An Optimistic Take on Career Success in 2011

The first week of 2011 is almost history.  Hope is was productive for you and brought you closer to the life and career success you want and deserve.

Last Friday (New Year’s Eve) one of my friends who reads my career advice and knows I am an incurable optimist repeated something that he had seen on line…

An optimist stays up to welcome the new year in.  A pessimist stays up to make sure the old year goes out.

I admit that I have had a few years (but not too many) that I was happy to see end.  However, I am always look forward to every new year with a sense of optimism.

In yesterday’s career success post, I shared The Optimist Creed with you.  You can get a copy of it to frame and hang in your office by going to https://budbilanich.com/optimist.

I think that optimism is so important to career success that I devoted three tweets in my latest career advice book, Success Tweets, to it.

Tweet 42 says, “Choose optimism.  It builds your confidence.  Believe that today will be better than yesterday and that tomorrow will be better yet.” 

Tweet 43 says, “Optimism is contagious.  Become a positive optimistic person.  Surround yourself with positive people.”

Tweet 44 says, “Be an optimist.  Believe that things will turn out well.  Don’t sulk when they don’t.  Learn what you can and use it next time.”

As you can tell, I’m a big believer in the power of optimism.  I think it is the foundation of all self confidence.  You can’t be self confident if you’re not optimistic.  And, optimism is a choice.  I get up every day believing that good things will happen – and then I go about making them happen.

When I was a kid, I participated in the local Optimist International – the people who created the Optimist Creed — chapter’s oratory contest.  I won my section, and finished third in the state.  The topic that year was “Optimism, Youth’s Greatest Asset.”  That’s hard enough for a ninth grader to say (think Joe Pesci in “My Cousin Vinnie”) let alone write and deliver a ten minute talk.  This experience contributed mightily to my career success.  It gave me the confidence to become a professional speaker.

I especially like the fourth point of The Optimist Creed.  “Promise yourself to look at the sunny side of everything and make your optimism come true.” 

This point goes directly to the idea of committing to taking personal responsibility for your life and career success.  I know it’s difficult to look at the sunny side of things when you’re mired in a problem or are dealing with a failure.  However, if you look for what you can learn from problems and failures, you’ll be looking at the sunny side.  You’ll be on your way to making your optimism come true.  And, you’ll be on the road to the career success you want and deserve.

Christopher Reeve is no longer with us, but he exemplified the idea of looking at the sunny side of things.  Even though he was paralyzed from the neck down after a riding accident, he devoted himself to finding a cure for spinal cord injuries.  I loved the way his optimism comes across in this quote…

“So many of our dreams at first seem impossible, then they seem improbable, and then when we summon the will, they soon become inevitable.”

Christopher Reeve looked at the sunny side of his injury and did what he could to make his optimism come true.  His foundation carries on the work he started.

The common sense career success coach point here is simple.  Successful people are self confident.  Self confident people are optimists.  They follow the career advice on optimism in Tweet 42, 43 and 44 in Success Tweets.  And, they live by the Optimist Creed — a great guide to becoming more optimistic and self confident.  Its proactive approach to life will help you create the life and career success you want and deserve.  (Get your copy at https://budbilanich.com/optimist.)  Remember the old saying, “Whether you’re an optimist, or a pessimist you’ll be proven right.”  I choose optimism, and suggest you do too.

Next December 31 I hope you choose to stay up to welcome 2012, not to make sure that 2011 leaves.  As always, thanks for reading my thoghts on career success.  I really value your thoughts and comments.  Please share them with us in a comment.

Bud