Cure For  Pessimism? Challenging Your Negative Beliefs

Currently, I’m living with a housemate who is a pessimist. I pretty much told him so, but he rejected my words. Yet, the evidence states the contrary. 

How to Recognize a Closet Pessimist?

I call a closet pessimist someone who is a pessimist but does not admit himself to be so.

To prove that my flatmate is such a person, I have accumulated several evidence pieces, first being how he talks. Often, in a random conversation, which has nothing to do with the topic of happiness (and nothing else for that matter), he states things like “the worst comes to worst,” “I’m not mad at you,” or Me: “Hey bro” He: “What’s wrong?” I call this form of talk as negatively framed statements since a person uses negatively framed words in how he speaks, thinks, and writes. To me, using negatively framed words is not a dead giveaway that a person is a pessimist, but if they use these words often enough, it becomes that much obvious. 

Another sure sign of pessimism is materialism and egocentrism, which are prevalent in our current society. Yes, books of studies are written on altruism vs. egoism and minimalism vs. materialism, showing that happier people are less materialistic and egoistic. Thus, guess what the preference of my flatmate regarding these two statements is?

Lastly, to be happy is hard work and happy people work hard to maintain their positive mood. Oppositely, being negative is easy. Just do what you always did, and you will get pretty much the same results. In turn, pessimists don’t believe that extra work will lead to positive results. They are trapped in the, whereas they don’t believe that they can improve their current situation Negative Belief Bias, so why bother? Respectfully, if anyone is to challenge them about their negative state, they are likely to hoard a book full of excuses as to why happiness is impossible. 

How to Recognize a Closet Pessimist?

Why Do People Hide Behind Pessimism? 

We can fake positive emotions as quickly as we can tell a lie. The most famous example of this is a woman who came to a happiness seminar, and despite her claims that she was happy, her words, tone of voice, and body language told a different story. And yet, she was at this happiness seminar, right? What was she doing there? Did she forget her keys there from the previous event?

Of course, I always remind people that the easiest place to be happy is at a happiness seminar. After all, the whole point of such a meetup is to make a person feel happy. But what happens outside such an event, when all the incentives to be happy are gone? 

We are said to be a hero of our own story. When we are confronted with evidence that we are under performing in certain parts of like, like happiness, our psychology defends us by creating a narrative of blaming, denying, or justifying why this is incorrect and why we are still perfect. This self-defense mechanism allowed us to accept a lot of negativity in our lives and still feel good about ourselves. And yet it is the same mechanism that prevents us from being happy. 

Why Do People Hide Behind Pessimism?

Why We Can’t Save Hidden Pessimists?

Henry Ford said that “Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t – you’re right.” This same quote applies to pessimism, whereas if a person believes themselves to be unhappy and that there is no way around it, then he is right. To this point, often, people can’t perform in a specific task just because they have limiting believes about why they can’t do so. They might be qualified to do something in every other area of life, but if they are not prepared to face life in their minds, they will be unlikely to make it in reality. 

Oppositely, optimists see possibility even in the grimmest of the affairs. This is why, despite their many limitations, they are often outperforming their pessimistic counterparts, simply because they try to do something, even if they ultimately will fail to do so. Personally, I had to have a lot of optimism in writing my book for six years, as even a little bit of doubt could have stopped this process.

Of course, in the case of my flatmate, he is not a pessimist in all aspects of his life, as he can talk very passionately about his job where he is performing very well. And yet, this one event of optimism (and maybe a few others) can trick us into believing that we are more positive than negative. However, if we are negative 90% of the time and only positive during the remaining 10%, does it make us optimistic or pessimistic? 

Picture of Roman Russo: Author of Optimal Happiness

Roman Russo: Author of Optimal Happiness

Roman Russo wasn't always happy and struggled with his own negative emotions, anxieties, and depression, until one day he pledged to resolve this part of life, whatever it took. The journey took 6 years, but it was worth it. Today, Roman considers himself to be one of the happiest people alive, part of the 1% of the happiest elite, and he now teaches others a working and universal happiness formula to reach a similar goal. He offers his best advice on Optimal Happiness social media, newsletter, blog, and books, and teaches a complete and unconditional happiness formula in his online courses.

Leave a Reply

“The problem is that of optimization,” states Roman Russo, author of Optimal Happiness: The Fastest & Surest Way To Reach Your Happiest Potential. There is plenty of advice on how to be happier or less sad, but no one is speaking about how to become the happiest we can be. And this is the difference that makes all the difference. By not looking at our maximum potential for happiness, we fall short of achieving it. After all, we all have hundreds of ideas on how to be happier or less sad, but most people still feel like they are not living their best lives. As such, Optimal Happiness explores the question of how to be the happiest we can be, regardless of who we are, where we are from, and what our life circumstances are. It proposes a complete and unconditional formula for happiness and explains how you too can become happy today and forever, inviting you to join the 1% happiness elite and become one of the happiest people alive.

Recent Posts

Follow on Facebook

Or Follow Us On

Happiness Newsletter

Win our exclusive happiness coaching session when subscribing to our transformational Happiness Newsletter.​​


    You May also like