Risk & Business Magazine General Insurance Services Spring 2020 | Page 21

OPTIMISM
The farmer shrugs and says, “Who
knows if it’s good or bad news.”
You get the point. This fable can
go on and on. It’s about how our
interpretation of events is a result
of our view of the world, our innate
sense of hope or despair. But hope and
optimism aren’t quite the same thing.
According to researcher Tali Sharot:
HOPE IS WHAT
YOU WANT TO
HAPPEN.
OPTIMISM
IS THE BELIEF
THAT WHAT
YOU WANT TO
HAPPEN WILL
HAPPEN.
– TALI SHAROT,
PH.D.
Some people say the key to happiness is
low expectations. The idea being that if
we keep our expectations low, we aren’t
likely to be disappointed, and therefore
when things do go our way, we’ll be
pleasantly surprised. But it turns out
that most people aren’t pessimistic.
Only 4 percent of us claim to be full-on
pessimists, and that’s a good thing.
We (and by “we” I mean everyone – men,
women, old, young, western culture,
eastern culture, rich, poor…) commonly
overestimate our own optimistic
outlook of the world. Statistically we
think we are more attractive, more
likely to get promoted, more likely to
stay married, and less likely to get in
a car accident because we’re better
drivers than most other people too.
And through it all, we think we’re more
modest than the next person too.
Privately, we hold more optimistic
expectations for ourselves, our loved
ones, and our children, yet hold more
pessimistic expectations for strangers.
Although the actual chance of getting
some form of cancer during your
lifetime is about 35 percent, most
people think it will happen to the other
guy.
This optimism bias turns out to be a
good thing because – although it can
lead us to underestimate our chances of
developing illness, getting divorced, or
getting in a car accident – it also leads
us to be more cheerful and excited
about our own future.
That innate optimism bias allows us
to have more favorable expectations of
upcoming events in our lives, which in
turn, lets us be happier and healthier
in the long term, in part because we
expect it. According to the scientist
Tali Sharot, it’s optimistic anticipation
that keeps us cheerful, and that sunny
outlook on life comes from the belief
that we have control over our future.
The reason we are more optimistic
about ourselves is because we believe
we have control over our lives. And the
reason we are more pessimistic about
bigger ideas like the economy, climate
change, or real estate markets because
we believe we have no control. So when
we think about the upcoming weekend,
we can get excited about the plans we
have made and when we think about
the giant project we are on, we might
believe it’s going to fail because we have
little control over the outcome and
success.
Here’s the big idea. When we take a
moment to reflect on how our own
decisions, efforts and emotions make
a positive difference in the world
around us, we are more likely to be
optimistic about the outcome, which
actually makes it more likely to happen,
precisely *because* we take control. It
can be a self-fulfilling prophesy.
Go forth and never apologize for your
smile. +
Entrepreneur, author, idea developer, Shawn Hunter has collaborated with
hundreds of business authors, executives, and researchers to create learning
solutions. Shawn’s first company, Targeted Learning, was acquired by Skillsoft
in February 2007. He is the author of Out•Think and Small Acts of Leadership.
Mindscaling.com and ShawnHunter.com
BY: SHAWN HUNTER FOUNDER &
PRESIDENT OF MINDSCALING
21