Optimists: disconnected from reality or generators of a better future?

We all know one of?those?people. Or maybe you?are?one of?those?people.?

That person who, no matter how dire and critical the context, sees life through a prism of optimism and possibility. That person who seemed to get an extra blessing at birth from the optimism fairy!?

When you know one of?those?people but don’t feel you?are?one, you normally have one of two reactions in their presence, and sometimes both because, hey! you’re human and can be a walking paradox yourself.?

Attitude one:?

You believe the ‘optimist’ clearly doesn’t have a grip on reality and just how disturbing and disastrous things are right now. How could anyone be so positive, optimistic or generally happy about anything given the current state of the world? Are they deluded? On drugs? Can’t they see? Don’t they keep up with current affairs? Rapidly, you dismiss them as lightweight, scattered, dispersed,?ill-equipped to understand and deal with the gritty realities of life and business.?

Attitude two:?

You are magnetized by their energy and gravitate towards them like a moth to the flame. Each time you are with them your own lagging energy levels increase and you reinstate a sense of safety and okayness about life from which you are often disconnected. Having given yourself a juice-up, you get on with business as usual – barely registering that their optimism has indeed rubbed off on you and you are feeling a sense of new possibility again, and generating new thinking.

Both of these attitudes are human and understandable. They are also binary, stereotypical, and lack the rich fullness of true human complexity.??

There's more to optimism and being an optimist than self-declared ‘realists’ or ‘pessimists’ give us credit for. I experience optimism, as a?result?of constantly refocusing my attention – and not simply on what’s going right!

Optimism is a byproduct of rigorous, very intentional practice of 4 essential criteria that are key to leadership:

1) Positioning yourself as creator of your own experience in the moment.?This means taking responsibility?for how you see the circumstances then doing what is required to create the best possible outcome - whatever the circumstances and whatever the context. There is no victim in optimist. There is only creator. It’s an orientation – and a choice. An empowering, handy choice in today’s context!

2) Rapidly weeding out interpretation and story that invariably surround events from the facts. Recognising what is and what is NOT within your immediate control or influence. This does not mean denying reality. You are clear on the facts of the current reality and you?choose?to disassociate that from your opinions about it.??Far more efficient!?

3) Connecting with internal resources and scanning for external resources to address the problem at hand then drawing on them again and again.??

4) Taking action. If indeed an action needs to be taken.?

Mastering these four combined criteria creates a capacity for optimism.?

Optimists are singleminded in their pursuit to create from a place of richness and possibility in life.?Whether you see the richness and possibility of life does not depend on circumstances, but on how much you train yourself in the 4 criteria above.??Every critical situation can be an adventure in possibility with outcomes that are far more optimal and optimised than the ones people contract themselves into from a fear-based, default reaction.?

Not only is it possible to cultivate your optimism, I believe it’s your human destiny and responsibility as leader to do so.

Irrespective of the context and however you care to define reality, no pessimistic or victim attitude ever changed the world for the better or inspired others to live better lives and create agile, adaptive, world changing solutions to the challenges we face.

Right now, the world needs more inspired people. More optimistic women leaders collaborating to create possibility, together.

Tell me, is that you?