Shift your expectations.
According to neuroscientist Tali Sharot at University College London, “The belief that the future will be better than the past or present is called optimism bias.” Some individuals remarry after divorce or quickly find new jobs after loosing the first one. They keep trying. They aren’t blind to life’s challenges, and they simply have more hope for the future.
The notion of optimism was distinctly measured by Cognitive Neuroscientist, Sara Bengtsson (University of East Anglia). She conducted a study where she primed students with positive or negative expectations, and then measured test performance along with scanned brains. The student’s brain responded differently to errors on the test depending on how they were primed (negatively or positively).
The area of the brain involving self-reflection and memory recall was more active among students with positive expectations. They were told they would “learn from their mistakes and improve upon them.” The negative expectations, as you can guess, did not light up the brain. Expectations really can become a self-fulfilling prophecy as you realize your actions, behaviors, and integrate those learnings to your environment. Your perspective literally changes how you see the world.
The same is true for the psychological exercise when asked about the glass – is it half full or half empty? The point now isn’t about the contents of the glass at all. It’s the pitcher of water next to the glass. You can refill your glass, and shift your expectations.
Source: Breathe Magazine, Happiness Special, 2018
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