How to be an Optimist Without Being An Idiot

One of my biggest problems is from time to time I get caught up in what is going wrong and that starts a pessismistic attitude that can really have a negative effect on anyone you come into contact with.  I have been trying to kick this habit for a while now and constantly need reminders like this article.  Optimisim and a positive attitude are essential to your own health and the health of the family and work team's you interact with.  I truly believe it is a trait worth training yourself on if it doesn't come naturally. 

How to be An Optimist Without Being an Idiot

“If an optimist had his left arm chewed off by an alligator, he might say, in a pleasant and hopeful voice, ‘Well, this isn’t too bad. I don’t have my left arm anymore, but at least nobody will ever ask me whether I am right-handed or left-handed,’ but most of us would say something more along the lines of ‘Aaaaah! My arm! My Arm!’”—Lemony Snicket

It’s easy to mock an optimist, isn’t it? Those who hope for the best are scorned as “Pollyannas.” Bart Simpson mocks Lisa’s idealism. Lou Grant mocked Mary Richards in the newsroom. Voltaire enjoys many a knowing smile at the expense of his Candide. 

Yet optimism is one of the key strategies for overcoming fear, anxiety, frustration and skepticism in order to make a small business thrive, argue Clate Mask and Scott Martineau in their new book, Conquer the Chaos: How to Grow a Successful Small Business (Wiley, 2010).

The key, however, is to practice not unbridled, idealistic, romantic notions of cheerfully annoying optimism, but rather to practice “disciplined optimism.”

“Disciplined optimism,” Clate and Scott say, inspires you to maintain confidence and get to work removing whatever obstacle is in your way. It allows you to own the problem, and do something about it, because you have a sense that doing so gets you closer to your ultimate goal.

The authors define disciplined optimism as “faith you will prevail plus discipline to confront the brutal facts.” In other words, disciplined optimists do something about the little black rain cloud over their heads—they erect a very large umbrella, say—while blind optimists simply sit in the muddy puddle and cheerfully wish for the rain to stop (and then get wet and chilled and distraught when it doesn’t).

A good way for small business owners to practice disciplined optimism is to spend some time with unhappy customers. It stings when a customer complains about our product or services, and it’s easy to get incensed, defensive, and, ultimately, be simply unresponsive.

A disciplined optimist, however, assures an irate customer that they both want the same thing: A seamless customer experience. So the optimist (1) apologizes for the malfunction or disappointment; and (2) thanks the customer for bringing the issue to his or her attention so that the business can make this right and help future customers avoid the same frustrations.

The key here, however, is the bigger picture: Responding with confidence and enthusiasm, not just going through the mechanics of fixing an issue, because you see customer issues and other roadblocks as entirely fixable things that, once corrected, hasten the progress toward your long-term goal, Clate and Scott point out.

I particularly like this section on optimism in Conquer the Chaos. Why? Because much as we all know that a doing something about a problem is a better response than simply wallowing in it, it’s easier said than done, right? We all know that a customer complaint is an opportunity to turn an opinion around, but it’s hard not to get ticked off and impassive.

“We’ve all heard that we need to view customer complaints as opportunities to improve, try to turn lemons into lemonade, blah, blah, blah,” Clate and Scott write. But actually doing it is way harder than simply voicing it.

In a larger context, too, it’s hard to maintain disciplined optimism with all of persistent business pressures that make up our workdays—competitive threats, cash flow worries, an underperforming employee, competitive threats, limited resources—or on those days when business feels more like a battle than an adventure. Some days, you need a shot glass full of optimism just to get through the afternoon. But the disciplined kind—not the clueless kind that makes you smile blithely and ultimately give up because things don’t change the way you want them to.

So how do you nurture disciplined optimism within yourself? How do you make an effort to be more of a half-full, and less of a half-empty, kind of person? Here are eight ideas, based on Clate and Scott’s advice in their book as well as my own two pesos.

1. Face the problem (and quickly). This one is from Clate and Scott, who say, “Don’t brood and dwell on difficult experiences,” like a thorny customer or looming cash crunch. “Go to work right away.”
2. Rewind. Go back and address situations you wish you’d handled differently. It’s never too late (well, it’s never too late at least to try.)
3. Rewire your brain. Be conscious of your negative thoughts. Boot them out of your brain and make room for positive thoughts. (This might sound squishy and New Age-y, but it works.)
4. Don’t take yourself too seriously. Believe in yourself and what you are doing, but don’t take yourself too seriously. (Those who do are one of my biggest pet peeves, by the way.) “Laugh at yourself. Have a little fun. Roll with the punches,” Clate and Scott say.
5. Read customer testimonials. Or shake the Magic Google 8-ball: Search on “I love {insert your company name here}.” This does wonders to remind you of the good feelings you engender.
6. Give a compliment. Spread sunshine yourself by telling someone what a great job they are doing. You’ll feel better about yourself, too.
7. Fake it ‘til you make it. This old catchphrase is a great way to shake up your behavior. It’s usually applied to confidence, but you can apply it to optimism, as well, especially if you aren’t naturally a half-full kind of person: Imitating optimism will generate real optimism by producing success; that in turn reinforces your optimism.
8. Be grateful. Those of us here at OPEN Forum are a lucky bunch, aren’t we? We have passion and a curiosity and willingness to learn and grow our businesses and ourselves. (Otherwise, why would you be reading OPEN Forum at all?) That’s an amazing thing, isn’t it? And for that, we can be grateful every day.
   

What about you? Are you a so-called disciplined optimist? How do you maintain it?