There is the old advice: work with people who are smarter than you. But here is another one: you are going to be influenced by the people you work with, choose them wisely.  Choose optimistic people.

Mirror neurons cause us to act similarly to the others we are with. We reflect their body posture, their expressions, and even their attitudes. It is conducive to bonding. And therefore our survival. And if you are hanging around the misery team, it can be a bummer.

Negativity can subtly spread, and unless you are aware of it, it can impact your choices in subtle ways and blind you to opportunities that may exist that you have just given up looking for. However optimism is more than thinking positively or being foolishly unrealistic. Optimism defines how you think and react to set backs. Optimism assumes you have personal power in overcoming a set back.

The good thing is: optimism is a learned trait.

Here is one reason why I prefer to surround myself with optimistic people. Research indicates that hopeful people tend to be more creative. We’re more likely to be independent thinkers. Uh, oh – is that good or bad?  Well, hopeful people are “out of the box” thinkers that propose creative ideas for solving problems. We tend to be more open to different kinds of information and look at problems and opportunities from different angles. We look for alternative pathways when the old ones are blocked, and used positive self-talk such as “I can do this” and “this is interesting”.  Optimistic people are tend to be more intrinsically motivated.  Optimistic people are less likely to assume that a failure is a result of a permanent trait they have and are more likely to put it down to a temporary specific circumstance.  Which makes failure seem far less scary.

Hopeful people are more likely to reach for goals that might seems unattainable for others and are less likely to lose patience or get frustrated when facing difficulties. And finally research shows that optimistic people tend to be more successful and more healthy.

My score was “very optimistic”. How about you? Take the quiz on Stanford University site.