{"id":1633,"date":"2011-01-03T18:25:27","date_gmt":"2011-01-03T22:25:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lifewithhappiness.com\/?p=1633"},"modified":"2018-10-02T13:36:50","modified_gmt":"2018-10-02T17:36:50","slug":"third-use-optimism-to-create-a-positive-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theexecutivehappinesscoach.com\/2011\/01\/third-use-optimism-to-create-a-positive-future\/","title":{"rendered":"Third, Use Optimism to Create a Positive Future"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><span style=\"color: #800080\"><strong>Gifts for the New Year: Practice Optimism to Create a Positive Future<br \/>\n<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><strong>As Martin Seligman (the father of Positive Psychology) realized decades ago, we can train ourselves into any number of emotional states. <\/strong>He first noticed the phenomenon of Learned Helplessness in lab animals subjected to random reward\/punishment activities over which they had no control.\u00a0 When he replicated the experiments with humans he concluded that, if we can train people to feel helpless and hopeless, we can ALSO train them to feel empowered and optimistic.<br \/>\n<strong>You can train your Optimism \u201cmuscles\u201d by working in several areas.\u00a0 First, notice what you focus on in <span style=\"color: #800080\">LANGUAGE<\/span>. <\/strong>Do you spend more time talking about what failed and what you expect to go wrong tomorrow, or do you spend more time focused on what you feel grateful about and what you expect to go well in the future?\u00a0 Keeping a gratitude journal or Joy List will help you retrain your brain to notice what\u2019s right versus what\u2019s wrong.<br \/>\n<strong>Then engage your <span style=\"color: #800080\">BODY <\/span>in the practice. <\/strong>Simple shifts can make a big difference.\u00a0 For example, when you walk or stand, do you look down at the ground and your feet, or do you look up at the horizon and the sky?\u00a0 It may feel strange at first, but try lifting your chin and looking ahead with a smile versus looking down and with a frown, and notice how your mood shifts.\u00a0 (note: don\u2019t do this if you\u2019re walking outside on an icy day!)<br \/>\n<strong>As you plan for the new year, <span style=\"color: #800080\">make time to list your POSITIVE expectations for 2011<\/span>, and then practice showing up in confidence and with a smile. <\/strong>You won\u2019t change how stressed other people are, but you\u2019ll change how YOU feel.\u00a0 Plus, emotions \u2013 like viruses \u2013 are contagious, so if you\u2019ve practiced your optimism (or hope, or cheerfulness, or acceptance) you\u2019ll show up in a stronger emotion, and you\u2019ll infect others in a positive way &#8212; and what you send out comes back to you (I&#8217;m just sayin&#8217;&#8230;).<br \/>\n<strong>Next:<\/strong> Use your Power To Choose the Weather!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Gifts for the New Year: Practice Optimism to Create a Positive Future As Martin Seligman (the father of Positive Psychology) realized decades ago, we can train ourselves into any number of emotional states. He first noticed the phenomenon of Learned Helplessness in lab animals subjected to random reward\/punishment activities over which they had no control.\u00a0 &#8230; <a title=\"Third, Use Optimism to Create a Positive Future\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/theexecutivehappinesscoach.com\/2011\/01\/third-use-optimism-to-create-a-positive-future\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Third, Use Optimism to Create a Positive Future\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5789,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[274,58,40],"tags":[331,49,332],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Third, Use Optimism to Create a Positive Future - The Executive Happiness Coach\u00ae<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/theexecutivehappinesscoach.com\/2011\/01\/third-use-optimism-to-create-a-positive-future\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Third, Use Optimism to Create a Positive Future - The Executive Happiness Coach\u00ae\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Gifts for the New Year: Practice Optimism to Create a Positive Future As Martin Seligman (the father of Positive Psychology) realized decades ago, we can train ourselves into any number of emotional states. He first noticed the phenomenon of Learned Helplessness in lab animals subjected to random reward\/punishment activities over which they had no control.\u00a0 ... Read more\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/theexecutivehappinesscoach.com\/2011\/01\/third-use-optimism-to-create-a-positive-future\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Executive Happiness Coach\u00ae\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/facebook.com\/theexecutivehappinesscoach\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-01-03T22:25:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-10-02T17:36:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/theexecutivehappinesscoach.com\/files\/2018\/05\/tehc-banner-logo-800w.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"212\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jim Smith\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@JimSmithOnline\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@JimSmithOnline\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jim Smith\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theexecutivehappinesscoach.com\/2011\/01\/third-use-optimism-to-create-a-positive-future\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theexecutivehappinesscoach.com\/2011\/01\/third-use-optimism-to-create-a-positive-future\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Jim Smith\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theexecutivehappinesscoach.com\/#\/schema\/person\/5e03b070ca3a1220ca3f43ce292f66e9\"},\"headline\":\"Third, Use Optimism to Create a Positive Future\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-01-03T22:25:27+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-10-02T17:36:50+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theexecutivehappinesscoach.com\/2011\/01\/third-use-optimism-to-create-a-positive-future\/\"},\"wordCount\":360,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theexecutivehappinesscoach.com\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"Martin Seligman\",\"Optimism\",\"Positive Psychology\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Happiness Tips\",\"In the workplace\",\"Practicing Happiness\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/theexecutivehappinesscoach.com\/2011\/01\/third-use-optimism-to-create-a-positive-future\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theexecutivehappinesscoach.com\/2011\/01\/third-use-optimism-to-create-a-positive-future\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/theexecutivehappinesscoach.com\/2011\/01\/third-use-optimism-to-create-a-positive-future\/\",\"name\":\"Third, Use Optimism to Create a Positive Future - 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