You may have heard someone say — maybe you’ve said it yourself — “I’m just not an optimist.”
Often we can take labels like these and identify ourselves with them — believing that that’s just who we are, and there’s nothing we can do to change it. But even though someone’s outlook toward the world may be affected by their genes or their environment, it doesn’t have to stay locked that way forever.
A while back, I heard Shawn Achor reference a study done by the University of Pennsylvania the showed that our outlooks can change. Researchers took a group of 4 year olds, who were genetically predisposed to pessimism, and had them daily stop and think of 3 things they were thankful for. After 3 to 4 weeks of the children taking a couple minutes daily to do this, the researchers were able to detect changes in the way their brains were wired — optimism was actually becoming the default way the children were processing the world.
Achor also mentioned that similar things have been found in those over 80 years old. Meaning, changing one’s perspective of the world wasn’t something just for young children. It’s something that could take place at any age.
“Happiness is not something you inherit, happiness is something you cultivate.” –Shawn Achor
I found this fascinating, and encouraging. Regardless of where we come from, or the labels we’ve taken upon ourselves, we still have the capacity to change. And significant change can come through simple habits — habits like taking time to be thankful or to reach out to others. Even if we have a predisposition towards being negative or pessimistic, we can still choose to move in a different direction. And as we develop these new attitudes and perspectives, they will begin to affect they way we experience everything else in our lives.
Our attitude towards life is something we choose, and yes, something we cultivate.