Being an Optimist is a Practical Pursuit – PS66

Episode Introduction – Meet David the Optimist

My guest is David the Optimist, David Mitran, from Craiova in Romania.  We talk about David’s goal of writing a book which will be a practical guide to optimism and how he plans to do the research, fund it and release to the world.  How David became a guest on my show is a fun story and we take it from there.

Episode Background

Recently, I received a message via the contact form on my website. This is what it said:

Hello Robyn

My name is David and I’ve always been an optimist. I’ve always been unapologetic about my positive view of the world.

Recently, I've started an Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign. My purpose is to meet strangers from all over Europe and discover a practical formula for optimism.

I'll share the formula with the world by writing a book.

If you want to support my mission (with a donation or even a share on social media) you can do it here: http://igg.me/at/optimist-journey

If you have any questions, please let me know.

Thank you for reading my message,
David

What do you think my response might have been?  I smiled and thought what fun.  What name, It came from David the Optimist!

Being an Optimist Comes from Connection with Others

In checking out the Indiegogo link, what really spoke me were the words he had highlighted: the interaction with other people in his description of his intention and purpose of his embarking on a journey as an optimist. In his research to date, one thing became clear: to be an optimist comes from connection with others.  It’s not an event or a series of events.  It is about choosing to live a lifestyle.

That insight, that awareness was what did it for me. We are not alone in the world and we need others for our health and wellbeing, to be our best selves.  My interest was piqued. I wanted to hear more from David.

What Does Being an Optimist Really Mean for Others?

Listen in to the show to learn how David started this journey; why optimism; why the Indiegogo crowdsourcing campaign; and, find out his plans to use the funds to write a practical guide to help people decide if being an optimist is for them, and if so, how they can achieve such a state.

While his own story of seeking to overcome frustrations was the catalyst that helped him identify what being an optimist is for him, that was not enough.  He wants to learn what it means for others. His is driven by learning about other people’s perspectives and find out what being an optimist means for them.

Experience is the Greatest Teacher

We talk about having the rigor and disciplines of theory and science to back up hypotheses and intuitions, and for David, personal experience and empirical data counts, as we are all unique and we respond and make sense of our worlds in different ways.  

Being confined to his home town, Craiova in Romania will not open up for him the kinds of experiences he seeks in coming up with a practical blueprint for living the life of an optimist.  His best learning to date has been application of what he has read and watched on the internet and from local people.  

I shared that in my work with Appreciative Inquiry, I design experiences to enable people to share their stories that invite respectful listening across all perspectives to deepen connection.

Open Questions that Invite Stories

David’s method is to find talented people and ask two open questions:

1. How did you start?
2. How much work did you put into your activity?

He then listens to their stories.

David’s premise is that talent and strength grow from putting in the hard work, the effort, the hours.  It’s about practice and repetition. He’s proven it for himself in working to overcome his personal frustrations and perceived limitations. And that’s his story.  He wants to hear the story of many others in order to come up with a practical guide for optimism.

Taking Action and Sharing with the World

David has a great opportunity to put into practice his experience of being an optimist, which is all about taking action. He's walking his talk in taking up the Indiegogo Crowdfunding Campaign.

I was moved by David’s wisdom during our conversation.  He said afterwards he was nervous, as it was his first podcast, and you wouldn’t know it.  His authenticity came through.  

Here’s an example of David the Optimist’s  practical wisdom:

To overcome personal frustrations, I decided to be practical about those frustrations.  That is how I came to discover optimism for myself.  

By acting  on the ideas of others, by reading, observing, asking questions with the purpose of solving my frustrations, I found a way.

As I improved my life, it’s  about taking action in the direction I seek.   To change, you need to take action.

How to Connect to David

David's Indiegogo Campaign The Journey of an Optimist

David's Blog David the Optimist

David on Twitter

David on Facebook

David on Instagram

David on LinkedIn

Samples of David's Writings

Do check out his blog and the following on Amazon:

---

Let's Stay Connected

It's always great to hear from you. Please connect with me to ask questions or leave comments about this episode or the podcast in general, and there are several good ways to do this:

• Share your questions and ideas on the Podcast Feedback page
• Leave a voice message here, and we may feature your question on an upcoming episode
• Leave a comment on the show notes below

If this episode was helpful or enjoyable to you,

• I invite you to share it using the social media buttons on the bottom of this page.
• I'd love it if you can leave a quick review, on iTunes and Stitcher.