The predominant quality of successful people is optimism. Your level of optimism is the very best predictor of how happy, healthy, wealthy and long-lived you will be.” ~ Brian Tracy
Exercise Optimism Definition: Taking a proactive perspective of hope and possibility.
Importance: By employing a habit of optimism, people take ownership. They generate new options, invent solutions to “unsolvable” problems — and they are healthier, have stronger relationships, do better at work, and are more resilient.
Example: If you have a disagreement with a coworker, a perspective of optimism can be a game changer. Instead of thinking, my coworker is this or that, and they won’t change anyway so there is nothing I can do, a person using optimism chooses to think that the disagreement was one specific event, which can be discussed after some time passes, and that they can work on communicating better with that coworker.
Exercising optimism helps you take ownership of your reactions. It makes people happy, which has a host of other positive effects. We use the term EXERCISE because it takes work — actively seeking out a perspective of possibility.
The Components of Exercise Optimism
Six Seconds’ Emotional Intelligence test, SEI, explores three dimensions to Exercise Optimism: duration, scope and power. For example, imagine someone had a car crash:
How long will the problem last?
Pessimistic: “It’s going to take SUCH a long time for my broken ribs to heal, and the car will never be the same.”
Optimistic: “It’s going to take months for my broken ribs to heal, it’s a long time, but it’s not forever.”
How widespread is the problem?
Pessimistic: “I can’t do anything until I’m better, my whole life is on hold.”
Optimistic: “I definitely can’t do sports for awhile, but I will catch up on some reading, and I will be able to work on my writing.”
Is there anything I can do about the problem?
Pessimistic: “This was a freak accident that happened to me, and I just have to hope for a miracle.”
Optimistic: “I better learn to drive more carefully next time. For now, I’m going to focus on taking care of myself and doing my physical therapy.”
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Emotional Intelligence Articles about Exercise Optimism
A Journey through Empathy & Optimism: Amy Jimison in Voices from the Network (7/25/2024) - When you feel stuck and can’t see a way out, how do you navigate change? Certified Coach and leadership expert Amy Jimison shares her approach. ...
Four Tips to Make A Culture of Learning from Mistakes: EQ Educator News (4/10/2024) - How emotional intelligence can help you learn from mistakes and make them a vital part of learning? Keep reading for EQ research and resources you can use for you, your faculty and students. ...
Exercise Optimism (7/24/2023) - Optimism is a learned way of explaining challenges and successes. When we Exercise Optimism, we choose to look for possibilities. Here's how: ...
Coaching Optimism & Purpose: 3 Profound Questions to Fuel Energy for a Better Future (1/31/2023) - When clients are 'in the swirl' and depleted, how do coaches reconnect optimism and purpose to reignite the spark of bigger vision? ...
Does Hybrid Work Have to Be the Worst of Both Worlds? (1/31/2022) - Here are 3 tips for using empathy and emotional intelligence to create remote work policies that prioritize employees' wellbeing. ...
Is It Possible to Change? 5 Tips from Emergent Strategy Where Climate Justice and Social Justice Meet (8/15/2021) - Facing vast challenges, it's easy to lose optimism. Yet new research says it's the key to change. How do we renew this resource? The combination of emotional intelligence and Emergent Strategy offers a path ...
Increase Resilience with Three Key Neuroscience Facts + Strategies from Emotional Intelligence (7/28/2021) - Decades of research show three essential ingredients to grow resilience - powered by emotional intelligence. Here's how. ...
Igniting Hope in our Students: Three Sparks (3/23/2021) - Educators and parents are concerned about children and youth becoming cynical about making the world a better place. They seem to be losing hope. Dr. Maurice Elias offers three strategies to change that. ...
6 Tips for Making the Best of Your Reality (10/12/2020) - Our current reality is challenging. What do we do when we can't change it? Here's how we can make it the best reality possible with these six practical tips you can do today. ...
Illuminate: Strengthen the Muscles of Your Optimism (10/30/2019) - Too often, we tell ourselves, “I can’t…” or “I’ll never…” or “I don’t deserve….” or we forget that we actually have more options than we perceive. We stop trying, we give up, and our muscles of self-determination and freedom wither. Learned Optimism is how we get those muscles back in shape. ...Click here for more Exercise Optimism articles on our site
Recommended Tools
Learned Optimism: How to Change Your Mind and Your Life: In this groundbreaking guide, outlines easy-to-follow techniques that have helped thousands of people rise above pessimism and the depression that accompanies negative thoughts.
EQ for Families: Optimism Workshop: Deliver essential lessons on optimism and raising resilient children with this dynamic, effective module. Optimism is a learned way of thinking — and optimists live longer, are happier, healthier, have longer-lasting relationships, and are more successful!
The Optimistic Child: An excellent guide for parents committed to raising a child who has learned to create a positive future.
A Teacher’s Daily Dose of Optimism: This book is dedicated to the educators of the world who need encouragement. Its purpose is to help teachers keep the fire and passion for teaching alive by providing daily support, plus a specific tip for caring for one’s self.
- Pursue Noble Goals in the Six Seconds Model of EQ - July 29, 2023
- Increase Empathy in the Six Seconds Model of EQ - July 26, 2023
- Exercise Optimism - July 24, 2023
Taking ownership of your thoughts and exercising faith and hope.
Optimism is a competency that helps one to move forward and take decisions that seem or perceived as imposible
Thanks Michael. I appreciate the perspective that optimism is a learned habit, a discipline. Sure, some people seem to be born more positive than others, but the cultivation of optimistic feeling, thinking and acting is such a powerful thing. I wrote a similar blog post called The Discipline of Optimism, with a few tips for the journey. I offer the link here for interested readers. http://next-element.com/the-discipline-of-optimism/
Great article Nate! 🙂
Fantastic article Nate – I never really understood how people could still be optimistic whilst facing adversity. After living with negativity most of my life I’ve had to ‘unlearn’ the habit of just reacting to situations and being more mindful about my response to negative situations and quit being the victim!