One definition for optimistic is “hopeful and confident about the future.” It can be difficult to have that mindset if you are under a lot of stress, experiencing depression, or have had events in your life that may lead to a negative perspective. As college students, we are put under a lot of pressure and tend to get overwhelmed more than the average person. Staying optimistic can help with that pressure. It allows us to be in a healthier mindset. 

Here are five simple ways to work on your optimistic attitude:

1. Self-care

If you are no stranger to self-care, then this will be easy for you. Start by dedicating a few hours out of one day a week, to yourself. Why don’t you deserve it? Take some time to-do something you enjoy. Self-care improves not only your mental health, but your emotional wellbeing. One of my favorite quotes is by YouTuber CodyKo, “If you take just 30 minutes out of every day to do something you love, you will see progress.” There are a variety of things you can do within that time you take, aside from working on a hobby. The sky is the limit.

2. Sleep and exercise schedule

Make sure that you get enough sleep each night. The recommended number of hours of sleep each night is 8. A busy schedule may interfere with that. Getting enough sleep can help your mood, decrease the risk of health problems, reduce stress, etc. Engaging in a healthy exercise routine improves how your brain functions. When you exercise, your brain releases endorphins. Endorphins are also known as the “feel-good” chemical because they put you in a positive state of mind. If you want to enhance your mindset, getting the right amount of sleep each night and exercising regularly are great places to start.

3. Start journaling

Even if you are not the best writer, you can still journal. It can build your writing skills while you are expressing your emotions. Sometimes it is nice to let everything out instead of keeping it bottled inside. Journaling is also very therapeutic. It allows you to get a grasp on controlling your emotions and helps you to move on from past experiences.

4. Do a kind act for someone else

This can be anyone. A stranger, an acquaintance, a loved one, friends, coworkers and more. Not only will it help you along the way, but it will also help them too. Selflessness will give you reassurance to yourself that you did something right and may incline you to do it more often. You can indulge in self-care and still be selfless. By caring about the people around you, I believe it will lead to caring about more. 

5. Try rejection therapy

A fair number of people do not like being told “no.” Rejection makes people think they failed at something, and no one likes to fail. Failing is acceptable if you learn from your mistakes and try again. Practice truly does make perfect. If you know the answer is going to be “no,” do it anyway. It can help you develop a coping mechanism, presumably a healthy one. You cannot control how someone responds, but you can control how you respond.

Optimism is all about having hopefulness and confidence, but that is something that must grow from within you. Start by working on yourself.

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