Good morning,

It’s good to be back after taking last week off. For much of June, I explored Utah and Montana. I’m back in Atlanta now and enjoying the full bloom of summer.

Here’s what I have for you today:

• One big thing. How does your past shape the way you see your future? A fresh look at optimism, midlife decisions, and the stories we tell ourselves. ➕

• You have to check this out. How many digital images can possibly exist? Is it infinite, or can this be quantified? 📷

• Tools and tech. Turn the content you want to learn into a podcast-style audio summary. 🔉

Are you ready to jump in? 🦘

1️⃣ ONE BIG THING

Understanding optimism in midlife.

Midlife is full of crossroads and decisions.

It reminds me of my early 20s in some ways, with variations.

What do I want to do with my life? has become…

What do I want to do with the rest of my life?

How can I find success? has become…

How can I find meaning?

In The Second Mountain, Arthur Brooks talks about climbing two mountains in life.

The first mountain focuses on achieving external success, building a career, and accumulating wealth. The second mountain involves finding deeper purpose, happiness, and meaning beyond professional achievements.

The transition between the two mountains is midlife. Shouldn’t there be an aid station with snacks?

Misunderstanding optimism.

Optimism is a common word. What does it mean?

For example, if you say, Anya is an optimistic person, what do you mean?

My letters to you are always grounded in science and research, and today is no different.

There is extensive research on optimism, including Martin Seligman’s work on learned optimism and Barbara Fredrickson’s work on positive emotions, which informed her "broaden and build” theory (which I’ll cover below).

To begin, let’s clear up two common misunderstandings about optimism:

1. Optimism is not positive thinking or a cheerful disposition. It is not naive denial of reality.

2. Optimism is not a character trait. It is a learned system of thinking. Seligman's research shows that it would be more accurate to say that Anya learned an optimistic way of thinking.

The past and future of optimism.

Optimism is a lens through which you see the world, like sunglasses.

Like glasses, optimism filters how you see the world and how you imagine future events playing out.

For example, let’s say Anya heard rumors that her employer was going out of business.

If she were an optimist, you would say she is hopeful that the rumors are not true, or that even if they are true, it could be an opportunity for her to explore new job opportunities.

If she were a pessimist, you would say she is anxious that the rumors are true or that they may even be the tip of an iceberg of bad news.

These are projections about the future and that is one half of the definition of optimism.

But how do you formulate these future forecasts in your mind?

You refer to past experiences.

This is the other half of the definition of optimism—it is an explanatory style.

When you experience a setback or success, your meaning-making brain will explain why it happened.

Optimists interpret what happens in their world differently from pessimists. This interpretation—this style of thinking—is what makes optimism so interesting.

It means that two people can experience the exact same event and come away with two very different explanations of why it happened.

What you remember—and what you learn from—to formulte your predictions of future events, is based on your interpretation of the event, not the pure facts of the event itself.

“There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so,” said Shakespeare's Hamlet.

Seligman defined two key dimensions of this explanatory style:

1. Permanence (temporary vs permanent): Optimists tend to interpret and explain events as temporary (“I just wasn’t the right fit for that job.”) rather than permanent (“I’m never going to find a job.”).

2. Pervasiveness (specific vs. global): Optimists compartmentalize setbacks as circumstantial (“That woman wasn’t the right fit for me.”) rather than global (“No women will ever like me.”).

Think about how you have explained a recent event in your life to others (or yourself). Or consider how your close friends or family members tend to explain life events.

Explanatory styles about past events determine forecasts about future events. These are equally important and linked aspects of optimism.

Research has documented that explanatory styles are learned. They are all about nurture, not nature.

I find this encouraging because anything that you have learned can change.

One definition of emotional intelligence is the ability to “notice, name, and navigate” emotions within yourself and others.

You can notice your explanatory style, name it, and navigate whether a pessimistic explanatory style (using permanent and global explanations) serves you well.

Speaking of which…

Why does this matter?

In defense of pessimism.

Before I proceed to my main point, let me tackle one thing:

Is pessimism always bad? Absolutely not. Pessimism is evolutionarily advantageous. A pessimistic mindset is narrow and focused. This can help identify worst-case scenarios and anticipate challenges before they arise. It is a defensive posture that protects against losses. And frankly, there are times when it is absolutely justified in everyone's life.

Finally, like most things, these ideas exist on a spectrum, not on poles. You can be more optimistic in some areas of life than others, and these tendencies can change over time.

Is optimism good for you? On this front, the magic eight-ball says, "It is decidedly so."

I’m not going to detail this today, but research from Seligman and others consistently finds that optimists exhibit lower levels of stress, anxiety, and depression and reduced cardiovascular risk.

The role of optimism in choices and decisions.

I started today saying that midlife is full of choices and decisions.

If you've reached the end of your current career, finding your way forward will require creativity, cognitive flexibility, problem-solving, and resilience.

If your children recently left home and you’re ready to write your next chapter, the focused and narrow mindset associated with pessimism will radically constrain your thinking.

These core findings of Fredrickson's research led to her “broaden and build” theory.

Her research began by asking, “What is the value of positive emotions?” The evolutionary benefits of negative emotions like fear and risk avoidance were clear (safety, goal setting, effort, resource accumulation), but no one had ever explored the benefits of positive emotions.

Her core discovery is that positive emotions broaden one's worldview, leading to novel thoughts, creative solutions, innovative activities, and new relationships. With an optimistic mindset, one sees more options available, connects new dots, and forges new relationships.

Most importantly, you will be more inclined to take action—to move forward, to try, and to persist in the face of setbacks.

“Positive emotions broaden our awareness and encourage novel, varied, and exploratory thoughts and actions,” says Fredrickson.

Fredrickson found that these actions allow people to build enduring personal resources in their lives—social support systems, resilience, skills, and knowledge. These resources increase our positive emotions, creating an upward spiral.

One step back, two steps forward.

If you are navigating your next steps in midlife, taking a step back to assess your explanatory style and its impact on how you see the future could strengthen your foundation.

You can take Seligman’s Optimism Test here (requires creating an account).

Dr. Tayyab Rashid developed the short “One Door Closes, Another Door Opens” optimism exercise (PDF) to help you think about times when important doors have closed and what doors opened.

The beauty of climbing life’s “second mountain” is that you embark on the climb with far more resources than you had in your 20s—social networks, financial assets, life experience, skills, and knowledge.

The danger is that pessimism and cynicism can sometimes sneak into our lives unseen.

When you’re ready to tackle midlife transitions, first invest some time building up your optimism muscles.

Your ideas and your motivation for action will expand.

Thanks for reading again this week.

See you next Sunday,

Kevin