• by Dave Morgan , Featured Contributor, November 7, 2024

I am an optimist who firmly believes in the power of optimism. I also know that being an optimist is not always easy -- and for some situations, being an optimist can seem downright impossible.

That’s why I turned to my good friend Bill Burke to be the keynote speaker of my company’s leadership offsite earlier this year. Many of you know Bill from his days as the founding general manager of Turner Classic Movies, former president of TBS, the former CEO of The Weather Channel, the president of the Portland Sea Dogs AA baseball team, or from the book he co-wrote with Ted Turner, “Call Me Ted.”

But Bill has now embarked on an incredibly important mission, helping people be more optimistic as the founder and CEO of The Optimism Institute, the outgrowth of a year-long Advanced Leadership Fellowship that he and his wife Karen recently completed at Harvard.

There is a paradox in modern optimism, Bill told us: “On one hand, this is the greatest time in the history of the world to be alive. But, on the other hand, there has never been a more difficult time to be an optimist.”

People across the world live longer, healthier lives than ever before. Standards of living are up across the board around the world. Childhood death rates are down dramatically. More people in the world receive more education than ever before. More people live in democratic nations, earn more money, can buy more essentials, can travel and pursue happiness.

But we also now live an era of constant connectedness, where every piece of bad news happening anywhere in the world is delivered in real time to your palm, desktop or TV, and where social platforms’ personalization algorithms optimize the delivery of content that incites the greatest emotional response (bad more than good, it seems), rather than necessarily the greatest information value.

Rapid change, social anxiety and complexity instill fear or flight in people, all making it hard for them to be optimistic. But why does being optimistic matter?

Bill explained that research shows optimists are happier. They see things more positively and are thus more energized to cope with obstacles. They sleep better, have stronger immune function and better cardiovascular health. They are more resilient, since optimism strengthens us to keep our goals in place and keep trying.

We asked Bill if optimism can be developed, or if it’s just something  you’re born with. He offered us a number of techniques to help improve optimism:

Notice good things. See the kind acts of others: the person opening a door for another, or giving directions to a stranger. They are all around us. Train yourself to see them. It’s like when you’re shopping for a new car, and suddenly you see them all around you.

Stop worrying about things you can’t affect. We’re now aware of so many things happening around the world, many of them tragedies. They make you sad. As the Stoics have thought for millennia, we need to learn not to spend our time and anxiety on those things beyond our control.

Spend less time on social media. Stop giving so much control of your headspace to Big Tech companies abusing your attention and emotions. Take it back for better purposes, like time with your friends, family or helping others.

Read more history. Tough things happening today aren’t nearly as bad as some portray them relative to human history. How many commentators and posts are telling us (or screaming at us) every day that “the United States has never been so divided”? Maybe it’s a good time to read about the U.S. Civil War and the 620,000 soldiers on both sides who were killed in the four years of horrific fighting and devastation.

Listen to “Blue Sky.” It’s Bill Burke’s weekly podcast. The stories are amazing.

Still need convincing? Just watch the Olympics for a few hours. You can’t help but be moved by images like the young French swimmer hugging half of the spectators in the swimming arena after his gold medal win, or the American steeplechase runner coming from last to win silver and beat his personal best time by 10 seconds! Or the incomparable Simone Biles and her teammate paying homage on the podium to the gold medal winner from Brazil.

In closing, Bill posed a simple question to us: The history books are full of the amazing feats of great optimists. Can you name some amazing accomplishments of great pessimists?

This post was previously published in an earlier edition of Media Insider.