Thank God for pessimism!

I think pessimism gets a bad rap.

Humans evolved to have a habit of pessimism (i.e. “negativity bias”) because that helped us, as a species, be able to anticipate and prepare for future threats to survival – threats like warring tribes and dwindling food supplies.

We wouldn’t be here today without the pessimism of our ancestors.

Not discounting the survival benefits of pessimism (and there are many), there is a point at which pessimism delivers diminishing returns.

In fact, the “returns” of excessive pessimism actually become counterproductive for our survival.

Predicting turns into perseverating.  Preparing turns into preoccupation.

The link between pessimism → stress → disease has been well established.

Which is one of the reasons we are often told by others to (insert eye roll) “Be optimistic.”

Does that approach work?  Of course not.

Why?  Because we are not wired for optimism.

And, I believe, it would not be useful (even if it were possible) to be 100% optimistic.

To be clear, we need pessimism – the right amount of it.

Think of pessimism like vitamin E.

The right amount of vitamin E is useful in protecting cells from damage caused by free radicals, supporting immune function, and maintaining healthy skin, blood vessels, and brain function.

However, excessive doses of vitamin E can increase the risk of bleeding and strokes, including bleeding in the brain.

Since pessimism is our birthright (part of our default operating system), what we need is the right balance of pessimism and optimism.

After all, optimism has been shown to result in improved physical health, mental health, productivity, relationships, and resilience (to name a few).

And most people have just been told (first by others and then by themselves) to just “be more optimistic.”

This doesn’t work because it’s like swimming upstream against our evolutionary bias toward pessimism.

Optimism isn’t a switch that flips on command.

But it can become a habit that develops over time so that you can experience it routinely and reliably.

That’s why the Optimism Habit is the next habit in the Habits of Happiness series.

Why optimism?  What does optimism have to do with happiness?  

Well, if chronic pessimism is linked to stress, disease, poor performance, and unhappiness (and it is), and if optimism can counterbalance these effects (which it can), then optimism is essential for happiness.

In the Optimism Habit workshop, you will:

• Learn a new way to think about optimism – identifying the subconscious source of your pessimism.

• Learn how to develop an optimism practice that is worth repeating until it becomes a habit.