Optimistic Vs Pessimistic

Studies have shown that on average an optimist will have a longer, healthier and a more fulfilled life then a pessimist.

In 1980 a study was carried out which monitored 122 men who had a heart attack. After eight years, 21 of the 25 most pessimistic patients had died. But only 6 of the optimistic ones had died.

The pessimist will see the worst in something. They will then take all the responsibility personally. They will then feel bad not just for what they have done, but for who they are, and believe nothing is right. They will then believe nothing will ever be right. At this point they will stop trying to change things and just concentrate on surviving. In the worst case scenario they will give up on simply surviving.

The optimist on the other hand will get something right and praise themselves. When they get it right again they will keep telling themselves how well they did. When things go wrong they will see it as a simple set-back. If things continue to go wrong they will put it down to circumstance and look at a way of changing things. They will look at all problems as opportunities.

An optimist has a totally different outlook on life. They spot opportunity not danger, they visualise the best possible outcome not the worst. An optimist will arrange a barbeque for Sunday week knowing it is going to be a bright, warm sunny day. A pessimist will expect it to rain and will possible not even bother to arrange it.

You will never succeed with a negative or pessimistic attitude to life. If you are inclined to be pessimistic you have to change your mindset, NOW.

Many people are so frightened that they may make a mistake, that in the end they do nothing. It's perfectly acceptable to make a mistake. We all learn from mistakes. You should learn to accept mistakes as part of the learning curve. You can learn more from your mistakes then you can from your achievements.

Begin to see things that go wrong as an opportunity to put them right. Learn from setbacks don't take them personally. Remember to try, try and try again. Each time you fail, you have learnt how not to do something. So next time, you will do it differently. Always believe in yourself, own the responsibility, but do not continuously blame yourself. Each time something goes wrong ask yourself; how can I turn this to my advantage?

If it rains when you have a barbeque, it's not your fault. You can not control the weather. Laugh about it and simply move indoors. You see it's not a problem. You have the opportunity to turn the barbeque into a party. You will probably find you will have an even better time.

Now if you had worried about the weather, then possibly the barbeque would not have even taken place. You would have convinced yourself that it was going to rain so you would have not even bothered to organise it. Now on the other hand if you had thought about the possibility of rain and had a plan in place to deal with that problem when and if it happened. You would have naturalised the negative effect.

So don't worry. Don't get "bogged down" with the negative outcome. Yes think about failure, think about setbacks, but always have a secondary plan of action waiting in the wings. By doing this you have thought about the negatives, dealt with them, and left yourself with only positive possibilities.

If you think you're going to fail, you're right, YOU WILL. If you think you're going to succeed, you're right, YOU WILL.

Mark Claridge specializes in teaching motivational and self-development skills. In his new FREE e-book "Mindset and Match" he covers amongst other subjects how having the correct mindset can bring you all you want out of life and is available at http://www.inthe6th.com.