Maintaining an optimistic mindset is like any other skill. You’ll get the best results if you work at it every day. During times of work stress or change, it is an especially crucial time to work on your own mental wellbeing. You’ve got a lot to deal with, a lot to consider, a lot to work through and a lot to do. You can’t afford to get caught in the trap of destructive thinking.
According to Dr Martin Seligman, and 15 years of scientific research, there are two types of people in the world. Those who bounce back from failure and those who collapse.
But the good news is, those prone to collapsing can build their resilience skills so that they too, can experience growth after trauma.
Seligman’s determination of the two “explanatory styles” that inform these outcomes are known as optimistic and pessimistic.
According to the 3 Ps of resilience (permanence, pervasiveness and personalisation), optimism is when you interpret setbacks as “temporary, local and changeable (it’s going away quickly, it’s just this one situation, and I can do something about it).”
On the other hand, pessimism is when setbacks are interpreted as “permanent, far-reaching and internal (“it’s going to haunt me, impact every part of my life and I’ve only myself to blame”).
Defeat destructive thinking to build more resilience by helping to reduce catastrophic thinking.
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