Here’s Why Optimism Should Be the Key to Living a Better Life

“Optimism is a strategy for making a better future. Because unless you believe that the future can be better, you are unlikely to step up and take responsibility for making it so.”

-Noam Chomsky

Today’s world feels full of chaos to a lot of people. You often find people talking about the good old days, and it isn’t only the people who miss their youth, even the youth talks about the past being better. One of the reasons is the hectic schedule everyone follows. The startup culture growing is also one of the reasons many people feel like they don’t have lives outside their work or feel stuck in their lives.

If you are an entrepreneur, a freelancer, a startup founder, or work in a startup – you know that there is no clear timeline segregating your personal life from your work life. One of the biggest benefits on a 9 to 5 in today’s time is the clear definition of time telling us when the workday ends and when personal time begins.

When we don’t have anyone to be accountable to when it comes to the time we put in – we tend to go overboard with working because it makes us feel we are giving everything we have to achieve our goals and dreams. But, is that always true? In order to get the feeling of us working as much as, if not more, than everyone else we tend to burn ourselves out.

As important it is to work on our dreams, it is equally important to focus on our physical as well as mental health, the notion of which seems to have slipped through the cracks for many. Because of this a lot of people feel demotivated and lack inspiration. This has resulted in the general feeling – that people carry around – to be that of pessimism than optimism.

Optimism isn’t going to change your situation or make your problems go away – true – but neither is pessimism. As Helen Keller said-

“No pessimist ever discovered the secrets of the stars, or sailed to an uncharted land, or opened a new heaven to the human spirit.” 

We need to sort ourselves and look for inspiration. We are responsible for our own happiness and this is something that is easy to forget when crushed with the expectations that we as well as the society set on ourselves. As long as we let our lives be overcast with clouds of gloom and pessimism, our path to a happy life will be shunned. 

Life is full of problems, but you would be foolish to think that the circumstances would never improve in the future. Someday we will find what we are looking for, or maybe we won’t; maybe we will find something better than that. Whatever we find, whatever we become, we would always be greater than what we are right now. 

“An optimist understands that life can be a bumpy road, but at least it is leading somewhere. They learn from mistakes and failures, and are not afraid to fail again.”

-Harvey Mackay

This is why positive affirmations and gratitude journals have become so popular. Positive affirmations let you know that you are proud of yourself and you believe in yourself. It gives you the confidence to carry on even when everything seems to be working against you. A gratitude journal helps you see the silver lining, it helps you think about the good even in bad days. It helps you gain a more positive outlook, and both these exercises walk you toward a more optimistic life.

Life is short. But life becomes shorter when you are blocking your mind with negativity and pessimism. Poets and writers have always written about eternal hope, about courage, about a bright future. Don’t substitute your cheerfulness with fear and despair. Don’t just exist. Live. 

Somedays, all you need, is belief. You need to believe in the process, in yourself, in the future, in something that gives you hope to not stop – to keep going on.

“Optimism refuses to believe that the road ends without options.”

-Robert H. Schuller

Sleep well at nights. Wake up early. Eat healthy. Go for runs. Have a bucket list. Meditate. Do things you like. It’s okay if things don’t work out at the moment, because they eventually do. 

You may be upset about things. You may think the world is a bad, bad place. You may find yourself crying in front of everyone or alone. You may think your luck is the worst and feel your world breaking apart. One thing to remember through all of this is that the only thing constant is change. Which means that the bad times will change too; they will pass and will turn us into better versions of ourselves.

We may find ourselves in darkness, but the key to a happy life is to cope with the frustrations and move on. 

“One of the things I learned the hard way was that it doesn’t pay to get discouraged. Keeping busy and making optimism a way of life can restore your faith in yourself.”

-Lucille Ball

Fly high. Run. Fall down. But get up again, and live your life.