How Being An Optimist Is Holding You Back

There’s a mountain of evidence to support the idea that we need to believe in ourselves to achieve our goals.  It’s true,too.  We should approach our goals with a positive attitude and belief in success.  But being an optimist can be a double-edged sword.

The Downside Of Being An Optimist

Researchers in Japan studied the psychological profiles of over 100 obese patients attending a weight loss clinic.  They found that participants that have some negative emotion associated with their obesity were more likely to be successful at losing, and maintaining, weight loss.  Researchers theorized that patients who have negative feelings about their condition are more likely to implement change.

Called optimism bias, this is the tendency to over-estimate the outcome of an action.  According to my wife, I’m especially susceptible of this behavior.  Apparently, I over-estimate the number of tasks I can complete in a given amount of time.  Color me guilty.

Extended research into this topic has proven it to be a regular occurrence.  Apparently, being an optimist only increases the likelihood.  It stems from the failure to remember that the world is not ideal when making predictions, thereby setting up unrealistic expectations.

We have a multitude of examples to point to in our daily lives:

• Who among us has bought a treadmill after making a New Year’s resolution, only to have it become a clothes-hanger?
• Ever build or remodel a house and have the work take longer than expected?
• Nearly all newlyweds expect to spend their entire lives together, despite the high divorce rate.
• Most smokers believe they’ll be less likely to develop a smoking related illness.

Now, I’m not saying being an optimist is bad.  In fact, it’s a great personality trait.  But the ability to set realistic expectations will drastically increase both your personal satisfaction, and your odds of success in achieving your goals.

One approach that’s been proven to mitigate the downside of being an optimist is, when making a prediction about your behavior, break the prediction up into two trains of thought, like so:

1. Start with making a prediction about the outcome in an ideal world.
2. Now, make a prediction about the outcome.

Dubbed the “ideal-real” technique, this approach focuses us to acknowledge that the world is not ideal.  Things can (and probably will) happen, that are completely beyond our control that may interfere with your ideal time frame for success.

What do you think?  Can we poor overly optimistic souls could benefit from this mental exercise?

Resources

• ScienceDaily
• Optimism Bias
• Consistent Over-Optimism

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1. Get In A Group For Big Weight Loss
2. Exercise & Fitness Goals — Finding Motivation For Change
3. 8 Tips To Build More Will Power
4. Conquer Bias To Reach Your Goals
5. Striving For Fitness Perfection