Ideas to Cultivate Optimism Each Day

Cultivate Optimism Daily For Your Best Life

You might be surprised to hear that optimism is not an innate quality. Optimism and pessimism are ways of looking at yourself and the world through a positive or negative filter.

Once you think of them as reflections of your mindset, it becomes much easier to believe you can change. Like any new behaviour, you need to practice every day for it to become a habit.

​Try these six suggestions to cultivate your optimism every day.

1. Keep a journal
Journaling or keeping a diary allows you to process events and to get a different viewpoint on them. It encourages self-reflection and captures insights into your thinking and behaviour. You can write down what happened during your day and document, not just the bald facts but how you did it, what you did to make it happen and what you did right. And, importantly, how it felt while you were doing it. Don’t just record the good things (a promotion, a presentation or meeting that went well), remember to write down the thing that didn’t go so well and reflect on what happened, how you dealt with it, and what you might do differently next time.

2. Laugh
Consciously notice the funny side of things and write them down. If the technology didn’t work, and you had to give the presentation without the slide deck, or the power went out, or there was a fire drill in the middle of your crucial meeting. What can seem like a disaster at the time can also be looked back on as a comedy of errors.

3. Write to your future self
Write a letter or a journal entry that sets out the future you want. This is an idea we learned when we were in Life Coaching and absolutely adored it. In fact, that training was over twenty years ago and we continue to this day to write to our future self. Whatever is on your mind write as though you are twenty years in the future looking back at present-day you. And share your ideas whatever topic your younger you is looking for answers to. For example - What job are you doing? Are you running your own business? What have you learned? What has changed? Imagining the message your future self shares with you and it feels can be a powerful motivator.

4. Keep a kindness list
Have a page in your journal where you note down kind gestures. Write down when you are kind to someone, or when someone is kind to you. Even little things count, like opening a door for someone or letting them go first in the line for coffee. You’ll be surprised at how quickly they mount up, and your ever-lengthening list will give you a different perspective on things.

5. Say thank you
Write a letter or email, phone or visit someone (a person outside your family) who has been genuinely kind to you. Tell them how much you appreciate what they did or said and how it has affected your life.

6. Choose positivity
Make a positive choice to develop and maintain an optimistic outlook. Do this every morning when you wake up. Decide that today is going to be a great day. Everyone will have some level of suffering in their life. Choosing to be optimistic will make it easier to bounce back from the bad times and to enjoy and be certain of the good times.

Share any thought on how to cultivate optimism each day in the comments below

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