Sign up to save your podcasts
Or
Share Can You Become a "Practical" Optimist?
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Or
Can You Become a "Practical" Optimist?
There are many benefits to being an optimist - particularly when things go wrong in our lives. But we aren't all naturally optimistic, so can we learn to adopt the best and most positive behaviours of born optimists?
Through treating New Yorkers caught up in the 9/11 attacks, psychiatrist Dr Sue Varma developed a concept she calls "practical optimism". She shares her tips on how we can all be more optimistic in the face of life's challenges.
Read more in Sue's book Practical Optimism: The Art, Science, and Practice of Exceptional Well-Being
Dr Laurie spoke to Sue Varma MD at the 2025 World Happiness Summit.
Get ad-free episodes to The Happiness Lab by subscribing to Pushkin+ on Apple Podcasts or Pushkin.fm. Pushkin+ subscribers can access ad-free episodes, full audiobooks, exclusive binges, and bonus content for all Pushkin shows.
Subscribe on Apple: apple.co/pushkin
Subscribe on Pushkin: pushkin.fm/plus
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
View all episodes
By Pushkin Industries
4.7
1391713,917 ratings
There are many benefits to being an optimist - particularly when things go wrong in our lives. But we aren't all naturally optimistic, so can we learn to adopt the best and most positive behaviours of born optimists?
Through treating New Yorkers caught up in the 9/11 attacks, psychiatrist Dr Sue Varma developed a concept she calls "practical optimism". She shares her tips on how we can all be more optimistic in the face of life's challenges.
Read more in Sue's book Practical Optimism: The Art, Science, and Practice of Exceptional Well-Being
Dr Laurie spoke to Sue Varma MD at the 2025 World Happiness Summit.
Get ad-free episodes to The Happiness Lab by subscribing to Pushkin+ on Apple Podcasts or Pushkin.fm. Pushkin+ subscribers can access ad-free episodes, full audiobooks, exclusive binges, and bonus content for all Pushkin shows.
Subscribe on Apple: apple.co/pushkin
Subscribe on Pushkin: pushkin.fm/plus
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
More shows like The Happiness Lab: Getting Unstuck
View all
Hidden Brain
43,693 Listeners
The One You Feed
2,556 Listeners
Happier with Gretchen Rubin
12,919 Listeners
Untangle
819 Listeners
Good Life Project
3,371 Listeners
Revisionist History
59,197 Listeners
10% Happier with Dan Harris
12,745 Listeners
Being Well with Forrest Hanson and Dr. Rick Hanson
2,511 Listeners
Broken Record with Rick Rubin, Malcolm Gladwell, Bruce Headlam and Justin Richmond
4,097 Listeners
The Science of Happiness
1,892 Listeners
Worklife with Adam Grant
9,161 Listeners
Life Kit
4,783 Listeners
Solvable
567 Listeners
Go and See
402 Listeners
Making a Killing with Bethany McLean
71 Listeners
Deep Cover Presents: Snowball
4,545 Listeners
Hearing with Tali Farhadian Weinstein
79 Listeners
Fiasco
436 Listeners
How to Be a Better Human
1,396 Listeners
ReThinking
640 Listeners
A Slight Change of Plans
1,989 Listeners
We Can Do Hard Things
41,511 Listeners
Bad Women: The Blackout Ripper
1,217 Listeners
Backstage Pass with Eric Vetro
231 Listeners
What's Your Problem?
262 Listeners
Not Lost
432 Listeners
Car Show! with Eddie Alterman
149 Listeners
The Loudest Girl in the World
332 Listeners
The Mel Robbins Podcast
20,646 Listeners
Come As You Are
374 Listeners
Started from the Bottom
98 Listeners
The Best Audio Storytelling 2022
78 Listeners
Where's Dia?
268 Listeners
Charlie's Place
63 Listeners