Optimism; Friend or Foe?

DISCovering You

Today, we’re going to probe the concept of optimism and whether or not it’s always a good thing. Also, if you’re not naturally optimistic, can you learn to be?

But first, since January is the month that has International Flower Day, It’s DISC expressed through flowers:

D – Snapdragon – Like the mythical creature they symbolize strength and sometimes, deviousness!

I – Daffodils – cheerful, symbol of positivity, joy, new beginnings (I’s are starters)

S – Iris – represents wisdom and trust. Like the mentor, supporter, roles that High S’s embody

C – Dahlia – described as graceful, strong and the petals appear to fit “perfectly” on the flower head – you can check out the photos of this on my social media

Back to the topic at hand, where are you on the mood meter? If you’re new to the podcast, you can check out Episode 6 (EQ part 2) to learn more about the mood meter.

Okay, let’s establish some definitions for what we’re going to be discussing:

Optimism is generally defined as hopefulness and confidence about the future or the success of something.

Pessimism is a tendency to see the worst aspect of things or believe that the worst will happen.

My main source for this topic (including the assessment we’re going to discuss) is from Martin Seligman, who is a Professor at the University of Pennsylvania. He’s the former president of the American Psychological Association, Director of the Penn Positive Psychology Center and he’s considered to be the father of positive psychology.

Seligman believes that some of us are born optimists. Just naturally seeing the positive, fun and hope in situations. Conversely, some of us are born pessimists, always inclined to doubt, worry and see negative outcomes.

What Seligman has spent most of his career studying and teaching is a concept he calls Learned Optimism. Yes, he believes optimism CAN be LEARNED.

He defines optimism and pessimism as “habits of thinking”. And that contrary to what was believed before the late 1960’s, these habits can be learned, and therefore changed.

People’s explanatory styles play a huge role here. Meaning, how someone thinks of, and explains the cause of challenges and adverse events.

Seligman refers to these as attributional styles, and he developed an assessment to measure the relationship between explanatory styles and optimism.

We’re going to do a mini-version of the questionnaire first, so you can gain a sense of whether you’re answering optimistically, or pessimistically.

The link to the full Attributional Style Assessment is in the show notes, so you can access it there. https://kihc.ca/the-optimism-test/

For now though, we’re going to do just 6 quick questions:

#1 You lose your temper with a friend:

You attribute this to:

1. They are always nagging me

2. They were in a hostile mood

#2 You win an athletic contest:

1. I was feeling unbeatable

2. I trained hard

#3 Your stocks are at an all time low:

1. I didn’t know much about the business climate at the time

2. I made a poor choice of stocks

#4 Your doctor tells you that you are in good physical shape:

1. I make sure I exercise frequently

2. I am very health-conscious

#5 You buy your spouse a gift that they don’t like:

1. I don’t put enough thought into things like that

2. They have very picky taste

#6 You win the lottery:

1. It’s pure chance

2. I picked the right numbers

Listen along to learn more!

If you are interested in connecting with Victoria for team building, strategic onboarding, coaching, or speaking engagement. You can contact her at [e-mail]. Visit https://discoverwhatworks.org/opportunities/ for details.