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Why Your Brain is Wired for Pessimism—and What You Can Do to Fix It
Wired for pessimism
Pessimism comes naturally to people because thinking about the bad stuff that could happen helps us to prepare for survival.
The problem is that pessimists think bad events are permanent and unchangeable. "I think my interview is going to be a disaster." We need to learn to recognize what we're saying to ourselves and then argue against it. "I've done many interviews in my life, and they generally turn out well."
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Key Ideas
Elements of well-being
Well-being can be broken into five elements:
- Positive emotion
- Engagement
- Relationships
- Meaning
- Accomplishment
If you improve these, you will be closer to happiness.
The need for hope
Meditation - mindfulness, focusing on the moment - is an excellent anti-anxiety, anti-anger tool..But accepting suffering and finding contentment in that means you can't move into doing something good in the future.
One important idea is hope. Positive human future doesn't come about by accident - it needs hopeful people who plan for it and make it happen.
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Pessimism vs optimism
While we may have many good reasons to be pessimistic, we don't have to resign ourselves to it forever.
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Visualize your best possible self
Studies show that imagining your ideal future can increase your levels of optimism. Focusing on your dreams coming true turn your focus away from worrying about the worst possible outcome.
Imagine your ideal life in 10 years - what it would look like and how you would feel. Spend time considering family, career, romance or health. Now write it down once a week for the next two months.
Accept disappointment
When we expect the worst, we might be trying to protect ourselves from disappointment.
Disappointments are inevitable. We might as well have positive expectations that are occasionally proven wrong than negative expectations that are sometimes proven right.
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Learned Optimism in Psychology
This is a concept that suggests that we can always change our attitude and behaviour, be aware of our thoughts and stop our negative self-talk.
Learned Optimism is a positi...
Pessimism Vs Optimism
Pessimism is defined as the anticipation of good or bad things to happen in the future, while optimism is generally considered the opposite. Optimism can be defined as the individual difference variable reflecting the extent of which we hold positive expectancies for the upcoming event.
The ways in which we think affects our health, well-being and success, even though the situations are the same.
Benefits of Optimism
- A positive impact on many aspects of physical and mental health.
- Provides motivation to work harder.
- Greater career success in life.
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Educate your mind to stop being unhappy
Professions like the ones in accounting and law develop a sense of pessimism in the individuals practicing them. However, being obsessed with prudence at work and continue being like this at home i...
Remember the good
In order to be happy, you must first train your brain to perceive the good that happens to you.
One way to do this is by writing down three good experiences you live on a daily basis: appreciation comes from within, just like happiness.
Social comparison
While comparing yourself to others might not be extremely helpful, comparing yourself to people who are in a less good position than you might actually lead to you feeling better.
So, if you really feel this need, try not comparing yourself but to the ones in an inferior position.
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