Have you put any reps in the gym lately?
If you’ve done any physical exercise somewhat consistently, you know one thing for sure - if you do it, you’ll improve.
Biceps get stronger. Runs get faster. You stop gasping for air. You’ve got more energy for life.
We easily see how physical reps make us stronger.
What’s harder to see for a human is that your thinking works the same way.
Your, what they call "emotional disposition", your default lens to look at the world through - more optimistic or more doom-y - isn’t “who you are.” It’s a trained skill.
Nature and nurture gave you a starting point. Habits did the rest.
So no, this isn’t “just how you are.”
It’s how you’ve been practicing.
For decades.
Thinking - and the feelings that follow - is a matter of reps too.
With some clients, we do this practice I called “Optimism Reps”.
Every time a doom-and-gloom story shows up, stealing your confidence, shrinking how many possibilities you see, keeping you “safe” and stuck - we redirect our mind with 3 questions:
-
What opportunity might be hiding here that I’m not seeing yet?
Invites curiosity instead of judgment; turns frustration into exploration. -
What’s one thing that could go right here?
Shifts from rumination to constructive imagination. -
What’s one small benefit or silver lining I can find in this? That's working for my better future?
Builds the micro-habit of scanning for positives - even tiny ones - so your brain starts to expect opportunity, and more good things coming.
You shift the thought.
The mood follows.
That’s one rep💪
Would you expect one bicep curl to change your arm into a Mr-Universe-like? Of course not!
Same for the mind. If your optimism muscle has been deconditioned for years, it’ll take some reps to build tone.
Give it time.
Mr. Universe arms aren’t built in a day. Neither is a Simon-Sinek-level optimism😁
Why train optimism at all?
Because growth lives in the unknown. To start, stretch, or ship anything meaningful, you have to believe 2 things: I can figure this out and the future will meet me with possibilities.
Without that, why bother?
Over to you dear reader, will you put in the Optimism Reps? For the next 7 days, do 5 optimism reps a day. See how the world changes to reflect the transformation within.
PS: There’s even research: optimists procrastinate less, likely because we believe the future is worth acting for, and we expect effort to pay off. Optimism is trainable. Put in the reps.
PPS: ChatGPT's creative illustration below.
