[134340-never-alone]

Learned Optimism

What if you could learn to be optimistic! Even in the bad times?

Learned optimism is the idea that optimism is a learned behaviour (Chadwick, 2019). This idea is defined by the belief that no matter what happens, good things will continue to come and that you can learn to be happy and positive.(FightMediocrity, 2015). In FightMediocrity’s video (2015), they share how optimists differed from pessimists through explanatory styles (how something is explained/rationalized). These included: permanence (whether something happening will last forever, pervasiveness (whether an incident is isolated) and personality (whether something was personal or an external circumstance). People were more likely to be optimistic when they thought of situations as not personal, pervasive, or personal even during bad times.  

Many know Martin Seligman for his contributions on learned helplessness. Where helplessness is a learned behaviour and after multiple failures someone feels that no matter what they do they cannot break free. However, he is also known for learned optimism, and has done research that shared that when people had learned optimism they were more likely to enjoy life, not blame themselves, and achieve more. This was likely due to these people continuing their daily life feeling better overall, and to keep on learning and cultivating how to be optimistic. 

An article by Chadwick (2019) shared that when learned optimism was applied students tended to be more resilient and have a positive mindset. In addition, when strategies were used to foster learned optimism strategies, they tended to create stronger teams and better work qualities (Chadwick, 2019).

References

Chadwick, M. (2019). A reflection on harnessing learned optimism, resilience and team growth behaviour in order to support student groups. Student Success, 10(3), 104-111. https://doi.org/10.5204/ssj.v10i3.1410 

FightMediocrity. (2015, June 19). Learned Optimism by Martin Seligman - Animation [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hHNq45rEnU&ab_channel=FightMediocrity

[134340-never-alone]

Gratitude

What is one thing you are grateful/extend gratitude for today?

Gratitude is often misunderstood as a way of becoming happy, thus, often we become too self-focused on our own performance (McQuaid, 2012-2023). Rather, gratitude is recognizing that there is good (which admittedly can be hard), and that there is good outside of us (which is also hard). It is not about ignoring the bad, but focusing on what is good and what can someone be grateful for. While it can be a part of being happy, being too focused on being happy ignores what it is really all about. Gratitude and gratefulness as a way of life without any other incentive, creates a stronger resilience as you are not as affected by the ups and downs of life (McQuaid, 2012-2023) 

Dr. Robert Emmons is known for his research into emotional psychology and the psychology of gratitude and how that positively impacts people. Gratitude can be looked at as two parts: affirmation and recognition, according to Dr. Robert Emmons podcast. He shares that affirmation is noticing that there is good in ourselves and saying yes to ourselves and life (McQuaid, 2012-2023). Recognition in this case, is that there is good outside ourselves whether that be spiritual, in the universal, pets, or other people. 

During the pandemic and lock-down many folks worked in the healthcare industry, in particular nurses. In Sullivan & Burton article (2022) they shared that gratitude and grateful thinking helped increase mood, sleep, and decreased fatigue especially during times where burn-out, stress, and emotional draining was high.

I think gratitude is an open door for creating a meaningful deep life-long journey!

References

McQuaid, M (Host). (2012-2023). Are You Reaching For Gratitude At Work?. [Audio podcast]. Michelle McQuaid. https://www.michellemcquaid.com/podcast/are-you-reaching-for-gratitude-at-work-podcast-with-robert-emmons/ 

Sullivan, P., & Burton, L. R. (2022). Discovering the power of grateful thinking. AORN Journal, 115(5), P17-P18. https://doi.org/10.1002/aorn.13684 

[134340-never-alone]

Changing the Set Point of Happiness

What is one thing that made you happy today? 

Happiness is an important part of life. I think we can change the set-point of happiness overall . Happiness is often seen as circumstantial and influenced by a genetic components that is hard to take control of. What if part of our happiness is controllable, and it is possible to change and improve overall happiness through controllable factors? Dr. Sonja Lyubomirsky, a research psychologist at the University of California and the author of The How of Happiness, shares that we can in part take care of our own happiness. Forty percent of our happiness is controllable, meaning that with potential training and rethinking, overall happiness can increase.

A way to train happiness could be looking at how to create a fuller life. In Martin Seligman’s TEDTalk, he shares that with engagement and meaning together help to create a fuller life. Engagement means using your greatest strengths and helping to recraft your life, often people are so engaged they get a flow and time stops. Additionally, meaning in this case means using your strongest strengths and using them for something beyond ourselves (this could be volunteering at a food or clothing bank). 

Additional research by Bergsma & Veenhoven (2020), shares that happiness training has a high chance of… improving happiness. However, the sole pursuit of happiness can create loneliness and may not result in true happiness. Rather, it is the training on how to engage in life satisfaction and improve life skills that promote the happiest outcome. 

To change the set point of our happiness we have to look at what we can control and create those positive changes. 

References

Bergsma, A., Buijt, I., & Veenhoven, R. (2020). Will happiness-trainings make us happier?: A research synthesis using an online findings-archive. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, 1953-1953. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01953 

Seilgman, M. (2004). The new era of positive psychology. [Video]. TED Conferences. https://www.ted.com/talks/martin_seligman_the_new_era_of_positive_psychology?language=en