Optimism teaches us that what you focus on grows
Have you ever met someone who seems to have an unwaveringly positive outlook on life? They don’t make jokes at their own expense, search for things to complain about, or let failure tear their self esteem apart.
There’s a reason why these kinds of people are the most magnetic, most progressive, and most abundant. It’s radical optimism.
Radical optimism doesn’t mean you don’t face lows. It means accepting that nothing good comes from allowing a negative mindset to convince you that things cannot get better. It’s the decision to believe that even when something goes wrong, something good can still come next.
So how can you actually implement this into your life?
The Power of Journaling
Oprah Winfrey has spoken openly about her gratitude journaling practice, starting every morning with saying. “Thank you” before her day starts. For years, she has made a habit of writing down things she is grateful for, both big and small.
She explained that making gratitude a daily priority changed what she noticed throughout her day. When you actively look for things to appreciate, you start noticing things that may have otherwise passed you by.
And that’s really the point.
What you focus on grows.
Putting your thoughts on paper may be one simple way to intentionally practice a more positive mindset. In one study involving 153 participants, researchers examined the effects of expressive writing and gratitude focused writing over a two week period.
Participants who practiced gratitude showed significant improvements in optimism and resilience, along with improvements in measures of physical health.
Gratitude doesn’t mean pretending everything in your life is perfect. It means training yourself to notice the good that already exists alongside the difficult things.
Start with the little things:
“There was no rain yesterday.”
“I got to eat my favourite food today.”
“My body moves without ache”
This habit slowly helps you look for things to be grateful for in your everyday life and realize how abundant you are.
“I have an amazing family.”
“My friends love me.”
“I am healthy.”
The things you write down don’t have to be complex or huge. The purpose is simply to start looking for evidence that there is good in your life.
Change Your Perspective, Change What You Believe Is Possible
With a change in perspective, you can start believing that you are capable of things you may have previously thought were impossible.
Your physical body may not have changed. Your surroundings may not have changed. Your circumstances may even be exactly the same.
What changed is the way you chose to see them.
And sometimes, that change in perspective is enough to change what you do next.
Success often comes down to the difference between limiting and empowering beliefs. If you constantly tell yourself that you can’t change, why would you look for opportunities to change?
But if you believe growth is possible, you start looking for evidence of possibility everywhere.
Reframe the perspective
| Situation | Automatic perspective | Reframed perspective |
|---|---|---|
| You fail at something | “I’m not good enough.” | “Now I know what I need to work on.” |
| Someone else succeeds | “They’re ahead of me.” | “Their success proves it’s possible.” |
| You have a bad day | “Everything is going wrong.” | “Today was hard. It doesn’t define tomorrow.” |
| Your plans change | “This ruined everything.” | “This might lead me somewhere I hadn’t considered.” |
| You make a mistake | “I messed everything up.” | “I needed that to grow” |
| Progress feels slow | “This isn’t working.” | “Slow progress is still progress.” |
| You’re rejected | “I wasn’t good enough.” | “This wasn't meant for me but something better is.” |
| You feel uncomfortable | “This means I should stop.” | “I am strong enough to push past the discomfort” |
| You see someone doing better | “Why don’t I have that?” | “What can I learn from what they’re doing?” |
| Something goes wrong | “Why is this happening to me?” | “What can I do with what happened?” |
Ditch the Scarcity Mentality
Stop believing there are a limited number of spots for success, wins, happiness or growth.
Scarcity makes you believe that someone else succeeding somehow decreases your chances.
It creates fear, comparison and resentment, which leaves very little room for your own growth but the truth is that there are enough seats at the table!!!
What is meant for you will not pass you by
When you can genuinely tell yourself, my success is my own and no one can take it away from me, other people’s accomplishments stop feeling threatening.
Instead, they can become proof of what is possible.
This also allows you to become an influence of success for the people around you. Who doesn’t love a supportive person?
Your win is my win. Therefore, our win.
We don’t have to fuel our ambition by constantly competing with one another.
Be Willing to Fail
The difference between someone who eventually succeeds and someone who never gets the chance to is often surprisingly simple: one was willing to try again.
People who win have failed too.
The difference is that they eventually learn not to see failure as the end of the story.
The most accomplished, famous, influential people in history experienced rejection, setbacks and disappointment before reaching success.
Oprah Winfrey was removed from her role as an evening news anchor early in her career and J.K. Rowling faced numerous publisher rejections before Harry Potter was finally accepted. Their stories are a reminder that failure does not necessarily mean you are on the wrong path. Sometimes it is simply part of becoming the person capable of reaching the goal.
The only way to grow is to be willing to make mistakes. The people who eventually succeed understand that failure is part of the process, not the final destination.
Don’t Think Shortsighted
"Rome wasn't built in a day" is the saying...
James Dyson built 5,127 prototypes before getting his vacuum right. Vera Wang entered bridal design at 40. Julia Child published her first cookbook at 49. Sometimes we mistake ‘not yet’ for ‘never.’ Your life doesn't have to happen on the timeline you imagined for it to become everything you imagined.
Consistency is the not so secret key to achieving almost anything meaningful.
Have patience with yourself and understand that when you miss one day, it’s just one day.
The truly happy people eventually realize that the prize wasn’t only the end goal. There was something valuable about the person they became while working toward it.
So if you miss one day, don’t turn that single day into a reason to give up entirely.
Come back tomorrow.
Let Positivity Become Who You Are
It’s easy to be positive when you're going through a high.
The lows are the real test.
If you messed something up at work, didn’t reach the grade you wanted, didn’t perform well in your sport or didn’t save the amount of money you planned to, you need to learn how to make the issue smaller than it feels.
You have some power over the meaning you give to what happens to you.
Highly successful people didn’t somehow avoid all of the lows. They prevailed through them while continuing to focus on what could come next.
Overthink the wins and the good. Underthink the negatives.
Radical optimism isn’t ignorance.
It’s mental persistence.
It’s the persistent belief that there is another day, another opportunity, another perspective.
Extend That Optimism to Other People
When people have a negative mindset, don’t be so quick to judge them.
We’ve all been there. We just don’t want to be the ones who stay there.
Being optimistic with yourself is a thank you to yourself. Being optimistic toward other people is almost an indirect thank you for how much life has given you.
The saying “you don’t owe anyone anything” is simple minded.
A positive perspective isn’t always something people naturally have. Sometimes it has to be learned. Sometimes someone else has to show you that another perspective even exists.
So when someone thinks negatively about themselves, you or someone else, try bringing another perspective into the conversation.
Everyone going through a difficult time deserves to know that there may be another way of looking at what they are experiencing.
Because the chances of you someday finding yourself in a position like theirs are probably higher than you think.
Success Is a Way of Thinking
Success doesn’t look the same for everyone.
It doesn’t happen on the same timeline, under the same circumstances or through the same path.
The people we admire for succeeding rarely avoided disappointment altogether. What often makes their stories remarkable is what they chose to do after failure, disappointment, loss, and challenge.
Optimism will not prevent bad things from happening.
It won’t guarantee success, erase failure or make every day feel good.
But it can change what you do when those days inevitably come.
If something truly matters to you, whether it’s learning to think more positively or completely transforming your life, remember that meaningful change takes time. The more important the change, the more patience it will ask of you.
Disclaimer
This blog post is for informational and educational purposes only and reflects personal research and ideas from the sources referenced throughout the article. I am not a medical, mental health, or other licensed professional, and this content should not be considered professional or medical advice. This blog posts is created from personal interest and purely made to encourage positive thinking.
Sources & Further Reading
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Baumgardner, M. 10 Great Habits of Positive People. Medium.
Read the article -
Cantero-Gomez, P. Get the 10 Habits Used by Positive People to Overcome a Negative Mindset. Forbes, 2018.
Read the Forbes article -
Dyson, J. Sir James Dyson Biography. Dyson. Includes Dyson’s account of developing 5,127 prototypes before his cyclonic vacuum was ready for production.
Read the article -
Hardy, B. How to Write in Your Journal to Improve Yourself and Achieve Your Goals. Medium.
Read the article -
Landino, A. 7 Morning Habits of Successful People. Amy Landino.
Read the article -
Lifehack. 15 Highly Successful People Who Failed Before Succeeding.
Read the article -
Marion, J. When Oprah Was Ours. Baltimore Magazine, May 2011. Covers Oprah Winfrey’s early broadcasting career in Baltimore and the setbacks and transitions that preceded her later success.
Read the article -
O’Connell, B. H., et al. Expressive Writing: Improving Optimism, Purpose, and Resilience Writing and Gratitude. PubMed Central. Research examining expressive and gratitude writing in relation to optimism, resilience, purpose, and well-being.
Read the study -
Scudamore, B. 7 Mindsets of Highly Successful and Happy People. Forbes, 2017.
Read the Forbes article -
Smith, S. How Positive Thinking Can Change Your Life. Hey Sigmund.
Read the article -
Tjin, A. These 10 Stories Will Remind You to Never Give Up on Your Dreams. Medium.
Read the article