better
H E A L T H
2010
BETTER HOMES Al
You can become a glass-half-full person
simply by changing your thought process
and challenging your negative beliefs.
E v e n i f y o u t e n d t o f o c u s o n t h e
n e g a t i v e , y o u c a n l e a r n t o r e d i r e c t
p e s s i m i s t i c t h o u g h t s a n d f r a m e
t h e m i n a m o r e o p t i m i s t i c l ig h t .
CAROLINE ADAMS MILLER, AUTHOR
OF
CREATING YOUR BEST LIFE
Only the most confirmed pessimist would expect to fail an optimism quiz, so
when Susan Hwang received her surprisingly low score it was like getting a
half-empty glass of water right in the face.
Instead of accepting her lot, however, she rather hopefully decided to see if
she could turn lemons into lemonade and become an optimist. A grad student
in psychology, she constructed a self-intervention that would give her outlook a
positive charge and—more lem onade-becom e the basis for a research project
at the same time.
For help she turned to
Caroline Adams Miller,
Washington, D.C.-based
professional coach and
author of
Creating Your Best
Life,
who showed Hwang
how to nurture her optimism.
“Even if your natural
tendency is to focus on the
negative, you can learn to
redirect pessimistic thoughts and frame them in a more optimistic light,” says
Miller. “Optimists expect good things to happen in their lives and work toward
creating positive change to make those good things come true. Pessimistic
people come up with reasons w hy they shouldn’t even try.”
It takes work, but both Miller and Hwang say it’s worth the effort. Miller
points to research showing that optimists tend to be happier, living longer and
healthier lives with stronger relationships. And as for Hwang, she now boasts
a graduate degree and a suitably high score on the optimism test.
WHAT’S ON YOUR PLAYLIST?
To become a more optimistic thinker, look inward and listen to what’s playing
on your “internal radio station,” says Karen Reivich, Ph.D., research associate
at the University of Pennsylvania’s Positive Psychology Center and co-author
of
The Resilience Factor.
Your personal playlist sends you messages when you’re running late for a
meeting, deciding whether to go for a run, or struggling to get dinner on the
table for your hungry family after work. Building awareness of what’s playing
in your head is a critical first step to learning how to become more optimistic,
The Pessimist’s Guide
to a Happier Life
by JULIE A. EVANS
PHOTOS: VEER
