Be miserable or motivate yourself. Be helpless or in control. Blame someone or take responsibility. These are examples of two ways you can see your life. One way leads to happiness, the other to dissatisfaction.

I’m working through this weekend with my project team to complete an approaching deadline. At one point in time, I would have seen working the weekend as “This isn’t fair, my free time is being used to benefit the company I work for.” Now, I take responsibility and see it as “This is a rewarding opportunity to push my limits, learn and grow.” I chose my career knowing that it would involve lots of travel and the potential for long hours and weekend work. There is no reason to cope in your career (or anything else)- either change your mindset about it, or change it.

Optimism versus Pessimism

What this really comes down to is optimism versus pessimism. When you see your life pessimistically, this leads to helplessness. When you see your life optimistically, this leads to control. Optimism can be learned, but it isn’t an easy path for those accustomed to a pessimistic mindset. The easy path is to quit at the first sign of failure or negative feedback. The less-traveled path is to see negative events as temporary setbacks, or learning experiences. You will gain much more from life taking the optimist’s path versus quitting at the first sign of failure or coping.

It’s Your Choice

All you have is the now. You can spoil it by being miserable and feeling helpless- or enjoy it by motivating yourself and taking control. It’s your choice.

photo credit: vimoh

Well said. Life’s to short to be anything but optimistic. As a new entrepreneur I have no idea what tomorrow will bring or when I will make money but I’m very optimistic about everything.

@Jared: Yes it seems like being optimistic is also a very important trait of entrepreneurs, as they also face a lot of failure. That’s good you are able to stay optimistic with your own business. I appreciate the comment!

I think I stumbled across this at just the right time. To echo Jared, well said. It’s entirely too easy to feel like your life is spiraling out of control, when really we have the power to determine our own happiness.