In her book, The how of happiness, Positive psychology researcher, Sonja Lyubomirsky, outlines a few different exercises for cultivating the quality of optimism or positive thinking.
Lyubomisky’s research has shown the central role an optimistic outlook plays in happiness and well-being and prescribes three simple practices that can develop this quality even in people who are naturally pessimistic in their cognitive style.
1) ‘Best possible selves’ diary
In the first exercise we are encouraged to set aside a block of time (anything up to 30 minutes) and try to imagine how our lives might be in one, five, or ten years if we were living our best possible life. Then once you have imagined all facets of your life in as much detail and as vividly as possible, you write your reflection into a diary.
Even if this is difficult, unnatural, or awkward at first, with repeated practice and training it will get easier. Not only does this exercise help build our optimistic ‘muscles’, but we may also find that we develop insight into ourselves, as our values, ambitions, and goals become more clear. This can be a first step on the road to actually realising these dreams.
2) Goals and sub-goals diary
This exercise is a spin off from the first one. After identifying our long-term goals we begin to break them down into short-term goals. We begin to take steps towards achieving them by focusing on the short-term actions we can take.
If negative or pessimistic thoughts arise we can write them down too and then replace them with a more optimistic interpretation. We can do this by generating alternative scenarios or possible resolutions to problems. It may be helpful to use past achievements and successes as the grounds to dispute these negative views, reminding ourselves of the inner resources and strengths we possess that we shall continue to cultivate in the future.
3) Identify ‘barrier thoughts’
This third strategy involves identifying and pinpointing ‘barrier thoughts’ to optimistic thinking that come in the form of automatic negative thinking. When these thoughts arise we can write them down and then try to reinterpret the situation to help offer a more optimistic outlook. Lyubomirsky offers a few questions that we can pose to help generate alternative viewpoints:
“What else could this situation or experience mean?”
“Can anything good come from it?”
“Does it present any opportunities for me?”
“What lessons can I learn and apply to the future?”
“Did I develop my strengths as a result?”
Essentially, optimism is a habit we develop by practicing a positive style of thinking.
Lyubomirsky explains:
“All optimism strategies involve the exercise of construing the world with a more positive and charitable perspective, and many entail considering the silver lining in the cloud – identifying the door that opens as a result of one that has closed”.
Many optimists are born that way but many make themselves optimistic through practice. With hard work and patience, optimism becomes habitual and second nature, such that it only needs to be consciously and intentionally applied when we are faced with major difficulties and adversity.