Why do some people thrive in the face of hardship while others are crushed? To this challenging listener question, Matthew answers essentially that it’s about building resilience through the method of optimism versus the default of passive pessimistic resignation. On a deeper level, it’s about free will (optimistic) versus determinism (pessimistic).

Through his search into Viktor Frankl’s “focused optimistic purpose” and “tragic optimism”, Matthew came across a phenomenon known as “toxic positivity,” which sounds awfully similar to his own concept identified as “subjective optimism.” Neither pessimism nor subjective optimism is an effective method for dealing with hardship, or even regular life, and Matthew goes deep into why only Objective Optimism is a potent antidote to the toxicity of all the others.

He also refers to two previous interviews, where guests Lewis Page and Dr. Fleet Maull contribute relevant insights on this issue, which includes the question of whether “waking up” necessitates deep adversity. (Hint: It doesn’t.)

Read 'What is Objective Optimism?": https://matthewboulton.ca/2020/01/15/what-is-objective-optimism/

Listen to Lewis Page on Mr. Bright Side: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3rj9aZ94rY&t=528s

Listen to Fleet Maull on Mr. Bright Side: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jbolq8MX9MY&t=3s

Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPV9AovHYK8

Learn more at https://matthewboulton.ca/ or https://www.facebook.com/matthewboulton.ca/

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This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit matthewboulton.substack.com