.
• A new favourite comedian on television who always makes you laugh.
• Certain scents (e.g. of air freshener, candles, aftershave, perfume) that remind you of happy memories.
• Eating a certain food.

Journalling

Something else you can try is journalling, or, at the very least, making a record of your mood changes (i.e. what made you sad, what made you happy), and what you think were the triggers.

After a while, you should be able to detect a few patterns – things that always make you feel like life’s out to get you or that always cheer you up.

And once you have found those patterns, you can come up with ideas on how to minimize those situations that make you unhappy, and maximize those that lighten your mood.

For example, if you notice that watching the news on television after returning home from work just takes you a dark place, then stop watching the news. Which is more important – knowing who’s killing who in parts of the world you’ve never been to, or maintaining a positive outlook on life because that’s better for your health?

Conversely, if you discover that spending time playing with your children is uplifting, then wouldn’t you rather be doing that than watching depressing news on television?

Is Optimism Realistic?

Some pessimists like to claim their world view is more realistic, because bad stuff happens.

But, of course, optimism is not about pretending that life is all good – it’s about taking a positive approach when those bad things do occur.

While the pessimist is out there bemoaning the fact that he will never get that promotion, despite having been considered for it multiple times, the optimist is out there getting the promotion because they learned what went wrong the first time and fixed it.

Make The Effort

The sad fact is that many pessimists remain that way because they never try to change their outlook.

Maybe that’s because their pessimism is telling them that it cannot be done – but the truth is, it can. Yes, it may take time and effort, and you won’t get there overnight, but it’s worth it.

So, what does this mean in practice?

Well, when you come across a negative situation, you can try to step back and ask questions such as:

1. Is there a lesson I can learn from this?
2. What could I do differently next time, either to prevent the situation occurring, or to handle it better?
3. What are the positive aspects of the situation?

Pessimism is a habit, and habits can be changed. Estimates vary, but it’s commonly said that it takes just 60 days to create a new habit – so why not try to approach life differently for only two months and see what a difference it can make?

(By the way, I talk about changing habits in more detail as part of my Brain Training For Success Course, starting in Lesson 3.2.)

And when you do notice an improvement in your attitude and outlook, you should congratulate yourself – you’ve made the effort and have started to see the benefits.

As they say, slow progress is still progress, and it will get you a lot farther than somebody who makes no progress at all.

Remember, the fact that you have even tried to change your pessimism to optimism means you’re not 100% pessimistic – because if you were, you would never have tried in the first place.

Positive Affirmations

Another useful tool is positive affirmations.

To quote Lesson 1.2 from my Brain Training For Success Course, “Affirmations are positive statements that activate your mind to change your life, one thought at a time.”

The sort of positive affirmations than can work here would include:

• I am at peace with how my life is going.
• I am capable of handling difficult situations.
• I am thankful for what I have in life.
• I believe in myself.
• Life is full of endless opportunities.

You may think saying statements such as this would never work, but remember that when a pessimist says, “Everything goes wrong all the time”, that is affecting their life – for the worse.

So it makes sense that saying (or thinking) positive statements can affect you for the better.

As my late wife used to say, “Thoughts are things.”

Laughter

I know you’ve heard the saying that laughter is the best medicine, and it’s so well known because it’s largely true.

So, find things that make you laugh.

This might include:

• The antics of your children and/or pets
• TV shows
• Movies
• Comedy clubs
• Writing your own jokes
• Playing games with friends

There are many benefits of laughter, one of which is reducing stress, and almost no downsides (except, perhaps, laughing at inappropriate times).

Smile

While it’s true that when something good happens, you tend to smile because you’re happy, the converse is often the case too – when you smile, you feel happier.

Some researchers at the University of Cardiff in Wales made an amazing discovery: people feel happier when their ability to frown is hindered.

In that study, they used Botox, and while it was effective, injecting toxins into your body is clearly not the best approach.

So, try to smile more – at things that you find funny or even mildly amusing, when you see the positive side of something, and at other people (which will often help them feel better to).

It’s Not All About You

One final note.

I’ve already talked about the impact of pessimism on your health and life, but this isn’t only about you.

Pessimistic people can drag others down with them, and some do this deliberately, presumably so they don’t feel so worthless and alone.

This is why many people, especially those with a more positive outlook on life, will shun the company of pessimists – they lower the mood, noticeably so.

You may think that life isn’t fair, but what’s definitely not fair is influencing others to be like you.

Conclusion

So, optimism and pessimism are not traits we are born with – they are learned behaviours.

And like so many things in life, we probably learned our outlook as children, from our parents and other people who were key influencers.

But if you can learn a behaviour, you can unlearn it and learn a different, more helpful one.

Just remember that being an optimist does not mean you refuse to accept that bad things happen. In fact, if you do that, you can cause harm by your refusal to take responsibility for anything.

Optimism is as much about not assuming the worst will happen all the time as it is about taking the rough with the smooth, being prepared, and not letting temporarily bad situations get you down.

Yes, this can be easier said than done, but if you take small steps every single day, then in as little as 60 days you can build a new, positive habit to replace your old, negative one.

Additional Resources

These are suggestions for those who wish to delve deeper into any of the above:

1. Affirmation Software
2. Habit Tracker App
3. Mind Movies