I had the pleasure of interviewing Bill Burke, founder of The Optimism Institute, for my new book, The Force for Good Project.

Bill said, “Sam, the media is in the business of grabbing our eyeballs with sensationalistic headlines. They know that anything that threatens, alarms, or outrages us keeps us glued to our devices, so they deliberately over-index on anything that does that.

“But negative news is not the norm. It’s simply what sells. No one stands in an airport and says, ‘Wow, a thousand flights took off and landed safely today.’ However, if there’s an accident, it’s an instant headline.

“Why not start noticing and appreciating the 999 flights that did take off and land safely instead of only noticing the one that didn’t?

“I’m on a mission to help people reclaim their optimism by noticing and appreciating these positive norms, instead of negative news.”

Bill said, “The metaphor I use is that pessimism is seeing the glass as half empty. Optimism is seeing it as half full. Actionable optimism is refilling the glass.”

I said, “What a great visual. You’re right, optimism isn’t just an attitude; it’s an action.

“It isn’t just a mindset, it’s a skill set. It’s choosing to see the glass as half full and taking responsibility to refill it.”