Happy years
Want to live past 90? Then don't underestimate the power of a positive mindset! In a major new US study, researchers tracked 160,000 women for 26 years, evaluating optimism and its association with an increase in lifespan regardless of other lifestyle factors. They found that the most cheerful women lived 5 per cent longer and had a 10 per cent greater likelihood of making it beyond 90 compared with women with the lowest levels of positivity. This makes being an optimist an essential tool in your 'living well' kit. Even better, it can be learnt, so it's never too late to start!
But how to become an optimist?
No one wants to be a Negative Nancy, but if those rose-coloured glasses never seem to fit, should you just accept your glass-half-empty attitude?
Definitely not. A positive outlook is linked with loads of health benefits, so it's definitely worth trying to become more optimistic. “High levels of optimism are associated with higher levels of happiness and less depression,” says Dr John Malouff. “Also, some studies indicate that greater optimism is associated with a longer life.”
And that's not all. “Dispositional optimism” – defined as a tendency to expect the best or brightest outcome – is linked with both emotional and physical health, per an older but oft-cited study. "The effects of positive thinking go beyond simply making people feel better,” the authors of that study say. “Optimism also confers benefits [regarding] what people do and what people are able to achieve in times of adversity.”
Optimism does a body good
For one thing, optimistic people tend to exert more effort – to give something new a try, or keep working toward a solution – while pessimistic people throw in the towel.
Optimistic people also tend to shrug off stress, shows a 2015 study. That helps decrease their levels of stress hormones like cortisol. Elevated cortisol levels can cause inflammation which is linked to all sorts of serious health issues ranging from cancer to depression. With that in mind, it’s easy to see how a positive attitude could have big-time health benefits.
Picture yourself as an optimist
A growing pile of research has linked something called positive imagery with increased levels of optimism. One 2007 study, found that thinking happy thoughts – or more specifically, imagining positive future outcomes – actually activates the parts of the brain linked with positive emotion and stress-reduction. Envisioning a happier future can also help people disengage from – or look past – bad things that are happening in the present, research suggests.
Other research backs this up. Based on their analysis of 29 studies and more than 3,330 individuals, Malouff and his colleagues found that thinking about your “best possible self” and then creating a plan for creating that self is the most effective way to increase your levels of optimism. Other experts agree. According to a 2011 study, people who spent just five minutes a day thinking about their best possible selves increased their positivity by an average of 17 per cent. They also enjoyed a significant drop in negative thoughts and outlook.
Getting started with positive imagery
Start by focusing on the “far future,” and think of the best possible outcomes for your social life, your life at home, and your career. Sit down and, for 20 minutes, write in detail about these happy outcomes – what your life would look like, what goals you would have met, how you’d feel about yourself, and so on.
After this initial exercise, spend just five minutes each day imagining that you’ve achieved everything you wrote down. Don’t read what you wrote. Just try to imagine what your life would look like if all those things came true. Do this, and your levels of optimism are bound to soar.
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