Glass Half Full?

Are you a ‘glass half full’ or a ‘glass half empty’ sort of person?

As a ‘half full’ you may consider this way of thinking keeps you happier, motivated and opens up more opportunities for you.

As a ‘half empty’ you may consider this way of thinking is realistic, saves you from disappointment or is just familiar and you’re content with this.

Given that there are so many people in both camps it’s fair to say there is no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’, just different ways of thinking. But can we change this if we want to?

Becoming more optimistic: Michael Mosley (Horizon programme, BBC2 10th July) recently demonstrated that it is possible to retrain our thinking and significantly shifted his towards optimism in an eight week experiment.This was achieved through regularly engaging in a process of cognitive bias modification (CBM) and mindfulness meditation. Both of these help us to retrain our focus of attention and it is the repetition of focus that heavily influences our outlook.

The CBM tool involved repeatedly finding the smiling face on a page of faces and it is this practice of looking for the ‘positive’ expression, that becomes more automatic for us, that means that we see this more often. The more we see something the easier it is to generalise it and take it on as a belief. There is a version of this CBM tool here, which is free to use 🙂 www.creativemedia.org.uk

Changing our focus of attention, to change what we see, hear, believe and say, takes time and practice. Coaching increases our awareness of how our thoughts may be limiting us and provides the space to develop fresh thinking that serves us better. There are a number of tools and techniques for helping us change our thinking and behaviour and none of them will be a quick fix. However, working with a practitioner will massively increase the probability of your efforts being effective.