Optimism. And how to train for it.

Optimism is a performance-enhancing drug. In fact, when researchers interviewed former Olympic athletes, they discovered one of the traits that separated those who exceeded expectations from those who fell short: a high level of optimism.

We wanted to share this article because optimism ranks high in our values as a company and while this has been a tough year with new norms, new routines, a lot of isolation and uncertainty…. it’s time to start 2021 and train for higher levels of optimism.

According to the article: If you’re not a natural optimist (which is classic pessimistic thinking, by the way), or if the past year has done a number on your usual positive outlook, you’re not out of the game. Optimism can be trained, but it takes some effort to build.

“Most people haven’t formally trained their mind,” says Michael Gervais, a cofounder of Compete to Create, which has worked with Fortune 100 CEOs, military personnel, and the Seattle Seahawks. “The mind can be a junkyard of ideas, as opposed to a center of clarity where you can apply the science of thinking about the future with an optimistic lens.”

Read more about how you can apply peak performance principles and train for optimism in the Men’s H&F article here.