How to be Optimistic and Cheer on Life

Hi Fabulous Traveler,

Near the start of the 20th Century, the US had two American Presidents who were, at first, great friends. But later, they drifted apart because of one important difference in their personalities.

Who were they? Teddy Roosevelt and William Taft, the 26th and 27th Presidents of the United States.

William was a cheerful child with an inquisitive mind, but as he grew up, he developed the habit of procrastination. He would never plan in advance, and often found himself rushing to complete his work right before the deadline.

Teddy, on the other hand, was weak and ill as a child. One day, his father told him he could conquer his frailties, and Teddy decided to train every day in order to overcome his physical weakness.

The mindset that Roosevelt developed early on served him well throughout his life. As President, he was famous for tackling issues as soon as they came up, never putting anything off for later. He said that completing tasks ahead of schedule “freed his mind” from worry and facilitated fresh and lucid thinking.

William was impressed by Teddy. He marveled, “I never knew a man who worked as far in advance of what was to be done. Perhaps I value this virtue more highly because I lack it myself.”

In the upcoming weeks, we will follow the story of Roosevelt as he built an iron self-discipline and learn more about his daily rituals and routines. Taking inspiration from him, we will develop our character and strengthen our willpower through small acts of defiance against our mind’s temptations.

Now for the Great News

Contrary to popular belief, there is actually a way to develop self-discipline, and we’ve built a Journey that will help you do so with an easy, step by step method.

At the core of self-discipline is self-regulation; the ability to manage and reduce the intensity of impulses you feel. According to a study done by Dr. Oaten and Dr. Cheng, two researchers from Australian Universities, self-regulation is like a muscle that you can strengthen, just like any other muscle in the body.

The more you practice exercising your self-regulation, the easier it will be to control your behaviour. This is the foundation of self-discipline.

Imagine your willpower as a resource that is initially limited, but which can be increased  to unlimited levels through practice. Just like someone going to the gym to build muscle and strength, you’ll be increasing your willpower every day this next month, through mental resistance training.

A study, recently published in the Journal of Personality, has looked at the broader implications of people’s beliefs about willpower. Katharina Bernecker and her colleagues report that people who see willpower as an unlimited resource tend to be happier. This is at least in part due to their own persistence when life gets tough.

You’ll be able to use your iron self-discipline to start difficult projects and to hold yourself to your decisions. With enough practice, you’ll be able to summon the courage to go to that party where you don’t know anyone, and push yourself to talk to strangers.

What does talking to strangers have in common with self-discipline, you ask?

A lot, actually.

This is how you will become more Courageous

Teddy Roosevelt was said to be very strong and courageous. But are they not one and the same? Having the strength to listen to your rational brain--to ignore fears and tempting instances of instant gratification--allows you to take calculated risks. As you develop self-discipline, you will also develop courage.

Self-discipline allows you to be brave when your emotions tell you to run the other way.

You might not succeed all the time, but that’s all right. In a study by the University College London, it was found that missing a habit for one or two days was not catastrophic to progress. What was most significant was that the participants of the study kept a mindset where they viewed the habit interruption not as a failure, but instead as a learning experience.

Together, we will explore a spectrum of evidence-based practices to improve your self-discipline. Along the way, you’ll hear from other people who were able to completely turn their lives around through acts of sheer willpower.

We like to start slow, to get you familiarized with the techniques and make success easy.

We’ll start with a fun and easy habit, one that you may have tried before.

Rule 1: Always start with a Beginner’s Mind

Observe everything in life with a Beginner’s Mind. The mind of the beginner is empty, free of the arrogance of an expert, ready to accept, to doubt, and open to all the possibilities.

Look at everything we’re suggesting with a novel and cheerful perspective.

Enjoying who you are will empower your self-discipline

A recent study by Columbia University analyzed the effects of gratitude on self-control. The people in the gratitude condition showed much more restraint and were willing to wait for a larger gain.

The more gratitude they felt, the greater their patience towards a larger reward. One of the study’s authors, Professor Ye Li, said:

“Showing that emotion can foster self-control and discovering a way to reduce impatience with a simple gratitude exercise opens up tremendous possibilities for reducing a wide range of societal ills from impulse buying and insufficient saving to obesity and smoking.”

The next time you find yourself procrastinating as your self-control ebbs away at work,  or with your family when you lose your temper, think about the thing you are most proud of; think about the things you hold most dear.

Being grateful is not about being optimistic all the time. It’s about acknowledging the good things in life. Get a diary to write them all down. It’s always better to physically write things down if you’d like to ingrain them in your mind.

This Week's Plan

We have a One-Time Action and a Goal for you.

One-Time Action

For your gratitude sessions, I suggest you get a notebook, but not just any notebook. It should be one that is valuable to you.

Spend some time at your local bookstore or on Amazon to find a notebook you really like. Even better, if you can, buy one on a trip somewhere special or new. That way the notebook will have a story behind it.

If you buy just any notebook, or find one in the closet, you won’t be tempted to write in it. We want you to create a real, almost magical ritual, so that each night you can’t wait to grab your notebook and start writing about all the things you feel grateful for.

Your Goal

For the next 3 days, take some time each evening to be grateful.

When you're grateful, you are less impulsive and more patient. So the more regularly you can practice the act of gratitude, the stronger your self-control will be.

Do it in a very conscious way: consider how great life is and what things make you consider yourself lucky. No matter how bad things seem, you will find happiness in these truths.

Press on Accept below to commit to this Goal, and the Be Grateful habit will be added to your evening routine.

Next week, we’ll start our first mind-training self-discipline technique. We’ll introduce a visualization that has been proven to have a great effect on elite athletes when preparing for big events.

Think of all the things you’ll be able to accomplish in life, once you’ve finally taken hold of the steering wheel.

Keep at it, Fabulous Traveler!