Glass Half Empty? Learn To Embrace Everyday Optismism

When it comes to optimism do you see yourself as a glass half full or glass half empty kind of person or maybe even somewhere in between?

Recent research has revealed that the world is not divided into pessimists and optimists after all, and we all have the capacity to be optimistic and passionate about life if we can just learn to breathe, relax and lean into being happy.

With this in mind, Belle About Town spoke to behavioural expert and self-help author Emma-Sue Prince about how to embrace everyday optimism.

Emma-Sue says: “In a world where we are experiencing constant change and challenges and where most of us feel overloaded or stressed so much of the time, this may well sound easier said than done.

“There are ways that you CAN bring optimism into your every day and strengthen this skill.

“Much of this is about building your own self-awareness over the longer term. That means being able to accurately assess a situation, being able to differentiate between facts and feelings and having a faith in your own ability to move forward constructively focusing on what you can do in any given situation. Most of the time, especially when things are not going our way be it the economy or just that irritating person at work, we tend to place our energy into the very things we cannot control. And it is energy – because the more energy we place into those things, the more miserable we feel. If we can get into the habit of focusing on the only thing we CAN control: our behaviour, closely followed by our thoughts and feelings, we can experience far more happiness. By doing this we actually often end up influencing our situation for the better.

“In the short-term though there are lots of ways you can boost your optimism skills which will really help you build self-awareness and insight. And they are simple, everyday things.”

Here are Emma-Sue’s 7 practices that are guaranteed to have an immediate impact.

Practise gratitude – every day write down things that you are grateful for. At first this may seem strange but the more you do it the more things you will find! Research shows that doing this regularly really does boost your happiness levels. Start with what is around you and go from there.

Understand your triggers– part of good self-awareness is understanding anything that may trigger potential stress for you. This might be information overload (and do you check your phone compulsively?), feeling overwhelmed, or even a particular person at work who rubs you up the wrong way.

Manage stress levels – this is so important when it comes to optimism! Look after yourself and do this by creating slower mornings, switching off from technology regularly and finding more effective ways to manage it. Have measures in place to help yourself whether that’s as simple as getting sufficient sleep and eating nurturing foods or a strategy to help you deal with that annoying person. If in doubt, practise kindness – both to yourself and to others.

Create positive experiences – recent research has found that the more positive experiences we can plan into our day, the bigger impact this has on our positivity levels. It’s the quantity that counts here so really simple boosts like enjoying a cup of tea and slice of cake, making time to see a friend, going for a relaxing and energising swim. Get these into your every day as much as you possibly can!

Sharpen your mind – every day make time for something that stimulates your brain! We are hard-wired for learning and for challenges so find that interesting podcast, read a chapter of a book on a new subject or actively seek to learn something new. You may discover a new skill or interest too!

Breathe – slow down more and use breathing to create a sense of calm. The “3, 4 5” method is great – breathe in for 3 counts, hold for 4 and breathe out for 5. This takes all of half a minute but doing it regularly boosts oxygen to the brain which gives an instant sense of wellbeing.

Drink more water – we are 70% water and we don’t drink enough of it. If you ever feel a bit sluggish or out of sorts, try drinking a glass of water first. We are often far more dehydrated than we think which has a negative effect on us physically and mentally.

• Emma-Sue Prince is an inspirational soft skills and effective behaviours expert and author of 7 Skills for the Future, (Pearson) out now, and available on Amazon priced £12.99.