Mi optimismo es mi trampolín para el cambio. La semilla de la motivación y el disfrute. El escenario para la acción. Mi condición sine qua non. No puedo renunciar a él porque, de lo contrario, ¿qué me quedaría? Mi optimismo sólo depende de mí. Está en mí y yo lo aliento y lo alimento.
¿Qué cómo lo hago? Pues he aquí algunas de las cosas que construyen y mantienen mi optimismo y me hacen incombustible al desaliento.
Metas, metas, metas.
Cada mañana me levanto con unas cuantas metas que conseguir ese día. Parte de ellas son a corto plazo, es decir, cosas que tengo que hacer en el momento, que puedo terminar en el día y que sólo dependen de mí. De este modo, tengo sensación de control sobre mis objetivos y, por ende, de mi vida.
Otras son pasos intermedios de metas a medio plazo/largo plazo. Cosas que mantienen mi vista en el horizonte, mi mente en el objetivo último y mi corazón ilusionado. Además, combino cosas que no me resultan demasiado agradables, con otras con las que disfruto como una enana. No hay necesidad de machacarse, ¿no?
Porque yo lo valgo.
Esto es, bucear en mis fortalezas y apoyarme en mis valores. Tengo distintos caminos para hacer esto. Uno que me gusta especialmente es buscar mis “héroes”. Un héroe en este contexto es ese referente, ese personaje en el que nos fijamos, al que admiramos y con el que nos identificamos. Puede ser real o de ficción, histórico o actual, conocido o anónimo, de nuestro círculo más cercano o totalmente ajeno a nosotros.
¿Sabes que no escogemos estos héroes, estos modelos, por casualidad? Nos atraen porque hay mucho de nosotros reflejado en ellos. Y como no solemos darnos cuenta de nuestras grandezas, ésta es una manera fantástica, además de divertida, de ser conscientes de ellas. Y una vez las miramos cara a cara obtenemos un chute de autoestima de tal calibre que nos impulsa a ir a por más. Piénsalo. Pruébalo. Busca a tu héroe y enumera lo que le hace tan atractivo. Y te darás cuenta de que puedes ir por la vida con toda legitimidad sintiéndote “citius, altius, fortius”.
Estirar los límites.
Esto es lo que más me cuesta. Es que… se está tan agustito en la cueva… Conozco cada recoveco, cada sombra, es segura, predecible y reconfortante… Todo sabido, todo bajo control, funcionando como un reloj de precisión. Ahí estoy como pez en el agua… ¡de una pecera! Es como buscar las llaves bajo el cono de luz de la farola. Como pretender navegar en un bañera. ¡Pero es que lo que no fluye se estanca! Y lo que se estanca, se pudre. Pues no, gracias.
Así que en esas estoy, en atreverme. En ser valiente. En ir más allá de lo que creo que puedo ir. Explorar lo que no conozco. Meterme en jardines. Y me he dado cuenta de que es lo que nos pasa cuando vemos pelis de suspense: sabemos que cierta dosis de angustia vamos a vivir, que lo vamos a pasar mal, pero luego al final, de verdad, de verdad, ¡no pasa nada! Bueno, a los protas de la peli sí, pero en realidad, ¡a nosotros no! Y lo que cuenta es el aprendizaje que nos llevamos. Sea cual sea el resultado, si tenemos los ojos y, sobre todo, la mente y el corazón abiertos, nos vamos con experiencias que no tienen precio.
Es de bien nacidos...
Llevo ya bastante tiempo practicando un agradecimiento hondo y sincero por todo lo que soy, lo que tengo y lo que he conseguido. Por estar como estoy y donde estoy. Por tener al lado a quienes tengo. Soy una afortunada y disfruto a manos llenas de lo que me rodea. Cada momento del día es un milagro. Es importante recordar esto, sobre todo en los momentos en los que estamos más plof. Ahí es donde más necesario es dejar de mirarse el ombligo.
Porque mirarse el ombligo, además de aburrido, reduce nuestra capacidad de juicio, limita nuestra visión de las cosas, nos hace caer en la autocompasión (¡puaj!); y lo que es peor, nos impide saborear lo que tenemos, perdiendo un gúgol de oportunidades para experimentar pequeñas y valiosísimas dosis de felicidad. Cada día.
Reír, jugar, hacer travesuras.
Durante años he cultivado una absurda exigencia de gravedad y trascendencia en todo lo que hacía. Perfeccionista hasta la extenuación (… y la exasperación de los que me rodeaban), mantenía muy delimitados y separados los ámbitos del juego y el trabajo, y en este último no entraba el concepto de diversión. Hasta ahí podíamos llegar. Menos mal que fui capaz de darme cuenta de que había otras maneras de acometer… ¡la vida! Y menos mal que he tenido siempre la gran suerte de rodearme de grandes personas que, con infinito cariño y una paciencia aún mayor, me han mostrado la otra cara de la luna.
No voy a negar que la cabra tira al monte y que de vez en cuando he de recordarme aflojar las riendas. Pero ahora sé que siempre es posible encontrar el lado lúdico de las cosas. Que una sonrisa abre grietas en las fortalezas mejor blindadas y que la risa es esa brisa fresca que acaricia la piel al sol de agosto. Que jugar nos sacude la mente y nos esponja el espíritu y, como los niños, nos hace sentirnos plenos, contentos con nosotros mismos y con una certeza, casi delirante, de que todo es posible.
Suscribo, en definitiva, las palabras del periodista Vicente Verdú: “No hay que ser a las locas optimista pero, en innumerables coyunturas, confiar en un resultado positivo, trabajar con la expectativa de lo mejor, esperar respuestas productivas de uno mismo, de los delanteros centros o de los ciudadanos, contribuye, según la ciencia, a redondear efectos triunfales. Y a ser más feliz, más amable y deseado, y más capaz.”
Pues eso. Yo, me apunto.
After 2 years fastened in the adventure of entrepreneurship, all costs and ridiculous revenue (0 invoices since last summer), here I am. Optimism keeps me up. Voltaire said that optimism is “the madness of insisting that all is well when we are miserable”. I would say this is a “naïf optimism”, if not to call it plainly stupidity. My optimism is an intelligent one (what else!): I firmly believe that I’m going to have an auspicious future, no matter how black the present presents itself.
My optimism is my springboard for change. The seed of motivation and enjoyment. The stage for action. My sine qua non condition. I can’t relinquish it because, if I did what would I have left? My optimism depends on me. It is in me, I encourage it and feed it. How do I do it? Here there are some of the things that build and keep my optimism, and make me incombustible to dismay.
Goals, goals, goals.
Every morning I wake up with a bunch of goals to achieve during the day. Some of them are short term. That is, things that I have to do at the moment, that I can finish in the day; things that depend on, and only, me. This way I have the feeling that I’m in control of my objectives and, consequently, of my life.
Other goals are intermediate steps in achieving more medium/long term goals. These are things that keep my eyes on the horizon, my mind in the objective, and my heart excited. And, last but not least, I combine things that I don’t like very much doing, with other things that I have a ball with. Because it is not about beating oneself up, isn't it?.
Because I’m worth it .
That is diving into my strengths and lean on my values. I walk different paths to do so. One that I particularly enjoy is to look for my “heroes”. A hero in this context is that referent, that character in whom we pay attention, we admire and we identify ourselves with. They could be real or fictional, historic or actual, known or anonymous, belonging to our circle or totally unrelated to us.
It turns out that we do not choose these heroes, these models, by chance. We are attracted to them because there are lots of us reflected on them. And given that we usually are blind to our greatness, this is a fantastic and fun way to be aware of it. Once we look at our greatness right into the eye, we get a hit of self-esteem of such a caliber that we are impelled to go for more. Think of it. Try it. Search for your hero and name what make them so compelling. You will realize that you can live your life legitimately feeling “citius, altius, fortius”.
Stretch your limits.
This is real hard for me, because… I’m so cozy in my cave… I know all its twists, its shadows and lights. My cave is safe, predictable, and comforting. All is known there. Everything is under control, working like a Swiss watch. There I’m free as a fish swimming… ¡in a fishbowl! It’s like looking for one’s keys under the beam of light of the street lamp. Like trying to sail in a bathtub. But what does not flow becomes stagnant. And it stinks! No, thanks.
So, that’s what I’m after. Being brave. Going beyond where I think I can go. Exploring what I don’t know. Being in trouble. And I’m realizing that it is like thrillers: we know that we are going to experience some dosage of anxiety, fear, and insecurity. We are going to have a bad time. But at the end, really, really, nothing bad happens to us! It does to the leading guys in the movie, all right. But not to us. What counts is the learning. Regardless of the result, if we go with our eyes, mind and heart open, we take with us priceless experiences.
Thanks.
I’ve been practicing, for some time now, a deep and truthful thankfulness for all that I am, all that I have, and all that I’ve achieved. I’m thankful for being just how I am, where I am, and to whom I’m with. I’m fortunate and I delight myself in all that surrounds me. Every moment of the day is a miracle. This is really important when we are feeling down, and tempted to think we are the cat’s whiskers.
And falling in that thinking is not only dumb, it also reduces our good senses, limits our vision of the world, plunges us into self-pity (yuck!), and worse: it prevents us from savoring what we already have, missing a googol of opportunities to experiment little but precious doses of happiness. Every single day.
Laugh, play, have fun.
For years I’ve cultivated an absurd demand for gravity and transcendence in all I did. Perfectionist to weariness (… and exasperation of my closest ones), I kept recreation well apart from work. Work and fun were conflicting concepts. That would be it! Fortunately I was able to see there were other ways to deal with… life! And fortunately I’ve always been surrounded by great people who, with infinite affection and a bigger yet patience, have showed me the other side of the moon.
I’m not going to deny that a leopard never changes its spots, so once in a while I have to remind myself to loosen my grip. But now I know that it is always possible to find the playful side of things. That a smile opens cracks in the most armored fortress. That a laugh is that cool breeze on the skin when under the summer sun. That playing shakes our mind and smoothes our spirit. Because playing, like children do, makes us feel whole, pleased with ourselves and gives us an almost delusional certainty about the possibility in everything.
As the Spanish journalist Vicente Verdú stated on optimism: “It’s not about being wildly optimistic; however, in nameless circumstances, to trust in a positive result, to work with the expectation of the best, to look forward to productive responses from oneself (…) contributes, according to science, to make round triumphal effects. And to become happier, more sociable, more attractive and more talented.
That is that. I’m for it.
No voy a negar que la cabra tira al monte y que de vez en cuando he de recordarme aflojar las riendas. Pero ahora sé que siempre es posible encontrar el lado lúdico de las cosas. Que una sonrisa abre grietas en las fortalezas mejor blindadas y que la risa es esa brisa fresca que acaricia la piel al sol de agosto. Que jugar nos sacude la mente y nos esponja el espíritu y, como los niños, nos hace sentirnos plenos, contentos con nosotros mismos y con una certeza, casi delirante, de que todo es posible.
Suscribo, en definitiva, las palabras del periodista Vicente Verdú: “No hay que ser a las locas optimista pero, en innumerables coyunturas, confiar en un resultado positivo, trabajar con la expectativa de lo mejor, esperar respuestas productivas de uno mismo, de los delanteros centros o de los ciudadanos, contribuye, según la ciencia, a redondear efectos triunfales. Y a ser más feliz, más amable y deseado, y más capaz.”
Pues eso. Yo, me apunto.
After 2 years fastened in the adventure of entrepreneurship, all costs and ridiculous revenue (0 invoices since last summer), here I am. Optimism keeps me up. Voltaire said that optimism is “the madness of insisting that all is well when we are miserable”. I would say this is a “naïf optimism”, if not to call it plainly stupidity. My optimism is an intelligent one (what else!): I firmly believe that I’m going to have an auspicious future, no matter how black the present presents itself.
My optimism is my springboard for change. The seed of motivation and enjoyment. The stage for action. My sine qua non condition. I can’t relinquish it because, if I did what would I have left? My optimism depends on me. It is in me, I encourage it and feed it. How do I do it? Here there are some of the things that build and keep my optimism, and make me incombustible to dismay.
Goals, goals, goals.
Every morning I wake up with a bunch of goals to achieve during the day. Some of them are short term. That is, things that I have to do at the moment, that I can finish in the day; things that depend on, and only, me. This way I have the feeling that I’m in control of my objectives and, consequently, of my life.
Other goals are intermediate steps in achieving more medium/long term goals. These are things that keep my eyes on the horizon, my mind in the objective, and my heart excited. And, last but not least, I combine things that I don’t like very much doing, with other things that I have a ball with. Because it is not about beating oneself up, isn't it?.
Because I’m worth it .
That is diving into my strengths and lean on my values. I walk different paths to do so. One that I particularly enjoy is to look for my “heroes”. A hero in this context is that referent, that character in whom we pay attention, we admire and we identify ourselves with. They could be real or fictional, historic or actual, known or anonymous, belonging to our circle or totally unrelated to us.
It turns out that we do not choose these heroes, these models, by chance. We are attracted to them because there are lots of us reflected on them. And given that we usually are blind to our greatness, this is a fantastic and fun way to be aware of it. Once we look at our greatness right into the eye, we get a hit of self-esteem of such a caliber that we are impelled to go for more. Think of it. Try it. Search for your hero and name what make them so compelling. You will realize that you can live your life legitimately feeling “citius, altius, fortius”.
Stretch your limits.
This is real hard for me, because… I’m so cozy in my cave… I know all its twists, its shadows and lights. My cave is safe, predictable, and comforting. All is known there. Everything is under control, working like a Swiss watch. There I’m free as a fish swimming… ¡in a fishbowl! It’s like looking for one’s keys under the beam of light of the street lamp. Like trying to sail in a bathtub. But what does not flow becomes stagnant. And it stinks! No, thanks.
So, that’s what I’m after. Being brave. Going beyond where I think I can go. Exploring what I don’t know. Being in trouble. And I’m realizing that it is like thrillers: we know that we are going to experience some dosage of anxiety, fear, and insecurity. We are going to have a bad time. But at the end, really, really, nothing bad happens to us! It does to the leading guys in the movie, all right. But not to us. What counts is the learning. Regardless of the result, if we go with our eyes, mind and heart open, we take with us priceless experiences.
Thanks.
I’ve been practicing, for some time now, a deep and truthful thankfulness for all that I am, all that I have, and all that I’ve achieved. I’m thankful for being just how I am, where I am, and to whom I’m with. I’m fortunate and I delight myself in all that surrounds me. Every moment of the day is a miracle. This is really important when we are feeling down, and tempted to think we are the cat’s whiskers.
And falling in that thinking is not only dumb, it also reduces our good senses, limits our vision of the world, plunges us into self-pity (yuck!), and worse: it prevents us from savoring what we already have, missing a googol of opportunities to experiment little but precious doses of happiness. Every single day.
Laugh, play, have fun.
For years I’ve cultivated an absurd demand for gravity and transcendence in all I did. Perfectionist to weariness (… and exasperation of my closest ones), I kept recreation well apart from work. Work and fun were conflicting concepts. That would be it! Fortunately I was able to see there were other ways to deal with… life! And fortunately I’ve always been surrounded by great people who, with infinite affection and a bigger yet patience, have showed me the other side of the moon.
I’m not going to deny that a leopard never changes its spots, so once in a while I have to remind myself to loosen my grip. But now I know that it is always possible to find the playful side of things. That a smile opens cracks in the most armored fortress. That a laugh is that cool breeze on the skin when under the summer sun. That playing shakes our mind and smoothes our spirit. Because playing, like children do, makes us feel whole, pleased with ourselves and gives us an almost delusional certainty about the possibility in everything.
As the Spanish journalist Vicente Verdú stated on optimism: “It’s not about being wildly optimistic; however, in nameless circumstances, to trust in a positive result, to work with the expectation of the best, to look forward to productive responses from oneself (…) contributes, according to science, to make round triumphal effects. And to become happier, more sociable, more attractive and more talented.
That is that. I’m for it.
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