Optimism is a choice, but it does require applying some effort. Photo / Getty Images
It's very easy to get bogged down with a negative state of mind these days. We only need switch on the news to find ourselves deflated and demoralised.
But it's no wonder so many of us feel pessimistic: our brains are wired to protect us, so they're constantly scanning for threats and the things we're afraid of.
Research consistently suggests that we think social problems are worse than they really are, that the environment is 'very bad' when what we see around us every day tells us otherwise, and just 20 per cent of us think our job situations will ever improve, reports Daily Mail.
Now, here's the good news. After many years spent teaching positive psychology at Harvard, travelling the world researching happiness and advising global businesses and government departments on the subject, I've come to understand how we can all teach ourselves to become more optimistic.
Regardless of our genes, the circumstances of our childhood and where we live, we can all start to feel more positive.
Optimism is a choice we can all make. Scientific research has proven that if people adopt certain habits, they can change their mindset.
We can 'learn' a positive outlook. We can rewire how our brains process the world, to the extent that by following a few simple steps daily, pessimists can be reclassed as optimists in just three weeks.
Just take a moment to consider the benefits that come with being able to look at life as a glass half-full.
Not only do we know that smiles are 'catching' but optimism is too. We are happier around more positive people. We know from research that when someone is more optimistic, we like them more, we trust them more and we find them to be more intelligent.
An optimistic outlook can give you the edge in all realms of life, as I describe in my bestselling book, The Happiness Advantage. For example, a University of Pennsylvania study showed that among insurance salesmen, those who were the most optimistic were outselling the others by 89 per cent.
Other research shows that 75 per cent of what causes us to be successful is down to how we process the world – particularly our optimism, a quality founded on the belief that our behaviour really matters.
Pessimists meanwhile spend their resources focused on the negative so they have no resources for creativity or spotting opportunities.
Optimists take responsibility for their health and well-being.
They attend cancer and cholesterol screenings, for example, because they're not afraid of seeing problems and research has also shown that a positive outlook makes some symptoms feel less acute.
There are benefits around sleep and stress too for those who are optimistic.
By choosing to follow the five 'happiness habits' outlined on these pages, you too can boost your optimism levels in 21 days.
The 'Happiness Habits' I've outlined here may seem very simple but they are the building blocks of how human beings can change. They are the five behaviours for change which have been most comprehensively researched and evaluated across the field of positive psychology.
Optimism is a choice, but it does require applying some effort. By doing these exercises daily for 21 days you are laying the groundwork for new patterns of behaviour which will allow you to start to change the way you see the world.
Obviously, you'll have to continue with them if you want to carry on reaping future benefits but if you stick to them every day for the first three weeks, they could become as much a part of your routine as making a cup of tea in the morning.
WHAT IS IT: The Gratitude Habit – the easiest one to start with and takes just one minute a day.
HOW TO DO IT: Think of three things that you are grateful for and why. For instance: 'I'm grateful that my son gave me a hug today after school, it means I'm loved regardless.'
The crucial thing is that you think of a completely new set of gratitudes every day. Eventually your brain will have been trained to automatically scan for positive things over the course of the day, even when you're not doing the exercise.
WHY IT WORKS: Gratitude changes your outlook. We construct our view of the world based on the facts we have and if you're fixated on the negative, you have a negative world. Gratitude helps us construct a world made of positive facts.
Focusing on the simple things in life, like the sunshine in the morning, is something that anyone can do. We can all find these things anywhere. Research has also shown relationship benefits for couples who do gratitude exercises together at home regularly. Hearing three things that you're both grateful for in one another simply gives us more reasons to like one another. It's been reported that these couples are more likely to still be together six months to a year in the future.
WHAT IS IT: The Thank You Habit – the most powerful of all five exercises.
HOW TO DO IT: Pick a different person every morning and write a two-minute text or email thanking them for something they've done and praising them. You don't have to be best friends or relatives, it could be a note to an old English teacher, a coach, a client, a colleague.
WHY IT WORKS: We found it makes you feel happy immediately, and often that person writes back and tells you how kind you are, reinforcing the benefit.
Over the course of time The Thank You Habit deepens and strengthens your network of relationships. We ran this as an experiment at Facebook and when workers practised it every day for three weeks, their 'social connection' scores rose to among the top ten percent worldwide.
Social connection has not only been found to be the biggest predictor of our happiness but it also influences how long we might live. Loneliness is now widely accepted by experts as being as damaging to our health as obesity, high blood pressure and smoking.
All the research shows that gratitude exercises such as these first two habits are like 'gateway drugs'. Once people try them and begin to reap the benefits, they start to create lots of other positive habits in their lives. Positivity fuels more positivity.
WHAT IS IT: The Visualisation habit – think of one meaningful thing that happened to you in the past 24 hours.
HOW TO DO IT: Maybe someone holding a door open for you, a great conversation or helping someone. In two minutes, write down every detail you can remember as a series of bullet points. From what was said, for example, to the weather or the colour of the jumper you were wearing.
WHY IT WORKS: You're trying to mentally relive the experience, stamping it as a meaningful event in your brain. Our brains can't tell much difference between visualisation and actual experience, so this doubles the impact of the most positive moment of the day: a reminder that the day was worthwhile. In research we found that this was the fastest means of raising engagement scores at work.
WHAT IS IT: The Exercise Habit – do something physical, for 15 minutes a day or for half an hour three times a week.
HOW TO DO IT: There's no evidence that one particular form of exercise is more effective than any other – we're in the process of learning that lots of types of movement work.
However, to reap the benefits your activity should be cardio-based, which means your heart rate rises when you do it. We've also found that while it might be more convenient to work out on your own, you're more likely to stick at it and enjoy it more when you do it regularly with others.
WHY IT WORKS: Our research has shown that a quarter of an hour of mindful, cardio activity is the equivalent of taking an anti-depressant. That's not by any means diminishing the importance of medication but rather an illustration of the value of exercise.
However, the feelgood endorphins released by physical activity into our system are just the pleasure aspect of its benefits. More significantly in the long term, making a habit of exercising has been shown to expand the brain's network of blood vessels, resulting in improved cognitive functioning and possibly delaying the onset of dementia.
WHAT IS IT: The Meditation Habit – take two minutes every day to take a quiet moment, stop what you're doing and simply focus on your breath going in and out.
HOW TO DO IT: Rest your hands on your knees and close the eyes to minimise distractions.
WHY IT WORKS: Meditation gives the brain a new pattern, as concentrating solely on the breath makes it switch from multi-to-single-tasking. As your brain is usually bombarded with information – both good and bad – it feels under threat, which forces it into defensive mode.
From there on it only processes threats. So, by meditating for just two minutes a day, which is the minimum time proven to have shown benefits, you can stop the flood of information to the brain and bring the threat levels down. It gives the brain a chance to take a pause – a bit like noise cancelling – before being able to start recording the positive aspects in life again.
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