Born in the Year of the Horse. The Science Says This Is My Year.

I’m going to claim this year as my own, not because it’s my zodiac year, but because optimism, hope, and purpose have been repeatedly shown through scientific research, not just to improve our mental health but our physical health as well.

You may be thinking: “Kristen, have you read the news? It looks like it’s going to be the Year of the Dumpster Fire Horse. And, isn’t excessive positivity nauseating?”

I understand the skepticism, and I don’t believe we can be Susie Sunshine every day of our lives. I think, similar to getting new glasses, we can adjust our lens even if ever so slightly.

Let’s look at what the science actually says about optimism and hope’s impact on our overall well-being.

Optimism and Health Outcomes

According to a 2019 Association of Optimism With Cardiovascular Events and All-Cause Mortality: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis, optimism was associated with a 35% lower risk of cardiovascular events such as heart attacks or strokes and a 14% lower risk of all-cause mortality during the follow-up period of 229,391 people over 13-40 years.

In two long-term, longitudinal studies with cohorts of 69,744 women from the Nurses’ Health Study and 1,429 men from Veterans Affairs Normative Aging Study, women in the highest quartile for optimism had 14.8% longer lifespan than those in the bottom quartile, and men in the top quartile had 10.9% longer lifespan than those in the bottom quartile.

And we can’t forget about the nuns. In a study of 180 nuns followed for six decades, those who expressed the most positive emotion in their autobiographies in their 20s lived up to 10.7 years longer than those who expressed the least, despite sharing the same diet, lifestyle, and living conditions.

The hills are alive with the sound of optimism, and tomorrow is going to be better than today.

Social psychology emphasizes that optimists tend to believe that the bad events are based on external factors and the good events are because of our own hard work and intrinsic value.

Without tipping into the “it’s everyone’s fault but mine” category, optimism has to pair neatly with hope. I love this definition from The Will and the Ways: Development and Validation of an Individual-Differences Measure of Hope:

“Hope is a state of positive motivation built on three components: goals to be achieved, pathways to achieve them, and the agency to pursue them.” (Snyder, 1991)

It’s not enough for us to just think on the bright side because we need momentum pushing towards our realized hopes and aspirations.

That momentum is an engine that only we can rev up, and the fuel for that engine is purpose.

Purpose

One of the most compelling sources I came across is from Secrets of Women's Healthy Aging, built on data from the Women's Healthy Ageing Project, Australia's longest women's health longevity study, and it puts purpose this way:

“People who are committed to actively doing something have direction, plans, and strategies that strengthen their minds and bodies. They feel engaged and happy when heading to the relevant task or activity. Dedication gives them meaning, significance, and a drive to function with intent. It really is like a reason for living.”

What Purpose Looks Like For Me

As much as I wish that I had a magic 8-ball after I left recruitment to tell me what the next steps would be, finding what I wanted my purpose to be has been a tedious process. I knew I wanted to do something in preventative health, and the pieces slowly came together with aging parents, caregiving, and health consulting through survey work last summer, conversations with people in my network, and just sitting with my thoughts. While my role at CrossGen Health is about creating caregiving roadmaps and consolidating health information for families, I find my purpose is actually empowering people to have more meaningful conversations with their families. Not just about the hard stuff, but also talking to our parents about their lives, their stories, their regrets, and what’s important to them.

How We Can Make Strides on Being More Optimistic

I would love to tell you I’m always self-aware (you all know that’s not true), I meditate every day, and I practice daily gratitude, but I’m just a mere mortal. Despite my flaws, I do believe that habits compound over time. I believe that I can be a better version of myself tomorrow than I am today, even if progress isn’t always a straight line.

Here are some research-based strategies to cultivate a hope/optimism-based mindset:

• Reframing negative thoughts: If you are having negative thoughts, self-doubt, or anxiety, ask, “What proof do I have to support this?” I like to think of negative thoughts as waves that come and go and will eventually pass. When I’m really stressed, I like to just write down what’s making me anxious, and even though it doesn’t solve some of the problems, I do feel better.

• Increasing self-esteem and self-awareness: In Hong Kong, a city full of Type A go-getters, it’s always on to the next one! I walk the tightrope of wanting to be better but also trying to be kind to myself and take stock of what I’ve accomplished. I once told a friend, "I can’t be a perfectionist because I’m not good enough at stuff to be a perfectionist.” She responded, “ Yeah, I’m pretty sure that’s it.” We can feel shame if we are not productive enough or moving at the pace we expect for our careers and personal lives, but it’s important to practice grace and patience.

• Hang out with optimistic people: Big shout-out to the Women of Hong Kong, who have really energized me as I have started my entrepreneurial journey with the monthly Solopreneurs Breakfasts.

• Doing things that bring us joy: I love cooking a new meal, catching up with a friend over a walk on the harbour, and throwing paper balls across my living room for my cat (his favorite pastime).

Small adjustments, towards a clearer, brighter lens, are what the research actually supports.

The Year of the Horse isn’t going to be my year because the stars have aligned, but because I’m bringing optimism, purpose, and hope into every day. And with that, we are off to the races.