To be……or not to be?

Everybody wants success, and some people like you maybe just want it more. However, the most important key to success is not the ability or genius, but attitude. Attitude is always the key to achieve things. Everyone has heard the term “positive thinking”, but what does that mean for you? Today, my delivery will be focused on optimistic and pessimistic attitude and some points that we commonly misunderstood.

Being optimistic is a habit. Optimists often find hope during distress. There is definitely a positive effect to being positive. An optimist with no shoes will think about those who have no legs. When optimists have failed, they genuinely think they took one step closer to their goals. When bad things happen to them, it doesn’t seem to bother them because they simply see it as being part of the big picture. Nowadays, people believe being optimistic is one of the characteristics to form a successful life. For that reason, almost everyone advocates the importance of being optimistic due to higher work efficiency and healthier conditions both on physical and mental aspects. The mind-body connection has a sound science behind it. Let me give you a real life example. Doctors now believe that having a positive attitude - practicing positive thinking everyday can improve your health. In fact, Researchers found that having an optimistic outlook can do wonders for a patient's recovery. In most cases, the higher a patient’s outlook on life, the faster the recovery time was. The research shows that the power of positive thinking is real. They found that patients who thought they would do well after surgery - did do well. Those who thought they wouldn't do so well - didn't fare well.

It comes down to this: You are what you think; you feel what you want, which means you can create a positive life if you want to.

Isn’t it amazing?

It sounds nice. But does positive thinking work for everybody?

Every individual has a different personality. Not everybody can call themselves an optimist. If we eagerly try to “fix” and force people to be optimistic, will that work and make things better for them?

Being pessimistic isn’t wrong. Being a pessimist doesn’t mean you are going to be a loser. Sometimes it’s quite the opposite. It’s by expecting the worst and being overly gloomy that they are well off the mark. By being more goal-orientated a pessimist can convert negative energy into positive energy.

In general, there are some things in both ways of thinking that we should notice. For optimists, they are prone to misunderstand that they can be in charge of all things and that would probably cause unrealistic judgments and exceeding self-evaluation, eventually making them disconnected with the reality. For pessimists, their anxiety would narrow down their perceptions and block them form thinking creatively, then collaterally influence the ability of challenging new things. In other words, there are pros and cons in both of the attitudes.

Being optimistic and being pessimistic are two different ways of thinking. Being an optimist doesn’t mean you will be a successful legend. However, if you think pessimistically, that might mean you will lock yourself with negative emotions for ever.

Although it’s not fair to judge the right and wrong between the two, it can be fair enough to judge the potentials of the two. Take a salesman for example, if you are a salesperson and you are a total optimist. I would believe you will find yourself in heaven simply because you see every challenge in a positive light and regard all them of as your opportunities. Even you are a pessimist; you still can handle things with your carefulness and foresee things that might not have happened yet. That can also lead you to success.

Whether you are a pessimist or an optimist, you are still the one who understands yourself the most. As long as you can make progress in your way of life, why would you have to change yourself to be different? In this case, all you need to do is just to be yourself. Then your traits may one day lead you to victory.

Triumph brings us confidence and self-esteem. We grow up from self-affirmation and self-satisfaction. Tell me, if we can understand and exploit our natures to have happiness and fulfillment surrounding us, does it still matter which type of thinker you are? This would be my presentation for today. Thank you for your attention.