Issue 31 |💡The Neuroscience of Optimism
The best reason to be upbeat is that positivity is productive. Science proves it.
IoNTELLIGENCE is the Playbook for Professional Success, Personal Transformation, and the Pursuit of Happiness.
🚨 The Big Idea: Practice “productive positivity.” It primes you to seize opportunities and unleashes your creativity.
🔧 What To Do Next: Cultivate an optimistic mindset to be more successful. Here’s how.
🧠 Intellectual Espresso Shots: What William Shakespeare, Anais Nin, and Desmond Tutu had to say about the power of hope.
🔬 Go Deeper: Read “The Believing Brain.”
📖 Reading Time: 5 Minutes
Many of you know I moved to Southern California four years ago. Some of you have been explicitly empowered to call me out if I ever “go LA” by talking about the power of crystals (not going to happen) or complaining that 60 degrees Fahrenheit (15 Celsius for my Canadian friends) is “cold” (over my dead body). But here’s one area my mind has changed since moving to the Golden State: the power of mindsets.
A mindset is the cognitive framework you choose to view the world. My mindset is to be optimistic, to believe in the possibility and necessity of change, and to tell myself productive stories.
I preach positivity, in particular, for a simple but strategic reason: it’s effective. Optimistic frames and stories act as a psychological immune system—like antibodies to negative thoughts and rumination. That’s why we need a bias toward constructive, productive, and hopeful narratives.
Mindset isn’t everything - but it matters more than you realize. To a considerable extent, we are what we think. Our beliefs have a ripple effect because they influence our moods, perceptions, behaviors, actions, interactions, and choices.
In other words, our thoughts shape our lives. Read on to learn why there is profound wisdom in positive thinking.
Photo by Ron Smith on Unsplash
🚨 The Big Idea
Let me clarify one possible counterargument right off the bat: I’m not advocating unrealistically optimistic thinking or toxic positivity. We can’t simply dismiss negative thoughts and fears. In fact, doing so can lead us astray.
Worry, anxiety, and pessimism serve an essential purpose. In the best case, they serve as tripwires, warning us to be vigilant and, ideally, initiate change. We shouldn’t ignore the negative. However, a positive attitude toward life is more pleasant and productive.
The Business Case for Optimism
You will live longer: A 2019 paper found that men and women who regularly practiced positive thinking lived 15% longer than others. One reason is that optimists are likelier than pessimists to have healthier food and movement habits. Optimism is to the brain what sleep is to the body—an almost all-purpose elixir for energy and vitality.
You will be “luckier”: positivity quiets self-doubt. When we lack confidence in our ability to handle what life brings, we make choices based on our fears rather than our goals. Pessimism narrows your world, while optimism expands it. Having a positive psychological posture is helpful because it primes you to spot solutions to your problems and seize opportunities when they’re presented. The Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu counseled: “Be careful what you water your dreams with. Water them with worry and fear, and you will produce weeds that choke the life from your dream. Water them with optimism and solutions, and you will cultivate success.”
You will be happier, more goal-oriented, and more focused on the future. Optimism and a sense of agency are interlinked. When people feel more in control of their lives, they become more hopeful—and vice versa. The neurological payoff from a feeling of power and optimism is that our brains are flooded with dopamine, which rewards us for pursuing goals and big-picture thinking.
You will be more successful: having a positive mindset matters - because it makes your choices and decisions matter. As futurist Bina Venkataraman notes, “If the future looks too dire, you can make current choices seem meaningless. On the other hand, if it seems like a person can easily shape the future … you can embolden them to value the future. Optimism is a strategy that can make the future better because it makes you want to work to make it so.” Studies have shown that cyclists given a placebo they were told was a performance enhancer demonstrated more motivation and goal-seeking persistence. So take advantage of what Steve Magness calls “the positive performance cascade” and let your optimistic outlook push you to greater heights.
🔧 What To Do Next
Make optimism and positivity a priority - because it’s a performance-enhancing mindset. Here’s how.
Change the Script - Because You Can
We can train our brains to respond more positively to stress. A recent study found that only 25% of our optimism is dictated by our genes.
All it takes is a subtle reframing of your situation. I like to remind my executive coaching clients that “hope is not a strategy” because Hail Mary passes rarely get completed. However, optimism about the future is a crucial posture to cultivate - and it need not involve denying objective reality. I like Kaja Perina’s definition in this regard: “Hope is positive suspense.”
Cardiologist Alan Rozanski says that, like a muscle, optimism can be strengthened through positivity and gratitude. So remember this witty line from Oliver Burkeman the next time you’re facing a challenging situation: “Almost every experience in life can be categorized as a good time or a good story.”
What are you going to choose?
Speaking of stories …
Tell Yourself Productive Tales: Realistic but Optimistic Narratives
Yuval Noah Harari’s book “Sapiens” left an indelible impression on me when I read it eight years ago. Its signature revelation is that everything in life—from money to religion and Apple to America—is just a story. In other words, life is a story, too. None of it is objectively “real,” and much of it is made up. Since we’re always spinning yarns about everything—including ourselves—we might as well tell ourselves productive stories.
For me, that means striking the right balance between optimism and pessimism. Silicon Valley savant Naval Ravikant has a smart take on this, as usual: “You want to be optimistic in general, but you want to be skeptical about the specific.” I define productive narratives as broadly accurate and generally positive while remaining realistic regarding their likelihood of happening.
Podcaster Chris Williamson adds a helpful coda here: “While a positive story by itself won't guarantee a good outcome, a negative one will certainly prevent it from happening.”
The ability to reframe “reality” and reprogram yourself is one of life’s most essential skills. Remember: the most important stories are the ones we tell ourselves about ourselves.
Surround Yourself with Positive People
Emotions are contagious. Our brain’s neurons subconsciously pick up cues from the people around us, and we reflexively harmonize our gestures and emotional affect with theirs. When they smile or yawn, we do, too. However, we also “catch” their bad moods when they interact with us, so we need to choose our emotional role models wisely. Being around more upbeat people will automatically make you more hopeful, so seek out their company.
Shift to Neutral if Positive isn’t Possible
Positivity can’t be universally applied. Not everything can be changed from positive to negative, but feelings of negativity can always be reduced by reframing. Sometimes, the best one can do in a bad situation is to be like Stoic and Confucian philosophers and practice emotional distancing from a desired outcome. As the saying goes, “Pain is inevitable, but suffering is optional.”
“Cultivating a positive outlook can be a powerful tool for fostering resilience, managing stress, and potentially even enhancing longevity. By adopting practices that nurture optimism, we can empower ourselves to navigate life’s challenges with greater strength and live healthier, happier lives.” (The MIT Press Reader)
🧠 Intellectual Espresso Shots
“There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.” (William Shakespeare)
“We do not see things as they are. We see them as we are.” (Anais Nin)
“Hope is being able to see the light despite all the darkness.” (Desmond Tutu)
🔬 Go Deeper & Get Smart Fast
If you have a few hours, 👓 👓 “The Believing Brain” by Michael Shermer.
If you have under 1 hour, 👓 🎧 to this podcast episode on the science of positive thinking with Andrew Huberman.
If you have under 10 minutes, 👓 👓 this article from MIT on the science of optimism and this past IoNTELLIGENCE issue on “The Power of Bad.”
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