The Habits of an Optimist

Do you want to live the life of an optimist?

Victor Perton, The Optimism Man, asks: Do you want to live the life of an optimist?

“Optimism is a belief that good things will happen and that things will work out in the end.”

These 20 habits are practical ways to strengthen optimism in how you think, speak, connect and act each day, and to help you live the life of an optimist.

The 20 Habits of an Optimist

1. Smile and say hello
A smile and a warm greeting can change the tone of an encounter. Make a habit of acknowledging people, creating connection and bringing a little optimism into everyday interactions.

2. Ask a better question in your greetings: “What’s been the best thing in your day?”
Instead of defaulting to “How are you?”, ask a question that invites people to notice and share something good. “What’s been the best thing in your day?” can change the tone of a conversation and help both people direct attention towards what is going well.

3. Ask yourself: “What makes me optimistic?”
Pause regularly and name the people, experiences, beliefs and possibilities that strengthen your optimism. Knowing what makes you optimistic helps you recognise and return to those sources when life is difficult.

4. Ask others: “What makes you optimistic?”
Ask the question often. It invites people to notice the sources of optimism in their own lives and can turn an ordinary conversation into one about possibility, meaning and the future.

5. Surround yourself with optimists
Spend more time with people who help you see possibility, recover perspective and act constructively. And remember that optimism is contagious: try to be the person who strengthens optimism in others.
Learn more: https://www.centreforoptimism.com/blog/surround and Join our community of Optimists 

6. Practise gratitude and say thank you more often
Notice what is good and express thanks for it. Say thank you more often to the people who help, encourage and enrich your life, and build a simple evening gratitude practice by reflecting on three things for which you are grateful.

7. Practise meditation and mindfulness
Make time to be still, breathe and pay attention to the present moment. Meditation and mindfulness can help quiet mental noise, create space between thought and reaction, and make it easier to notice what is true, what matters and what remains possible.

8. Laugh more
Make room for humour and laughter every day. Spend time with people who make you laugh, seek out what amuses you, and remember that laughter can restore perspective and connection when life feels heavy.

9. Think like an optimist
Face the facts, but do not let difficulty become the whole story. When a negative thought arrives, pause and test it: Is it accurate? Is it the only possible interpretation? What else might be true? Then ask what is still possible, what you can influence and what constructive step you can take next.
Learn more: https://www.centreforoptimism.com/blog/think-like-an-optimist-the-daily-practice-of-looking-for-possibility

10. Use the language of optimism
Choose words that face reality without closing down possibility. Speak in ways that encourage agency, learning and constructive action, especially when circumstances are difficult. For example, instead of saying, “This is hopeless,” try, “This is difficult. What can we do next?”
Learn more: https://www.centreforoptimism.com/blog/language

11. Practise optimistic self-talk
Pay attention to the way you speak to yourself, especially after setbacks. Replace harsh, absolute or defeatist language with words that are accurate, encouraging and leave room for learning and another attempt. For example, instead of “I always get this wrong,” try “That didn’t go the way I wanted. What can I learn and try differently next time?”

12. Imagine your best possible self
Every three months or so, set aside 20 minutes to imagine yourself several years into the future, with things having gone remarkably well because you have worked, learned, adapted, persevered and accepted help along the way. Write down what you see, then ask: “What is one element of this vision I can begin practising this week?”
Practice: https://www.centreforoptimism.com/Your-Best-Possible-Self

13. Learn and innovate
Stay curious. Learn something new, test a different approach and keep looking for better ways to do things. Optimism grows when we experience ourselves as capable of learning, adapting and creating change.

14. Learn and use Appreciative Inquiry
Appreciative Inquiry is a discipline for asking questions that uncover strengths, possibilities and what is already working. Learn how to use it to make meetings more powerful by asking questions such as: What is working well? When have we been at our best? What strengths can we build on? What would success look like?

15. Choose and use your optimism superpower
Everyone has strengths that can help create optimism in themselves and others. Use the Centre for Optimism’s Optimism Superpower exercise to identify yours, then look for opportunities to use it deliberately in your work, relationships and daily life.
Exercise: https://www.centreforoptimism.com/superpowers

16. Read and share optimism
Make room each day for stories of courage, progress, kindness, ingenuity and possibility. What we repeatedly attend to shapes what we notice, so seek out evidence that people are solving problems and making things better, and share the best of it with others.

17. Manage your news diet
Stay informed, but do not let a relentlessly negative news cycle become your picture of reality. Limit repetitive doom-scrolling and deliberately balance problem-focused news with credible evidence of progress, solutions and people making a difference.

18. Forgive
Forgiveness does not mean pretending harm did not happen or excusing bad behaviour. It means choosing, where you can, not to let resentment keep governing your attention, energy and future.
Learn more: https://www.centreforoptimism.com/blog/forgiveness

19. Spend time in nature and beautiful places
Make time to walk, garden, sit by water, notice trees, birds and changing light, or simply spend time somewhere that restores your sense of perspective. Nature and beauty can interrupt rumination, renew attention and remind us that life is larger than the problem immediately in front of us.
Learn more: https://www.centreforoptimism.com/nature

20. Practise acts of kindness
Look for small ways to help, encourage or delight other people. Acts of kindness strengthen connection, shift attention beyond ourselves and can create optimism in both the giver and the recipient.