Decinar

Decinar A program of inspiring leadership skills for aspiring people Rich in content, and workshopped with a community of aspiring people.

Decinar is a program to help transform busy people into more inspiring leaders of themselves and others. Brought to you online, in a virtual classroom. Decinar’s office is in Australia at EST (UTC/GMT+10 hrs), delivering programs in a virtual world without borders. Your computer connects you with Decinar workshops carried on Blackboard Collaborate, the world’s premiere virtual classroom for educat

ion. Our experience is that the virtual classroom’s mix of learning effectiveness, cost efficiency and convenience is unsurpassed by any other format. Decinar supports you with comprehensive, easy-to-read hard copy notes for long-term review and reflection.

12/09/2012

Optimism is a priceless catalyst

Perhaps the primary source of numerous benefits which accrue to optimistic people boils down to one key attribute: purposeful action.

No one really knows why optimistic people tend to enjoy improved overall health and longevity, or greater well-being; plus other highly desirable benefits. Some researchers assume that it’s because of a higher propensity for optimists to take purposeful action in their own interest; they tend to look after themselves and their affairs better. It’s their optimistic attitude that helps them overcome inertia and get going on things.

Optimism might be thought of as a powerful catalyst. It facilitates and empowers purposeful action; this action leads to useful outcomes; benefits from taking action encourage more purposeful action; again and again. Next thing, endurance and resilience
open the way to more desirable long-term outcomes.

This optimistic state of affairs is no accident. Of course, it’s true that the DNA component in our personality traits indeed is random chance. However, that gift is a recipe, not a blueprint. The conditioning part that puts the recipe to work is amenable to change and training. We do with it what we will, literally.

Few skills in life exceed the value of this catalyst for purposeful action.

What a useful thing it could be to hone the catalyst.

06/09/2012

Nurturing empathic relationships

The vast cities so familiar and ‘normal’ to most of us today are a very recent phenomenon, born in the carbon age. It’s so recent that our DNA ‘wiring’ hasn’t caught up. We remain the same social species that evolved and survived in relatively small, strongly connected groups.

Our sprawling cities, mobile lifestyles and scattered extended family can fragment our social connections and leave us altogether too alone. In an immense city of millions, just going somewhere to keep close with family and friends can be prohibitively costly in time and travel. It’s often easier to just stay home, surrounded by an anonymous sea of strangers.

Our social fragmentation doesn’t help when a key feature of closely connected groups is called for: social support under difficult conditions. Resilient optimism thrives when candid, objective, rational thinking and caring, empathic feeling are received from trusted and informed friends.

Large networks of connections in Facebook, LinkedIn and other social media serve a useful purpose in some domains of life, of course. But they are no substitute for closely connected, personal
relationships built on personalised, well-informed, empathic human contact.

Perhaps devotees of resilient optimism are well advised to invest caring, thoughtful, consistent effort in nurturing such relationships.

www.decinar.com

Does pessimism ever have utility?‘Pessimism is a tendency to take the worst view or expect the worst outcome.’ (Oxford D...
14/08/2012

Does pessimism ever have utility?

‘Pessimism is a tendency to take the worst view or expect the worst outcome.’ (Oxford Dictionary) Taking this definition, is there ever a situation where pessimism has utility?

What if candid risk analysis does suggest a high likelihood of the worst outcome? Self-delusion and wishful thinking, mixed with ideological optimism, may lead to the ostrich approach: put your head in the sand, while exposing your rump to whatever. A rapid increase in risk may ensue.

When candid risk analysis based on evidence reveals clarity and detail about the worst outcome, the information could be used with pessimistic or optimistic responses.

A pessimistic response seems more likely to take ineffectual, minimal or no action, allowing whatever positives that remain in the situation to be lost. An optimistic response seems likely to take whatever effective action is possible, to recover whatever positives remain in the situation.

Seen this way, pessimism based on candid risk analysis of evidence has real utility. It’s the ensuing pessimistic or optimistic responses that lead to different consequences.

The research evidence seems convincing that an optimistic, action oriented response has a higher probability of recovering the most desirable and achievable outcome. Furthermore, optimism translates into tangible life benefits, such as improved health, well-being, achievements and relationships.

Good news about resilient optimism is that proven skills for enhancing and protecting it can be learnt and applied. What a useful investment in one’s ‘operating software’ for life.

©Ian McLean PhD, www.decinar.com, 14 August 2012

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