Optimism Strategies

1. Dr. Suresh Kumar Murugesan PhD
Optimism Strategies
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2. About me
● Dr.Suresh Kumar Murugesan is a passionate Professor, researcher and Mental
Health Practitioner from Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India
● At present he is heading the PG Department of Psychology, The American College,
Madurai
● He is very keen in research studies and open to learn.
● His ultimate aim is to make impression in the field of Knowledge
● His area of specializations are Psychomentry, Psychotherapy, Positive Psychology,
Education Psychology, Cognitive Psychology, Cyber Psychology etc
● He has published 30 journal articles, 50 Conference and seminar proceedings
● Organised more than 500 webinars and acted as a resource person for 175 +
webinar session
● Received 4 Awards and delivered 25+ Radio Talks
● Qualified UGC NET in Psychology and Education, Central Teacher Eligibility Test
● Published three books
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3. Strategies
.
● a plan that we use in
order to achieve
something.
● the action of planning
how to do or achieve
something.
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4. Optimism
the feeling that the future will
be good or successful.
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5. Optimism Strategies
Being optimistic might seem like a large task, but there are
simple things we can do to improve our outlook.
If we practice each day, we’ll be doing ourselves a great
favor, since our mindset is the very foundation for
achieving success and fulfillment.
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6. Techniques to boost
optimism:
1. Avoid getting hung up on one thing.
2. Remember that there’s always a silver lining. I
3. Get over the past.
4. Be thankful.
5. Use positive affirmations.
6. Surround yourself with positive people.
7. Watch your language.
8. Remember that even a positive life has ups and
downs.
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7. 1. Avoid getting hung
up on one thing
● Sometimes we may feel like there’s
one situation that’s holding us back.
● Maybe there’s just one thing that has
seemingly ruined our day.
● Resolve to let it go so it doesn’t
bother us anymore.
● After all, there’s a whole world out
there just waiting for us to
experience!
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8. 2. Remember that there’s
always a silver lining
● If we’re having a bad week, it’s not a reason
to let negativity cloud our thinking.
● Seek the silver lining in every challenging
situation.
● Remember that setbacks often occur right
before us to reach success.
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9. 3. Get over the past
● Remember that the past is the past; it
doesn’t need to keep repeating itself.
● In fact, if we keep recalling the past,
we are the one taking it with us into
our future.
● Learn how to let it go no matter how
painful it might have been.
● The future can be filled with great
things, but a great future can only start
when we’ve come to terms with our
past.
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10. 4. Be thankful
● Make a list of all the things we’re thankful
for in our life.
● Include even the smallest things, like the
lucky coin we found on the street or the
loving hug partner gave it today.
● we’ll most likely end up with a long list
that we can look to whenever we feel like
we’re slipping into negativity.
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11. 5. Use positive
affirmations
● Nothing brings out optimism like the use
of affirmations.
● These positive statements bring
optimistic energy into our present.
● They are a way of communicating with
our subconscious mind so we can
maintain control over how we feel.
● Use them every day and every time we
need a boost of positivity.
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12. 6. Surround yourself
with positive people
● Humans are social beings that can feel
the energy of others.
● Have fun with positive and supportive
friends and family members.
● Just being around positive people can
lift us up when we’re feeling down.
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13. 7. Watch your
language
● Do we speak positively to ourselves
and others, or are we judgmental and
negative?
● Try to shift over to only positive
speech.
● Practice using upbeat words while
we focus on the positive in every
situation.
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14. 8. Remember that even a
positive life has ups and
downs
● Life won’t always be perfect, but there are
many ways we can still make the best of it.
● Accept the fact that bad things will happen
from time to time, but avoid dwelling on these
things.
● We’ll bounce back if we remain open to
optimism.
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15. Optimism Strategies by Brianna Steinhilber
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16. “Optimism can
definitely be a learned
trait”
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17. “Just because you have been a
pessimist for most of your life
does not mean that you are
destined to always be a
pessimist. In fact, there are
many effective ways to adopt
an optimistic mindset.”
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18. Optimism
Strategies by
Brianna
Steinhilber
The following strategies can be adapted for
developing optimism
1. Try it on Positive Lens
2. Turn off the News
3. Write a journal for few minutes each days
4. Acknowledge what you can - and cannot
- control
5. Don’t forget to acknowledge the Negative
6. Take a note and learn
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19. 11 Ways To Become An
Optimist by Realbuzz Team
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20. 1. Create Some
Positive Mantras
● While many of us believe our happiness – or lack
thereof – is based on external things, we’re often the
ones holding ourselves back.
● Many of us go through our days feeding ourselves
negative messages we may not even be aware of,
convincing ourselves we’re “not good enough”, “not
clever enough” or “not attractive enough”.
● To start thinking more positively, we need to change
these messages.
● Try to look out for negative thoughts that pop into our
head and replace them with positive messages.
● Write down these positive mantras and repeat them
on a daily basis.
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21. 2. Focus On Success
● Most of us are happy to acknowledge other people’s successes and
accomplishments; however, when it comes to our own, we frequently play
them down or ignore them entirely.
● To start thinking more positively about ourselves, we need to regularly remind
ourselves of what we have – and can – achieve.
● Stop listening to our inner critic, reflect on our past achievements, and start to
really appreciate our success and what we have to offer.
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22. 3. Get A Role Model
If you want to become an optimist, it can help to find yourself a positive role
model. Whether it is a colleague, close friend or even a celebrity, think of the
most unflappable, cheerful person you can. For the next few weeks, do an
experiment and try to take a walk in their shoes. Whenever negativity starts
creeping in or you find yourself in a difficult situation, think: “what would (insert
name of chosen optimist) do?” Answer honestly, then try to follow suit.
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23. 4. Focus On The
Positives
It’s important to remember that it isn’t events
themselves that make us unhappy, it is our
interpretation and reaction to them, and while you
can’t always change events, you can change your
response. When negative situations occur, try to
reframe them by focusing on the positives or what
you can learn from the situation. Maybe you have
gained inner strength and resilience, grown closer
to a friend through sharing your heartbreak or
learned something about yourself. Try your best to
focus on what you have learned and gained from
your experience rather on than what you have lost.
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24. 5. Don’t Try
To Predict
The Future
● When things don’t go right in life, optimists tend
to view each incident as an isolated event,
while pessimists often look out for patterns of
bad luck and think “if it happened once, it’ll
happen again”.
● However, it is important not to try to predict the
future based on what has happened before.
● Remember that a plan or relationship failing
doesn’t make you a failure and just because
something disappointing has happened once
(or more) it doesn’t mean it will happen again.
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25. 6. Surround with
Positivity
Spending time with negative people who continually see the
bad in every situation is a sure-fire way to ensure we
continue to feel negative too.
To help us stay feeling optimistic, we need to surround
ourselves with positive people who help us to appreciate
the good in situations and in life in general.
This also applies to other influence in our life such as
music, literature and movies – surround ourselves with
positive influences and see the effect it has on our state of
mind.
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26. 7. Keep A
Gratitude
Diary
● When something negative happens, it never fails to
escape our attention.
● The alarm clock doesn’t go off or our car doesn’t start,
leaving us in a foul mood for the rest of the day.
● However, how often do we stop and notice all those
times your alarm clock did go off or our car did start?
● To change our focus and thinking, make a conscious
effort to start reflecting on all the things that go right and
that we have to be happy about by keeping a gratitude
journal each morning or night, listing all the things we
have to be grateful for that day.
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27. 8. Challenge
Negative
Thoughts
● Often our negative thoughts are based on little more
than our own fears, doubts and low self-esteem.
● To help us overcome them, we need to constantly
challenge our negative thoughts.
● Next time we start to feel negative, write down what our
feelings are then write down our arguments for and
against these thoughts.
● Ask self what’s the evidence that these thoughts are
true?
● What’s the evidence that they are not?
● You could even try purposely acting the opposite of how
we feel and seeing what happens.
● We may find that your negative predictions don’t come
true after all.
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28. 9. Focus On The
Solution Rather
Than The Problem
● Pessimists tend to focus on problems while
optimists look for solutions.
● While it is tempting to dwell on your problems
or disappointments, remember that this will
not change your situation.
● The situation may not feel great and it may
not seem fair, but what has happened has
happened, whether we like it or not.
● Rather than reflecting on what could have
been, let go of regrets and negative thoughts,
get proactive and start planning where we
can go from here.
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29. 10. Fake It 1. Optimism isn’t something that comes naturally to all of
us, and we may find that it takes time to change our
mindset.
2. In the meantime, try putting the action before the feeling
and faking a more positive outlook.
3. Studies have found that it is possible to trick ourselves
into feeling happier by going through the physical
motions.
4. So, rather than going with our natural instinct, try smiling
and laughing more and speaking in a more positive
tone.
5. Acting the way we want to feel will help us on our way to
becoming an optimist.
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30. 11. Don’t Dwell On The Past
● What is gone is gone, and how we deal with the aftermath is the most
important thing.
● There is no point apportioning blame, either on ourselves or others.
● We have the power to change a situation and move on.
It is so easy to say ‘I should have done things differently’ with the benefit of
hindsight.
● However, if bad things have happened, look at tomorrow as exactly what it is
— a new day — in which good things can happen, if we let them.
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31. Strategies to
Boost
Optimism by
Brie Darcy
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32. Optimism
Strategies
The following 8 strategies are suggested by Brie Darcy to
boost optimism
1. Reframe the thought
2. Have positive thinking
3. Choose the company wisely
4. Keep a journal
5. Exercise
6. Set reasonable and achievable goals
7. Challenge negative thoughts
8. Imagine best self
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33. The Optimist Creed
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34. The Optimist Creed is shared below to help you boost our optimism…
Promise to self:
1. To be so strong that nothing can disturb the peace of mind.
2. To talk health, happiness and prosperity to every person we meet.
3. To make all our friends feel that there is something in them.
4. To look at the sunny side of everything and make our optimism come true.
5. To think only of the best, to work only for the best, and to expect only the best.
6. To be just as enthusiastic about the success of others as we are about our own.
7. To forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future.
8. To wear a cheerful countenance at all times and give every living creature we meet a smile.
9. To give so much time to the improvement of ourselves that we have no time to criticize others.
10. To be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear, and too happy to permit the
presence of trouble.
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35. Success and wealth
love action
Begin the process for attracting phenomenal
success and wealth into our life by implementing
what we have just learned.
Start with these easy three steps:
1. Imagine the business (Academi/
Work/Entrepreneurship) being better by
implementing the strategies just learned.
2. Decide which two or three things we will
implement in our business as a result of the
information you just read. Identify one thing
we plan to do immediately.
3. Act on one strategy we earned within the
next 24 hours. Ask someone to hold it
accountable. Our success depends on it.
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36. References:
1. https://lethiaowens.com/8-strategies-for-boosting-your-optimism/
2. https://www.nbcnews.com/better/health/how-train-your-brain-be-more-optimistic-ncna795231
3. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/boundless/201707/the-optimism-challenge-specific-strategies
4. https://positivepsychology.com/optimism-tools-exercises-examples/
5. https://www.centreforoptimism.com/Optimism-and-Strategy
6. https://www.realbuzz.com/articles-interests/health/article/11-ways-to-become-an-optimist/
7. https://www.hprc-online.org/mental-fitness/performance-psychology/5-ways-power-your-performance-optimism
8. https://moterum.com/8-tips-for-boosting-optimism/
9. https://www.edutopia.org/article/tips-teaching-realistic-optimism
10. https://www.hindawi.com/journals/prm/2018/6291719/
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