It feels like every other self-help advice out there is preaching the powers of positivity. Think positive and positive things will happen. Keep your mind focused on happy thoughts. Don’t let any trace of negativity seep in. In reality, staying positive in the face of adversity is harder than we think. However, staying conscious and optimistic in the face of massive challenges is what brings by fantastic results. So what’s the difference between POSITIVITY on one end and CONSCIOUS OPTIMISM on the other.
Positivity
- Brings temporary relief from current negative events
- It can cloud the reality preventing us from seeing it for what it really is and how we can improve it
- It can deny reality for a dream state where everything is ok, instead of allowing you to focus on what can be improved
- It focuses on the wishful thinking rather than the actionable steps
- It denies the obstacles by pretending they don’t exist
Conscious Optimism
- Optimism is relentless, it’s a state of mind that stays with you regardless of outside circumstances
- It doesn’t deny the reality, is simply focusing on the good part of it, while at the same time making you aware of all the things that are not the way you want them to be and that can be improved
- It’s actionable. The well known saying about life giving you lemons, focuses on the “making lemonade” part not on positively thinking the lemons aren’t sour. It makes us focus on taking action to change a situation we may not like rather than pretend it’s different
- While it’s important to not focus on the obstacles, pretending they don’t exist will not make them go away. Instead Conscious Optimism acknowledges their presence and takes them on as challenges to be overcome
- Allows you to build an action plan to achieve your goals
While Positivity is way better than Negative Self-Talk, Conscious Optimism is the next level of Positivity. It doesn’t deny current circumstances, no matter how challenging they are, but it looks for the good, while figuring out how to improve the bad. Try it today, try it for the week, for the month, see how it feels. Regardless of whether the outside circumstances look promising or not so much, choose Conscious Optimism and watch your life transform to the life of your dreams.
Originally published at justlav.com on May 1, 2017.
Originally published at medium.com