We know you will have noticed some shifts in yourself, and the people around you over this last month, as you add more light to the interactions you have with those you are connected with (Hint: you are connected to everyone). We also know that by adding hope to the mix, you will become more gritty and more able to persevere when the going gets tough. The lighter you feel and the more hope you have, the more you will succeed. 

Positive Psychology has a tool known as The Feeling Wheel, where we have a core emotion, and two outer bands of emotion that line up with an inner feeling (We will put this in the “useful stuff” area on the website for you to have a look). The Feeling Wheel is useful in making distinctions about our emotions and understanding the nuances, and as we always say; noticing is the first step toward making a shift. Interestingly, when we consult the feeling wheel the core emotion of Joy is linked with the secondary emotion of Hope, and the third tier emotion of Optimism. 

Practically, this means that when we notice ourselves being optimistic, it will be linked with a sense of joy. Ditto for Hope, in that when we feel hopeful, the emotion that underpins it is joy, and we will likely to be able to be more easily optimistic. These emotions are all linked. 

We have often spoken about joy, and last week we had a look at hope, but what of optimism? Certain schools of thought think that optimism is a personality trait, but some of the literature suggests that optimism can be learnt (as we will see shortly). We now know from our feeling wheel, if we are more optimistic we are more likely to experience hope and joy, and in addition the research tells us that “optimists are happier, experience lower depression and anxiety, achieve their goals more often, show greater persistence in the face of setbacks, and even cope with physical illness better than their less optimistic counterparts”.

Of course there will always be another side- in this case, the emotion of optimism can mean that we are inclined to engage in risky behaviours (stemming from the thought that nothing bad will happen) or even, we might suppress certain emotions, which tend to want to pop up at some stage. 

As long as we are aware of the drawbacks of being too optimistic, it seems that there is much to be gained by being able to look at the bright side of life. Luckily someone on the Internet (who’s name I didn’t write down, and I now can’t find the reference- Al) has created a handy list of eleven way to become more optimistic..

1. Create some positive mantras.. Oh hello there affirmations.

2. Focus on your success (and what you have to offer).

3. Get a role model.. Think to yourself: would xx do?

4. Focus on the positives. Remember you can’t change events, but you can change your response to them.

5. Don't try to predict the future or catastrophise.

6. Surround yourself with positivity- not only people, but movies, books, etcetera.

7. Keep a gratitude diary, and notice the good things.

8. Challenge negative thoughts.

9. Focus on the solution rather than the problem.

10. Fake it until you make it.

11. Don’t dwell on the past (and get rid of blame).

This week we would love you to have a play with this little list of optimism. 

Choose one, two or eleven things to work on this week as you think about how you can truly step into your light. 

It’s your time to shine.