Posts Tagged ‘optimism’

Thanks to Coach Davender Gupta for pointing out this Time Magazine article about positive thinking. In it author Barbara Ehrenreich, asks “What makes you think unsullied optimism is such a good idea?”  According to Ehrenreich, we are now free to give up optimism because the current economy proves it doesn’t work.

Do You Believe In Magic?

When the economy was good, the message of “The Secret” seemed to work.  When housing prices were on the rise and we were all working, it was easy to believe we could have anything at all simply by using our mental powers to “attract” it. But even while things were good and optimism was easy, many people felt an inkling of a doubt.  There was always a suspicion that wealth and abundance didn’t exactly work that way.  Most people suspected there was something missing from the process of simple manifestation long before the collapse of the sub-prime market.

In her book, Steering by Starlight, Coach Martha Beck, speaks for many cautious optimist when she asks, “So which is it?  Are human thoughts nothing or everything, powerless or powerful, worthless or priceless?”

Stuff Happens

The Time Magazine author seeks to debunk optimism by encouraging “the simple admission that … “stuff happens,” including sometimes very, very bad stuff.”   

Too true; no argument there, but…

 Optimism and positive thinking is still the answer because with optimism we continue to strive. With optimism we can believe the bad stuff will lead us to a future that is not better or worse, only different.  With optimism we can believe that there is always a future worth working for.  

In Martin Seligman’s study for his book “Learned Optimism” he discovered optimistic people were more successful not because they were optimistic but because, being optimistic, they continued to try in the face of disappointment. 

Clear Eyed Commitment to Action

Ehrenreich concludes by saying “The threats that we face, individually and collectively, won’t be solved by wishful thinking, but by a clear-eyed commitment to taking action in the world.” 

What do you plan to do in the next few months to be wealthier or healthier or happier?

In my next post I will introduce a tool for goal setting and action planning; a tool to help you stay optimistic and work consciously toward the outcome you want despite the “stuff” of life.  Our optimistic thinking and an action plan will get us out of this current “stuff”