The Powers and Pitfalls of Optimism

Positive thinking is great as long as you can keep it under control

Optimism is humanity’s driving force. If we never thought things would work out, we’d never try to build anything new, and that would be the end of human progress. Fortunately, we have plenty of optimism available, but as with most good things in life, too much can actually become a problem. I’m going to describe both the benefits and limits of optimism. But first, here’s a great little anecdote from Maurice Sendak—the author of “Where the Wild Things Are” and a man who is always able to see the bright side.

The optimism bias

Most of us are heavily optimistic about the future—the science shows that we objectively underestimate our chances of a personal disaster like getting cancer, and overestimate our chances of amazing success (by the way, here’s a great TED talk about this optimism bias). This is generally a useful strategy because a high level of optimism is good for health and keeps us motivated. In fact, when this optimism bias disappears, it can reflect clinical depression: people with mild depression show no optimism bias at all, while people with severe depression show an opposite pessimism bias in which they overestimate the chances of bad things happening to them and underestimate the chances of good things.

But could a high level of optimism also sabotage our behavior? Researchers in 2016 tested whether an optimism surge caused by sudden happiness would increase people’s gambling. Their idea was that an unrealistic sense of optimism might push people into throwing money at spontaneous gambles they would normally avoid. As the researchers expected, people were more likely to gamble on days when they were suddenly happy—for example when a local sports team performed unexpectedly well or when the weather was surprisingly nice.

When people get a surprise rush of joy and optimism—whether it’s from a favorite sports team winning or just great weather—they lean into behaviors that aren’t necessarily good for them because their optimism spreads too far. Optimism is great until it makes you expect positive outcomes from random events or bad decisions!

How to nurture healthy optimism

Here are three suggestions for taking care of your sense of optimism:

1. Use optimism where it helps and not where it doesn’t: The biggest advantage of an optimistic mindset is the willingness to tackle new challenges. When you’re applying for a new job, for example, it’s essential that you begin with a strong belief that you can succeed, so that you give it your best effort. But after you’ve sent off the application, you can relax the optimism and become more neutral because the final decision is out of your hands. Excessive optimism at that point may set your hopes too high, which is a recipe for painful disappointment.

2. Always make time for social contact: Loneliness is associated with unhealthy pessimism. It can be difficult to chat with others regularly (especially during a pandemic!), but it’s essential to make it happen. Whether you’re setting up video calls, chatting on the phone, or even just texting, do what you can to avoid cutting back on communication with friends and family.

3. Break down big goals into smaller subgoals: When you’re facing a big challenge, you need a good plan. One priority in developing that plan is to create step-by-step targets that make it easy to notice your progress. Your motivation and optimism thrive with these little victories. As an example, if you want to learn a new language, don’t set a single huge goal like “I’m going to master German”, which may destroy your optimism within a couple of weeks (trust me, German is a troublesome language). Instead, you can commit to a more gradual plan like this:

   • Step 1: I’m going to do 15 minutes of a language-learning app every day for one month.

   • Step 2: I’m going to increase to 30 minutes of a language-learning app every day for two months.

   • Step 3: I’m going to continue Step 2 and watch two German films per week with English subtitles for another two months.

   • Step 4: I’m now also going to join a German-speaking social group and attend events every week for six months.

   • Step 5: I’m going to live in Berlin until I master German!

Don’t forget to show love!

There’s no optimism like a child’s optimism. A combination of innocence, empathy, and hope, can lead to heights of generosity that adults rarely show. Watch President Austin fight pessimism and spread his message of love:

That final quote

Final words today must go to Helen Keller—the American writer who lost her vision and hearing in early childhood. She wrote a long essay titled Optimism in 1903, and here is a perfect passage from it:

“Most people measure their happiness in terms of physical pleasure and material possession. Could they win some visible goal which they have set on the horizon, how happy they would be! Lacking this gift or that circumstance, they would be miserable. If happiness is to be so measured, I who cannot hear or see have every reason to sit in a corner with folded hands and weep. If I am happy in spite of my deprivations, if my happiness is so deep that it is a faith, so thoughtful that it becomes a philosophy of life,—if, in short, I am an optimist, my testimony to the creed of optimism is worth hearing”

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Dr Erman Misirlisoy, PhD (erman@thinksetlab.com)

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