How to be an evergreen optimist?

In very simple words, an optimist is one who is never without hope. It is the attitude that involves seeing the best in people, situations and in oneself. In other words a positive attitude is what makes us an optimist. Looking at the brighter side of life – the glass that is half filled is what makes us feel buoyant about looking forward to having the glass full some day.

How to develop optimism?

Here are a few tips that can help you develop an optimistic outlook:

Practice gratitude

Be thankful for what you have – count your blessings!

List down your possessions – support system, friends and family. It will help you see things that you possess. This will shift your focus in life towards being enriched with many things that you have, leading to an optimistic attitude.

Make it a practice everyday to write down some things that you are grateful for. Adopt gratitude as a daily ritual. This will help make you a rather hopeful and optimistic person.

Express your gratitude, say thank you often.

Maintaining a 'Gratitude Journal'

Aim to list down at-least 2 things everyday that you are thankful for. You could do this at the end of the day and revisit it the next morning to give yourself a booster dose of positive start. 

Make a dedicated notebook or journal to keep it safe and recorded in one place. Refer to it when you feel low.

Challenge negative thoughts and re-frame them

It is normal to be plagued with negative thoughts when we are anxious.

It is possible to rise above the negative thoughts by rationalizing them and through logical reasoning. Being pragmatic can help you chaff out the unreal.

Look for the positive aspect in each situation.

Make a deliberate attempt to re-frame and reword things so that they may not appear to be too bad.

Practice positive re-framing. 
When negative thoughts arise, try to reword and project them in a relatively more positive light. For example, instead of thinking "I cannot do this," phrase it into "I will give it my best shot."

Find the silver lining

Even in the most challenging of circumstances, try to find the positive in the situation.

Keep a positive attitude. Practice having a positive attitude towards life, even in difficult situations.

Be open to new experiences and possibilities, it can help you see things in a different and more positive light.

Try to look at things from the perspective of having been given an opportunity to learn and grow from whats happening.

Rather, the difficulties and confrontational situations in life must give you the impetus to think creatively to respond to challenges with creativity and let uncertainty ignite your creativity.

Practice positive affirmations

Our mind is a powerhouse. It can convince itself of anything. To the mind the reality is what we tell it often. Repeating positive affirmations to yourself, trains your brain to think positively and become an evergreen optimist.

It provides you a good start to healing yourself and become an evergreen optimist.

Repeat positive affirmations to yourself, such as “I am capable” or “I am strong” and train your brain to think positively.

Help others

When we help others, it can make us feel good and reinforce feelings of optimism. When we focus our attention on helping others, it helps us to heal too.

If we look around, we shall find that everybody in the world has been dealt with some or the other problem. No one has it all good. It makes us realize that everybody is facing some or the other kind of pain.

Extending help to our fellow beings helps us embrace our own emotional turmoil and get over it.

It also helps us to be grateful for what we have and refocus ourselves away from what we do not have.

By helping others in the society, the purpose of our life becomes bigger than our problems and struggles. Helping others also brings us peace and contentment.

Positive visualization

In each situation visualize a positive outcome. Imagine yourself successfully overcoming all the challenges and achieving your goal.

Positive visualization is a great technique of Meditation, which will sharpen your saw of perpetual optimism.

Random acts of kindness

Practice mindfulness

Practice being present in the moment.

Fully experiencing and accepting your thoughts, feelings and emotions can help you focus on the present, rather than dwelling in the past or worrying about the future.

Surround yourself with positivity and positive people

Spend time with people who have a positive attitude and outlook on life.

Their happy and positive energy can be contagious. It will help you pick up some practical skills for developing a vibrant and energetic self.

Read uplifting books and articles, avoid negative news and social media.

Read the good thoughts and teachings of great leaders like Swami Vivekananda. Read one quote everyday and try to understand and imbibe it.

Incorporating these tips and tricks into your everyday life will change your outlook for the better and also improve overall health and well being.

Remember the adage ‘Rome wasn’t built in a day’? It takes time to create great things! Similarly, it will take you time, patience and constant practice to develop into an evergreen optimist.

Rome ne fu[t] pas faite toute en un jour.

medieval French phrase from Li Proverbe au Vilain meaning “Rome wasn’t built in a day”

Editor’s Note:

You may also like to read about what is Gratitude and the benefits of being grateful, about Practicing Gratitude, about how to find your path in times of multiple confusing options in Action is the Prescription to Overcome Confusion and about How to deal with heartbreak when one is paralyzed by the death of a loved one by the same author Crispy Maheshwari.

About The Author

Crispy Maheshwari is the Founder of FTEM (From The Experts’ Mouth).

She is very creative and multi-talented. She likes to write, paint and craft. Crispy loves to network, motivate people, teach and spread positivity.

Some of her work has been published in leading national newspaper, International Literary Journals and has also been translated to other languages.

She graduated from Lady Shri Ram College for Women, New Delhi and has dual professional qualifications – Chartered Accountant and Lawyer (Faculty of Law, University of Delhi).

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