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Prince Bhojwani never considered himself a negative person, until three trips to the hospital in a month forced him to reconsider. Before May 2018, he was a healthy but perpetually anxious start-up founder who regularly went on 20-mile (32-kilometer) bicycle rides. When he suddenly became barely able to walk, with blurred vision and a spike in blood pressure, emergency room doctors suspected a stroke but couldn’t pinpoint the cause of his illness. However, a close friend — “one of the most optimistic people I know,” he said — pointed out that Bhojwani often lacked faith that things would turn out OK, and suggested this had led him to burnout.
“I started looking at the world very differently from the next day,” said Bhojwani, who lives in New York City. He began meditating and taking a moment each morning to be grateful that he was alive. He also found purpose by co-founding the nonprofit Asan Voice, a South Asian advocacy organization. In the years that followed, despite working long hours, he hasn’t had any of the same health problems. He credits this to his new positive outlook. “After a life-changing event, it forced me to be an optimist,” he said. “I can’t even imagine living life the way I did then.”
Optimism in itself isn’t the solution to all problems, but numerous studies over the past several decades have demonstrated a link between a positive outlook and good health outcomes.
A long, healthy life?
Experts say the standard for measuring a person’s relative optimism has long been the 10-question Life Orientation Test-Revised, published in 1994. (Sample question: On a scale of 1 to 5, respondents are asked how strongly they agree with the statement, “In uncertain times, I usually expect the best”?). Generally, optimism is defined as “the expectation that good things will happen, or believing that the future will be favorable because we can control important outcomes,” said Hayami Koga, a postdoctoral research fellow at the Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies.
She was the lead author of a 2022 study that found optimism was associated with longer life span and the likelihood of living beyond 90. In another study published in JAMA Psychiatry in May, she and other researchers said optimistic people generally maintain better physical functioning as they age. They studied 5,930 menopausal women over a 6-year period. “We know that more optimistic people are more likely to live healthier lives, have healthier habits, eat healthier and exercise more,” Koga said.
Can I learn to be an optimist?
Some people are born more optimistic, but it can certainly be learned, said Sue Verma, a clinical assistant professor of psychiatry at New York University and author of “Practical Optimism: The Art, Science, and Practice of Exceptional Well-Being.” Optimism training can improve life satisfaction and reduce anxiety, she said. “Even if you weren’t born with this natural disposition to anticipate favorable outcomes and see the glass as half full, there are skills you can learn,” Verma said.
Start by focusing on how you deal with uncertainty, she said. Do you tend to worry? Assume the worst? Try to reframe the thought in an objective way. “Is there a silver lining? Is this a problem that needs to be solved or a truth that needs to be accepted?” said Verma, adding that her book is based on the work of Martin Seligman, one of the fathers of positive psychology. Try to visualize the best possible outcome and a step-by-step path to reach it. Verma asks her clients to describe in detail the path to solving the problem, and encourages them to enjoy their success.
“Then you’re already looking at your day and your life as if everything is going well,” she said. “And you’re more proactive, more positive, more resilient, more enthusiastic in the face of obstacles.” Finding a sense of purpose can also help. Volunteering would be beneficial, but for those who can’t find the time, Verma suggested trying to rework your role at work to better align with your interests. It could be as simple as a very social person organizing an outing with co-workers.
Trying to master a skill, whether it’s a sport, a musical instrument, a language or a hobby like knitting or chess, can help you stop considering negative possibilities. Even with these and other interventions, changing your mindset isn’t easy, Verma said. But practice helps. “It’s a toolset, it’s a mindset,” she said. “I have to practice it in my mind every day.”
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