Moment-to-Moment Optimism

By Dr. Russ

Wednesday is Just One Thing Day, when I answer the oft asked question: "Please, please Dr. Russ can you give me one more moment of optimism this week?" Hence, the “Tip of the Week” is born.

Optimism Tip of the Week:  The Tasmanian Devil just might survive after all!

Great news out of Australia today.  Scientists have found a colony of Tasmanian Devils (made loveable by the Looney Tunes cartoon character TAZ),  that appear to have genetic immunity to the virulent and contagious facial cancer.  Known as Devil Facial Tumor Disease, it is threatening the Devils with extinction.

Other than giving us hope for the species survival and hearing a “feel good story,” what does this discovery have to do with Optimism?

• First, it is a positive and hopeful story.
• Second, while the genetic immunity might be “God or Nature Given,” the discovery came about through the hard work of scientists demonstrating, once again,  that optimists take on tough challenges and work hard to overcome difficulties.
• Third, with this knowledge of “nature's gift” the scientists might be able to find a cure to help those without the genetic gift.
• Fourth, it is another story that inspires us to use OPTIMISM TO FIGHT BACK TO CANCER.

Tonight, I will be attending a local “Relay for Life” planning meeting.  Throughout the spring and around the country, thousands of communities will be hosting a 24 hour Relay for Life event sponsored by the American Cancer Society.

To inspire the participants during the 24 hour period, a number of mini-ceremonies are held to celebrate “survival.” One such ceremony centers around birthdays as each year survived MEANS ANOTHER birthday celebration.

A somewhat new ceremony to the Relay is the "Fight Back Ceremony" where the concept of fighting back with positive attitude and behavior is REINFORCED. 

I have been asked to generate brief "Optimistic Fight Back Messages” that can inspire cancer survivors and caretakers to maintain the motivation for the tough cancer battle.

I would love your help in making-up original inspirational messages and finding key quotes that carry an important “fight-back” message.  Here are twenty-five that I have thought of to get the ball rolling.  I’d like to come up with a hundred or more.  If you WOULD LIKE TO HELP ME AND are so inspired, go to the comments section and submit one, two or ten messages or more. I will be glad to credit your authorship.

25 Optimistic Fight Back Messages

1.    Be proud! Wear your make up!
2.    Name your wig Maude or Harold or anything funny.
3.    Stay in the moment because if you are not, you are in the past or the future and time travel has not yet been perfected.
4.    Breath In; Breath Out ~ Ever so SLOWLY.
5.    Treat every MOMENT OF LIFE as a GIFT.
6.    Have Pizza and Ice Cream for lunch at least once.
7.    Keep in mind ~ Every set back is an opportunity to move further ahead.
8.    Commit to a CAUSE larger than yourself.
9.    Make every MOMENT COUNT more than it is worth.
10.  It’s OK to say Cancer “Sucks.”
11.  Build an e-mail support group with friends and family; post updates regularly.
12.  One moment of life lived positively is cherished for an eternity.
13.  One moment of life lived negatively can be corrected and made into a positive for eternity.
14.  When life is “Really Sucking,” make a list of all the things that could be worse.
15.  Accept what part of Cancer you CANNOT CONTROL; then focus on what part of Cancer you can CONTROL.
16.  Take a few moments daily to imagine you are living Cancer Free.
17.  Exercise daily.
18.  Lose weight, but more importantly lose body fat.
19.  Post inspiring optimism quotes on your refrigerator.
20.  You CANNOT CONTROL getting CANCER, but you CAN CONTROL getting TREATMENT.
21.  It is OK for the INNER VOICE to say, “Woe is me,” but only for a MOMENT or TWO.
22.  Can we use the TASMANIAN DEVIL AS A SYMBOL FOR FIGHTING BACK TO CANCER with OPTIMISM?
23.  Like the Tasmanian Devil, I can’t control having the “cancer gene,” but I can control my “fight back attitude.”
24.  Martin Luther King reminds us that, “The stars shine brightest in the darkest hour.”
25.  In the words of Jim Valvano, “Never Give-In, Never Give-In, Never Give in to Cancer”

Click here to find a "Relay for Life" in your community.

Want some answers about cancer: Call 1-800-ACS-2345

USE THE COMMENT SECTION TO SEND IN YOUR "FIGHT BACK WITH OPTIMISIM" MESSAGE.

By Dr. Russ, 

Good news on the job hunting frontlines!  According to the USA Today, March 9, 2010, Money Section B: “. . . the job market will soon be generating new, money-paying jobs to unemployed Americans.”   While hope and optimism may be on the rise for the job seekers, pessimism may be rampant among the job holders left behind after the downsizing; employees wondering who is next to get axed or what will happen to the company they thought they knew and trusted.

On the Outside Looking In

I have written extensively about those who have been laid off, and our “Struggling Optimist” has given a weekly update on the ups and downs of his job search.  We have been concerned about these unemployed ranks that are on the outside looking in; wishing they had their old jobs back, a new promising one, or in some cases, just any job. 

On the Inside Looking Out

Today, I am writing about the FORGOTTEN ONE’S, still inside The Company, looking out. These employees are happy that they still have a job, but wonder about their own job security. Where do they “fit in” in a re-structured organization? Many have doubts about the mission the company, and are suffering grief and loss over loss of some friends and colleagues no longer with The Company.

Remaining on the inside may actually seem like some Alfred Hitchcock, cruel and twisted “mystery ending,” or “Twilight Zone” episode: at first celebrating a job only to find out it’s not the same job or organization.

Employee Morale Takes a Hit

After the layoff, the company just doesn’t seem or feel the same.  The co-worker down the hall with the great jokes is no longer schmoozing with you and others at the coffee-pot, break or lunch room. There is no replacement for the twenty year veteran who mentored the one, five and ten year employees. Despite how well or poorly the downsizing was handled, the morale issues and feelings are the same, the only difference being the intensity of negative worrisome and pessimistic feelings.

Let’s be clear - the company did downsize so it could re-build, re-direct and improve productivity.  The rebuilding that needs to be done is not the “total makeover” required after an earthquake, hurricane, or tornado and not as simple as having a few interrupted work days like those caused by the recent record snow storms that hit the east coast in February 2010.

Rebirth is Possible and Necessary for the Unemployed, Left Behind Employed, and the Organization

In my opinion, the best disaster metaphor for this recession is a FOREST FIRE.  There is a major clearing out of underbrush and overgrown vegetation and a blackened scorched earth left behind. Nevertheless, solid and stable trees remain to form the foundation for new growth and development. 

Individuals who have been laid off have a chance to start anew, create “start-ups,” explore new career paths and otherwise reinvent themselves. Organizations have the same opportunity, perhaps on a somewhat grander scale, to rebuild a stronger and more productive workforce instilled with the spirit of optimism and rebirth; a chance, also, to begin again.

Ten Strategies for Improving Employee Morale

In my conversations with executives and HR Directors, I have been asked how the Dr. Russ Buss “Principles of Optimism” could be used to shape this employee morale renewal and redevelopment process.  Below are ten key ideas to GUIDE the internal organization rebuilding process based on the “Core Principles of Optimism.”

1.    Recognize the unique individuality of every employee left behind.  Each has a different set of needs and sensitivities, and will want to learn to understand the strengths and weaknesses of their own coping mechanisms and how to improve ones that are less effective.
2.    Each person needs to identify and be able to describe his or her own sense of loss and source of future uncertainty within and about The Company.
3.    While The Company should take “responsibility” for the downsizing (“Yes, we did it”), The Company has to also “externalize” and “temporalize” the failure (at least to some extent) by making such pronouncements as:   a) “We couldn’t survive in the current economy without some major cuts”(externalize), and b) the setback is temporary. After some re-structuring which we can control even in the face of a slowly recovering economic climate, we expect to rebuild and be a stronger company.  Emphasize the following: “We can, with your help, overcome the challenges and difficulties ahead (temporalize).”
4.    The company has to express empathy for the loss with statements like: “We know current and former employees are hurting, that losing a job is a major blow to self esteem, and fearing such a loss is terribly anxiety provoking.”  No need to give additional rationale or explanation.  A simple expression of empathy is enough.
5.    The Company, through renewed employee development efforts, can refocus and retrain the employees in the “General Optimistic Perspective” with a focus on overcoming setbacks, taking on new and exciting long term survival strategies, and helping the employees leave the comfort of their pessimism behind (i.e., doing the same as we have done is not going to work).
6.    The Company should include in its employee redevelopment plan: a) training that focuses on new opportunities; how to find them and build on them; and b) a focus on risk taking; including the need for it and how to identify reasonable and potentially profitable risks.
7.    The Company should espouse a desire to reward and promote “opportunity seekers” who personalize, generalize and permanitize the JOINT opportunity for their own and The Company’s growth and development.
8.    The re-development curriculum should include training on how to adopt the optimistic view of success and failure.  “Success is permanent and can be built upon with a ‘keep-on makin’it  happen attitude;’ while failure is temporary and can be changed or improved upon.”
9.    Learning the strategy of optimistic goal setting is essential for building self-efficacy beliefs that if one tries one can.  However, such a belief can only be realized by having a combination of PROCESS and OUTCOME goals along multi-faceted dimensions of the task.
10.     Finally, the employee redevelopment plan needs to emphasize teachability of the Dr. Russ Buss VIEW of optimism and engage employee collaboration in rebuilding a permanent foundation for a culture of organizational optimism.


By Dr. Russ,

Monday is Dr. Russ Busster Day; the day I offer up TIPS TO BUSST-UP any PESSIMISM facing you as you look to the week ahead.  Today I draw on last night’s OSCAR AWARDS to generate this week’s BUSSTERS.

Optimistic Bussters Inspired by 2010 Academy Award Ceremony 

{The idea here is to read the Busster and tune into the optimistic thoughts and feelings each inspires in you in the MOMENT}

1.    Nice guys like Jeff Bridges do finish first.

• Nobody, but NOBODY who's worked with Jeff Bridges has a bad word to say about him. "I've never, ever heard of him pulling a star turn or showing any ego", said Peter Bogdanovich, director of The Last Picture Show. 

2.    Optimists keep perfecting their craft:

• "It's like watching a diamond cutter," said John Goodman, Bridges co-star in The Big Lebowski, "When you look at the diamond, you don't think of the work, you just notice there's no flaws". The New Yorker summed him up very simply as "the best actor alive".

3.    Jeff Bridges was likely parented with optimism as his Dad would sit with him at bedtime and review acting lines and strategies in a fun and relaxing manner.

4.    Optimists learn to endure success and failure on a continuous basis. 

• Sandra “Bullock's win came a day after she won worst-actress for her romantic comedy flop "All About Steve" at the Razzies, a spoof of the Oscars that mocks Hollywood's low-points of the year.”

5.    Optimists face their fears “in-person.”

• The Razzie win made Bullock the only actress to receive that dubious prize and an Oscar on the same weekend. Bullock became one of the few Razzie winners ever to collect her trophy in person, showing up at the ceremony Saturday pulling a little red wagon filled with DVDs of "All About Steve" for the audience there.

6.    Some things finally do come to pass.  Kathryn Bigelow was the first female director in history to win an Oscar for the BEST DIRECTOR category.

7.    It is possible to try something new, break set and be seen in a new way. 

• Known mainly for brazen comedy routines and roles in lowbrow films, Mo'Nique startled audiences with a dark turn as a reprehensible welfare mother in "Precious."

8.    Optimists can POKE FUN at themselves with ease.

• "They'll sit side by side on a nice little shelf somewhere. The Razzie maybe on a different shelf. Lower," said Bullock, who was a great sport throughout awards season, joking about her worst-actress Razzie nomination. "You take the good with the not-so-good."

9.    David can still beat Goliath as in unknown and upstart "The Hurt Locker" bested "Avatar" for "BEST PICTURE."

• "The Hurt Locker" was a rare film that swooped in from outside the Hollywood studios to earn the industry's highest tribute. "The Hurt Locker" was acquired by Summit Entertainment after the film played at the Toronto festival.

10.    This year’s Oscar proved dramatically that you do not have to have won before to win.  The four actor/actress winners won Oscars for the FIRST TIME.


By Dr. Russ

I forego a traditional “optimism-week-in-review” with on op-ed piece driven by the need to try to balance the thought provoking contrast of the high’s of Olympic competition and the lows over the death of a young adult which were so poignantly juxtaposed this past week. 

In a previous post, I raised the question: Why doesn’t the Dr. Russ Buss have any rear view mirrors?  The answer: “Because optimists look forward not back.”  

However, there are times when we are forced to look back: 1) when some activity or event has concluded and memories are all we have,  and 2) when someone has “passed-on” leaving only the spirit to carry forward and remembrances to embrace.

The Olympics ended a week ago Sunday among the Closing Ceremony celebrations for great effort, achievement, and international collaboration; grief over the tragic loss of a Georgian Luger; and the extinction of the 2010 Winter Olympic flame.  With extinction came simultaneous rebirth as the torch was lit that will carry the Olympic Spirit forever forward and to its next stop Sochi, Russia.

Everyone who participated, helped out, attended or watched the 2010 Winter Olympics on television has the opportunity to look back and hold on to some positive memory that can bring an uplifting feeling in any moment as the brain accesses that imagery making it conscious.  Whether it is the image of Kim Yu-Na breaking all figure skating records, Bode Miller’s quest for perfection, Apolo Ohno’s eight medals, Shaun White's half-pipe “flying through the air with the greatest of ease,” or brooms’ whisking the ice to get greater distance for a polished granite stone in Curling, each of us can store our own cherished moment for positive inspiration in the brain’s hippocampus.

While such memories can help manage our moment-to-moment moods, we are left with the lingering doubt about how really important such events are when we are confronted with the tragic loss of a young adult such as Olympian Nodar Kumaritashvili from the country of Georgia or our own “Struggling Optimist’s” young cousin.

There is no doubt that Moment-to-Moment’s “Struggling Optimist” has been faced with one of the most difficult tests to “optimistic stamina” that one can imagine – the death of a young family member.  Bill lost a young cousin, only 21 years old.  Bill’s aunt and uncle were his parents, and for parents nothing can be more dreaded than the loss of a child.

How do we cope with such a loss?  Lisa Wiley Parker’s comment places some perspective on the coping process by reminding us that:

• Secondly, as gut wrenching as your cousin's loss is, it will likely allow you to keep some elements of your job search in their proper perspective. I lost my step-father suddenly during a stressful time in my life.
  
• For a time after his death I was able to shrug off things that I normally would have made a big deal out of.
• There is a brief moment of clarity where we are able to recognize what really does/doesn't matter in life.
• Use this time to chase some things you may have feared in the past because the rejection, if it comes, won't hit you the way it may have before. You've been tragically reminded of what counts in this world...what's truly worth being upset about.

If Lisa is right such losses have the chance to actually increase our “optimistic stamina” as we place our everyday “stress ball events” into proper perspective – these are not life and death situations. 

We can remain calm, focus on “doing the next right thing” and model ourselves after the 911 operator who while facing the potential death of his newborn son, calmly coached his wife through life-saving actions that caused the infant to cough-up the plastic object that was choking him to death.


William Henry Nurmi II has a bachelor’s degree from Michigan State University and a MBA from the University of Phoenix. Bill has a background in operations management, logistics, and sales. Bill is an avid bicyclist and is a volunteer on the board of directors at the Mission of Hope Cancer Fund. He lives in Lansing, MI and is currently seeking new employment while serving as a Post-Graduate and Career Transition Fellow of Optimism with Moment-to-Moment Enterprises.  Bill’s Fellowship project entails writing about optimism and providing advice and consultation on marketing, sales, and new program development.  Today’s post is the fourteenth in a series that Bill is writing under the title: “The Diary of a Struggling Optimist.”

Preface by Dr. Russ:  Sometimes like Job in the Old Testament our spirit seems to be tested in unimaginable ways.  Bill has been unemployed for nearly five months.  He continues to seek employment without a fruitful result and he faces the cutoff of unemployment benefits if they are not renewed.  Now, suddenly and tragically he must cope with his grief over the death of a young cousin. 

Such times are truly a test for “Optimistic Stamina.” I really enjoy Bill’s posts because he normalizes the ebb and flow of positive spirit and self doubt that we all experience daily.  Bill demonstrates that it is possible to struggle with self doubt, in any given moment on a daily basis, and still remain a strong optimist. 

Optimists accept their self-doubts, but can recognize, describe and identify the source of the doubt quickly which allows for a chance to reflect and problem solve a way back to a positive and self-confident view in a matter of a few moments.

Job Search Interrupted by Tragic Loss

Since my last blog post, my family and I have experienced a loss of a loved one that was very sudden and tragic.  One of my cousins, whom I was close to, has passed. I mention this because it has taken a major toll on my job search process, of course. 

How Long to Grieve?

There is an amount of time when it is acceptable in this society to grieve and withdraw from daily activities that one has an obligation to.  However we also must go on at some point and resume our lives.  This process is difficult for me and I am not sure when this time is.  I suppose there is no right or wrong answer to this question. 

Guilt if I Do and if I Do Not

I have returned to my daily life for only 2 days this week to get some things done that just could not wait.  I feel guilt for this.  I feel as if I am being disrespectful to my cousin and his immediate family by leaving their side and returning to my home for a few days.  

I know in my heart that with the death being so recent means that it is not in any way inappropriate to not be fully back into normal activity, but I still feel guilt for not fulfilling my normal responsibilities as well.

One Exciting Lead

As a result of what occurred this past week I do not have too much activity to report back to you guys as far as my job search is concerned.  I have however sent a resume into a local logistics company that has two positions open.  This is very exciting to me as I am very interested in the position and it sounds like it would be a challenge for me. 

It was a position that was posted on the Michigan Talent Bank and forwarded to me by a friend who has graciously continued to help me with my job search for many months now.  I am grateful for this.  I have the name of a few contacts at the company and will be contacting them to try to ensure myself an interview. 

I will of course, like I have previously, report back any updates throughout the next week.  This is, out of many positions, one that I am more excited about than many others; wish me luck.

I Will Take the Advice of Dr. Russ

At this point I see that I need to really take the advice of Dr. Russ and treat this job search period of my life as a “road trip” so to speak.  Dr. Russ gave some advice to me in the preface of my post from a few weeks ago. (Look back or you will not know what the heck I am referring to).  This week is definitely one of the “traffic jams”, or “foul weather” times that Dr. Russ uses as an analogy for when life on life’s terms, so to speak, shows up at your door. 

I can in no way control certain outcomes in my life, just deal with them in an appropriate manner, with the help of trusted friends of course.  I thought that I have been treating this time in my life like a road trip as suggested.  In a way, I have, but not like I should be.  I have been on the “super highway” as Dr. Russ puts it, and have been breezing through towns on this journey like the wind through a valley.

Working on Taking Life One Day at a Time

I have not taken the time to really enjoy life as it is today, and NOT look for what is expected to happen tomorrow or next week.  This perspective is something I have always had trouble with, taking life a day at a time. 

I am a planner; I plan, analyze, and over analyze everything again.  When doing these activities, I also start thinking too much about the future and all the “what if’s” that could happen.  Yes, it is important to be prepared and organized, but not so much that there is no time to just enjoy today. 

I have a great life today, and I need to truly be thankful for that.  But, I sometimes find myself NOT feeling this thankfulness as I complain about outcomes to situations that are not to my liking. 

More updates to come on the resume I submitted this past Monday, and when I slowly pull myself back into the world of the living, I will be back at the job search once again.

BN