Yale University conducted a study which compared the effect of your attitude upon life expectancy and the results were dramatic to say the least. It is clear from this research study and others that stress impacts upon physical health as well as mental and emotional well-being and this can eventually lead to an early demise. The upside of this is that those who are optimistic do in general expect to live seven years longer than those who have a more negative outlook upon life.

SEVEN years; that is a long time. Needless to say, your quality of life also increases as a result of being optimistic. Being optimistic reduces the effects of stress and simultaneously improves a person's physical and mental balance. The best news of all is that everyone has the ability to learn to be optimistic. It is really not that difficult. It is far more difficult and uncomfortable to be pessimistic and negative than it is to be positive and optimistic.

As you learn to be optimistic you find that your energy levels increase and you feel lighter, brighter and better in every way. There are several ways in which you can take steps towards an optimistic outlook. Each step is small and easy to navigate, and yet can have a massive impact upon your quality of life and your enjoyment of better health and well-being.

1. Stop banging your head against a brick wall.

One of the most important steps towards optimism is to learn to stop banging your head against a brick wall. By this I mean whenever something is not going your way, or what you are doing is not working, just stop for a moment and give yourself time to think. This probably sounds rather obvious to you, but you would be amazed how the human brain often doesn't do this. We have a tendency when feeling under pressure to just keep on repeating the same actions and encountering the same effect. By stopping to think you give yourself the opportunity to relax, think clearly and plan a different course of action.

2. Learn to accept things which cannot be changed

Acceptance is also an important part of optimism. If you cannot change something, then you can at least learn to think about it in a different way. There's nothing useful to be gained by fighting against the current; walking downstream is a whole lot easier on your mental and physical stamina.

3. Focus upon what is good

If you have twenty good things going on in your life and one which is bad most people have a natural tendency to focus in upon the one which is bad. Simply by recognizing that you do this allows you to realize that you could in fact choose to focus in a different way. You can make a point of putting negative thoughts to one side of your mind and instead deliberately thinking about things which are good.

4. Visualize what you want to happen

Just as you can learn to replace negatives with positives, you can learn to picture what you want to happen. Again, many people have a tendency to inadvertently run "horror movies" in their minds, creating a visual nightmare of everything which might go wrong. Instead, sit back and relax and picture as vividly as possible the best outcome imaginable. Really picture it, add color and sound to your images and feel how comfortable these images are. It is worth remembering that your thoughts are what create your reality. What you expect to happen you magnetize into your reality; whatever you imagine you create.

5. Learn to Use Hypnosis

Hypnosis is advantageous in several ways. First, it is a state of relaxation and by learning to use hypnosis you learn to change your emotional state whenever you want to or whenever you feel that you need to. This allows you the ability to take a step back and to think clearly and therefore to make logical decisions. It helps you to be calm and logical. Secondly, hypnosis is a state of mind whereby you have access to your subconscious, the part of your mind which knows just what to do and just how to do it. It therefore is conducive to making changes in deep rooted thought and habit patterns. Finally, when in hypnosis your creative mind comes to the fore which enables you to create visualizations with more vividness and more emotional effect.

The point here is that by choosing to be optimistic you in all probability will add seven years to your life and, more importantly, you will make a certainty of enjoying the other seventy odd years a whole lot more.

Roseanna Leaton, specialist in hypnosis mp3s for optimism, good health and well being.