The Power of Optimism
How to have an optimistic mindset when everything else around seems to work against you? What is real optimism? How can someone use this to bring good in tough times? On this podcast episode, Joyce Pring talked with the CEO of Headbands of Hope, philanthropist Jess Ekstrom on how her love to help and brighten children’s life fulfilled her own happiness and turned her into being a better person.
Jess Ekstrom is the founder and CEO of headbands of hope, and author of Chasing the Bright Side: Embrace Optimism, Activate Your Purpose, and Write Your Own Story. Jess and her company have been featured on Good Morning America, in Seventeen, Vanity Fair, Forbes and People. More importantly, they have donated hundreds of 1000s of headbands, reaching every Children's Hospital in the United States, and in 15 other countries to bring hope and optimism.
Limiting Beliefs in Being Optimistic
A lot of people don't really pursue their business idea or their passion, because there's a constant narrative in their head that they will fail or they won’t be able to make it. But what they don’t see is that the skillset they don’t value is not taking oneself too seriously. Being willing to throw darts and keep throwing darts until the person finds something that sticks is vital. After starting something, one can discover so much about oneself by just putting himself out there, for better or worse.
“Say ‘Oh, fascinating that didn’t work, let me see why and learn from it’ instead of ‘Oh, that didn’t work, maybe I’m not qualified to do this.’ It’s all a matter of choice. ”
Achieving the Bright Mentality
During younger years, people tend to force themselves to figure something else out. But as they get older, making mistakes is more acceptable. And in having a set goal, anything isn't that outcome is a miss. Moreover, instead of holding outcomes with this clenched fist, hold it with an open palm. Failure isn't the opposite of success, it's just a part of it. (JE)
It gets messy when a person gets defined by the work that they do because there is no assurance that one will ever get the same exact result that they want in their head. One may have a particular vision in their head, but most of the time they have to work with what they got. Acknowledge that whenever there are problems that arise, there are pain points that one can offer solutions to. Challenge yourself to be creative and optimistic. (JP)
How do you keep optimism flowing?
○ People associate optimism with bliss, and just being happy all the time, is almost like forced happiness. It’s actually not a mood, it's a strategy. Optimism isn't about just hearts and butterflies and trying to be happy all the time, it actually starts when times are tough. And when thinking about doing good, or creating change, they rarely see the seed of where it happens. It's about using it as a strategy to bring good to tough times. And hard times give people choices, to have an excuse as to why we do less or the reason as to why we do more. (JE)
○ Optimism becomes positivity, not despite the darkness, but through it. One doesn't really see optimism or positivity when everything's good, but when everything's going wrong. The power of optimism is knowing and holding on to that positivity, despite everything that happens through everything that happens. (JP)
Impact of Optimism on Mental and Physical State
Similar to the analogy where the boiling water can soften a potato, it can also harden an egg, it’s not much about the circumstance one is in but is about the subject as it is about who one is. Optimism is writing that story that one wants to happen for him instead of being a victim to the bad. (JE)
Knowing that there’s an option, the power to choose whether to harden as an or to soften as a potato gives that person power in his life. Knowing that whatever the circumstances are, the individual has the power to choose how he is going to respond to it and just not react to it. The value in doing it even without people knowing what you are doing, even if nobody’s watching speaks about one’s character. (JP)
From Episode 68 of Adulting with Joyce Pring: “ON THE POWER OF OPTIMISM WITH JESS EKSTROM”
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Adulting With Joyce Pring is the How-To’s of your 20’s told by a 20-something, traversing through life expectantly and with gusto!
Episode summary by Chiara
Soli Deo Gloria!