Just before the end of last year I wrote an article on how tough many people and businesses HAD found the year to be. Now that we have entered the New Year you know what I feel? Optimistic and Anticipatory. Being optimistic, I find, is an underrated quality.
Being optimistic is not pie in the sky thinking
I am not being a rose-tinted spectacle type of person nor am I naively wishful that the coming year will be a better year than the last. I truly have a feeling of excitement for the coming year based on little more than something in the air, vibrations or a general awareness of the same sense of anticipation amongst all the people I move, meet and come into contact with. Perhaps it is because people are just sick with being ground down all the time and want to aim for more affirmative outcomes. Perhaps this is the year for being optimistic? The one thing I am sure of is that harnessing whatever this feeling is will propel the coming year into a positive arc.
Whether you agree with me or not is it not better to formulate plans based on such a bullish and bright outlook? Turn away from the drudgery of last year and start the new with a renewed sense of vigour and confidence. There is no-one who can tell us what will happen tomorrow let alone the rest of the year so what happens next is entirely in our hands. Of course, we could adopt this attitude at any point throughout the year. It is not necessary to use the New Year as the leap off point however, as most of us are regimented by the calendar year, and we may have been able to rest over the festive period, it is a good time to start being optimistic.
Being optimistic is more than a feeling, it is an approach.
I am using my time right now to revamp, create and target new plans and strategies. I am thinking of different ways to approach my business. And that, for me is the key to harness the potential of this new feeling – move away from doing things the same old way. Keep experimenting and creating new avenues to test and follow up on, having the temerity to attempt things that actually scare me. And I am not restricting this thinking to my work life; I will be applying it to my home life too. This being optimistic approach is more exciting than focusing on the negative or wallowing in doom and gloom thinking.
I am going to surround myself with other people and connections that feel the same way. As I have found in the past concentrating and being amongst a like-minded community promotes positive results.
I won’t entirely forget the past as there are valuable lessons to be learnt from it and I’ll use those to make sure I don’t repeat any mistakes twice or be better prepared when a challenge hits. As I said before, being optimistic is not about being unrealistic, but it is about seeing opportunities rather than disasters.
So that’s my challenge this year: going out and shaking the tree. What’s yours? Let me know in the comments below.