Optimism Questionnaire
The Secret of Success, Health and Happiness
Few people realise that every time we speak we give off cues revealing all sorts of important information. Our words, tone of voice and gestures give away our innermost thoughts, how we can be influenced and even whether or not we are likely to live a full, successful and healthy life. In this article I will focus on how our words can affect success, health and happiness, for ourselves, families and at work.
Consider this example; a colleague spills coffee over the office floor saying in frustration, “I’m so stupid”. Some time later another colleague does the same thing and you hear, “That was unlucky”. If these are typical examples of their responses to a problem their language structure has revealed their potential for a long and bright future.
The diagram below is the key to making sense of this and it may be useful to think of a set back or a moment of adversity you have experienced recently and assess how you responded as you read on;
Surveys show that most people, when facing a setback or a problem, will exhibit the attitudes described in the top right segment which can be a big problem.
Research over the last 15 years has proven that pessimism is the big predictor of a lack of success. Pessimistic people are found to have poorer health and live shorter lives. By contrast, optimism is shown to be the big predictor of success and longevity.
Our language constantly reveals which part of the grid represents our state of mind. In fact, there is a simple formula to be aware of. Pessimistic people tend to express setbacks, problems or challenges in a permanent, internal and general way, for example saying, “I’m so stupid”, implying this is always happening, it’s their problem and it pervades many if not all areas of their life.
Optimists tend to use language that is external, temporary and specific to describe problems, meaning they are not usual, are due to some outside factor and relate to one specific thing. “That was unlucky”, is a perfect example of this.
These techniques have a solid track record in predicting successful employees, Olympic athletes and even presidential election candidates. I use them frequently in my Cognitive Performance Coaching for sports and business. Recently I watched a client of mine, (the coach of a professional football team), being interviewed on TV after his team had won a big game. A few days before we had been discussing how to apply the optimism formula to his team talks and lift his players. When asked how they had turned a poor run of results around he gave the perfect reply;
“We’re in this league to win it, every team in this league will have an off day or two, we’ve had ours and it’s in the past, now we’re enjoying getting back to winning ways”.
Now assess your own optimism by going to the following link. At the bottom of the page you will find an Optimism Survey download. This will take approx ten minutes and give you a very accurate picture of your own outlook.
Learned Optimism, Marti Seligman Free Press 1998
Click below to take your
Free Optimism Questionnaire
