A human – a representative of the species Homo Sapiens. We’re the only sentient beings known today combining multiple functions and capabilities. Our body is a unique system which still not fully studied. Our brain is the most complex instrument of the human body, allowing people to think, to analyze, to operate the body and more, acting as a kind of “control panel”.
Throughout one’s entire life individual becomes a person. The person is someone who has formed their character, principles, and values. We cannot be born a person, but we become one over time. How does this process happen? The following stages of personality development are usually distinguished:
1. Adaptation stage(up to 3)
2. Individualization stage(4-11yrs)
3. Integration stage(12-18yrs)
4. Stage of occupational socialization(youth)
5. Post-employment stage(old age)
You’ll most likely find this if you try to search for information. The process cannot be described in 5 points; it lasts for decades, and the most important thing is that every person lives those stages differently. After all, we used to think that adaptation includes parents’ upbringing, but unfortunately, not all people are given an opportunity to be raised the same way as most of us.
It should be noted that parents, surroundings, place of birth, school, and much more play an important role in the formation of a personality. All of this can be listed endlessly, but we’ll take only one example:
· Person X grew up in a wealthy family; his parents loved him very much, provided him with money and also with a good education
· Person Y grew up in a family with alcoholic parents, where the father beat the mother. The only example of a family that he saw was his own one
Ø What kind of life will the two of them have? It’s not difficult to guess that the first child will be a good family man, will work and earn good money. He had this example in front of his eyes. But what about the second one? Most likely, he’ll become an alcoholic and follow the example of his father
Of course, it cannot be stated that this will definitely happen, but based on the information presented, the outcome described above is the most likely. This is just a simplified version of life, in which I took the influence of parents on a child as the basis, and this example showed that they also influence on his future lifestyle.
From such a simple example, we can come to one important statement. The factors that shape our personality subsequently influence our lifestyle.
“Siri, what’s a lifestyle?”
“A Lifestyle – the typical way an individual or a group lives, shaped by daily habits, personal values, and social surroundings.”
Is this definition really enough to describe something that lasts an entire lifetime?
“Typical, daily” – can we say that a lifestyle is about something permanent: established principles, habits, values? Unchangeable?
We’ve established that a person develops throughout their entire life, and therefore they’re constantly changing; as their personality changes, even such established concepts change. However, let us look at this from a linguistic point of view.
“Lifestyle”
The word is formed from two words: “Life” and “Style.” If everything’s clear with the word “life,” then let us pay attention to the second one. First of all, when we’re told “style,” we understand it as a style of clothing. In addition, this word has other meanings: behavior and manner, design and art, speech and text, a calendar, to make and arrange and to select. Let us look more closely at the nouns. The property that unites all of them is changeability. From day to day, from year to year, our style of clothing, manner, behavior, speech, and text — all of this is constantly changing. Let us draw a parallel: it turns out that the word “Lifestyle” can be interpreted as “the style of a changing life.”
Our lifestyle – a сhangeable concept.
Of course, our lifestyle changes even when we do not notice it ourselves. But let’s look at research.
The report by NIQ (NielsenIQ) says that 70 percent of the survey respondents wanted to improve their lifestyle. They usually mean areas such as activity, nutrition, sleep and mental health.
It means, that the best majority of people want to make changes to their lifestyle. What are the benefits of this, and why have people decided that this is something they need to do? Some studies have shown a connection between lifestyle and satisfaction, harmony:
· A study conducted by the Oxford University Wellbeing Research Centre and Garmin confirms that physical activity, sleep monitoring, etc., are connected with mood. People who monitored these aspects statistically showed more positive emotions and less stress.
· Based on the World Happiness Report, 2025–2026, it turned out that the older generation maintains stable satisfaction, while young people are gradually falling below the norm. Researchers associate this outcome with the development of technology, which increases social pressure and digital overload.
Now we can say that improving one’s lifestyle (in the usual sense) helps people be more positive, enjoy life, and experience less stress.
However, there’s an important point that I didn’t mention above regarding the NIQ (NielsenIQ) report. If we pay attention to the wording, we can notice that the question is specifically about desire. The thing is that this same report contains information about how many people actually take any actions. The result: only 25 percent out of the 70 percent actually try to improve their lives.
A survey was also conducted in which people were asked about the reason for this gap. It turned out that the majority of respondents (54 percent) consider cost to be the main reason why they cannot improve their lifestyle.
We can come to the judgment that most people believe that improving their lifestyle is possible only through the familiar image that they’ve been taught to believe in, for example, by social media: healthy eating, going to the gym, skincare, etc. All of this costs money, and therefore people do nothing to improve their lifestyle.
But what if we make people understand that the typical changes to their lifestyle aren’t always the way to achieve satisfaction, happiness, and peace of mind?
Now I’ll finally introduce the concept that we’ll base our discussion on from this point forward.
Positive outlook
This concept refers to how we perceive certain things. A positive outlook is the perception of things from a positive point of view, regardless of what the situation may be.
In the context of lifestyle, I call this concept “universal.” And I call it that because it’s a skill that can be acquired without any material investment, and by acquiring it, your life can truly change, but only if you yourself want it to.
We’ll consider changing one’s lifestyle for the better not as what a person does, but as the way in which a person perceives life.
To understand the term “perception,” we’ll consider four important factors of this concept:
§ Attention
§ Previous Experience and Expectations
§ Objectivity
§ Interpretation and Evaluation
So, let’s start exploring this more deeply.
Attention
We’ll examine this factor based on the article “Visual Attention: The Past 25 Years” (2011).
Attention can be divided into two types:
· Voluntary attention – attention that we direct ourselves. For example, we can consciously observe a particular person, their clothing, and facial expressions while being in a crowd of people.
· Involuntary attention – attention that we do not control; it is automatic. This happens when an object falls, and we involuntarily pay attention to it.
This shows that we can choose what to pay attention to. However, there are situations when this happens unconsciously.
Also, based on Carrasco’s research, we can state that attention affects how we perceive things.
When it’s directed toward a particular object, a person identifies the object and its characteristics more accurately, which is a direct interaction with our perception. Thus, we may not notice certain details. This’s how selective attention works. The brain processes a huge amount of information, and because of this, it distributes information into more and less important.
It’s also crucial to mention context. When considering a situation in which a person is intentionally looking for something, their attention will highlight exactly the features they’re looking for.
Despite the fact that the study is conducted in 2011, a more recent source, “Common and distinct neural mechanisms of attention” (2024), confirms the information presented above.
Ø The main thing to highlight for our further discussion is that we are capable of controlling our attention (although not always), which also affects our perception of certain objects and actions.
Previous Experience and Expectations
Here we’ll talk specifically about how the way we perceive past information affects subsequent information. We’ll base our discussion on the article “Learning What to See in a Changing World” (2016).
The researchers showed participants a rotating sphere while creating an association with a particular tone of sound (high or low). They then changed the associations, misleading the participants. In addition to unambiguous images, where it was clear which direction the sphere was rotating, ambiguous images were also presented, which confused the participants even more. The researchers recorded how new information was perceived based on past experience. Thus, a connection between learned associations, past experience, and subsequent perception was identified.
Ø Our perception’s formed based on our past and newly acquired experiences, which allows it to constantly change by receiving and processing new information; this process creates a kind of expectation, which subsequently influences future perception.
Objectivity
After considering the factors we’ve already discussed, a question arises: can our perception be objective?
We’ve learned that perception is shaped by attention, past experience, and subsequent expectations. The thing is that each of these aspects works differently for each person in different situations. To demonstrate this, let us consider a situation:
Our already familiar Person X is at a fashion show where different designers are presenting their work. Previously, he studied fashion and paid particular attention to avant-garde. Throughout the show, he observed the models. Afterward, there was a break, and he decided to discuss the looks with his colleagues. During the conversation, he praised exactly the style that he had spent a lot of time studying; it seemed that he’d noticed every small detail in these looks. Meanwhile, his conversation partner was not particularly inspired by his comments and often criticized the looks of this style. However, when it was his turn to share his observations, he willingly discussed the vintage style, and it turned out that he had worked with the designer who presented these works. After this conversation, our Person X began paying attention to the vintage-style works, and suddenly they didn’t seem bad to him. His past experience and newly acquired experience, which formed his expectations, led to his subsequent perception.
Although this is only a fictional story, it clearly demonstrates how our perception works. Once again, it’s confirmed that this process involves our attention, past and newly acquired experience, and expectations.
At the same time, I presented this particular situation because it allows us to clearly see that two people can be at the same event and see the same looks. Do they have the same opinion? Not at all. And why? Because they’re two different people with different sets of characteristics. At the very beginning, we established that each person’s life develops differently, which means that the opinions of people at this event may also differ.
So now the question is: can we claim that a person’s perception can ever be completely objective?
Ø Of course not.
Interpretation and Evaluation
Let’s move on to the section about how we evaluate a situation, which is directly connected to perception.
Let’s take the situation with our friend X at the fashion show. We can notice evaluation from both sides here: Person X evaluates the avant-garde style, which attracts him because he spent a lot of time studying it. His colleague, on the other hand, evaluates this style quite negatively.
Here, the role’s played by the meaning they attach to these looks. Essentially, they see the same looks, but we can say that they look at them through their own “shell,” which consists of different characteristics.
There’s one more important point to highlight. After the break, X changed his attitude, which consequently changed his perception of the vintage style. This demonstrates that the last and very important factor that determines our perception is interpretation.
Ø The way we interpret a situation is something we choose ourselves, and by passing through the “shell” that we create throughout our lives, a person forms their perception.
So, we’ve examined the important components of the term “perception.” We can make the judgment that a person is the only one responsible for how they perceive the world around them. This means that we’re capable of directing our thinking in such a way that allows us to change our attitude toward life, as well as our lifestyle.
Our next task is to understand how two types of thinking work: negative and positive.
Negative thinking
Negative thinking can also be called pessimism. This way of thinking is connected with negative emotions, stress, anger, etc.
I have to mention that neuropsychologist Rick Hanson was convinced that a person is more inclined to experience negativity than positivity. He explains this through:
1. The process of evolution: in the past, the only goal was to stay alive. Our ancestors focused less on what could provide them with pleasure and more on how to survive in their conditions. In other words, they were constantly preparing for the worst for the sake of survival.
2. He also introduced the concept of “Velcro and Teflon.” The brain immediately holds on to negative information, while positive thoughts remain at the edges of consciousness, without receiving a person’s attention.
3. Hanson also drew attention to how quickly an anxious, sometimes even imagined, thought activates the search for negativity, which is carried out by the amygdala.
Overall, Hanson came to the conclusion that our brain nowadays works in much the same way as that of our ancestors. In other words, we perceive insignificant anxious thoughts in a similar way to how our ancestors once reacted to a mammoth.
Ø If a person never thinks about how their thoughts work in general, their brain will still tend toward negative thinking.
Positive thinking
It’s harder for people to think positively precisely because, as we’ve already established, we tend to think in the opposite direction. Therefore, the emergence of positive thoughts needs to be controlled; they need to be noticed, retained, and kept in our attention. This’s how positive thinking works:
1. The brain notices positive information. It often goes unnoticed by a person, so an important part is to consciously think about the positive without letting it slip away.
2. A person keeps their attention on these thoughts. Rick Hanson said that this type of information needs to be held in attention for at least 20–30 seconds so that it can actually become established.
3. The brain sees this experience as significant. The more we notice positive emotions, the more significant this information becomes for the brain.
4. Positive experiences become connected with thoughts and emotions. At this stage, a certain attitude toward the situation is formed, in particular, a more positive one.
Ø This is how we develop the habit of thinking positively, which allows us to be more satisfied with life.
Having examined how the two types of thinking work, we can continue discussing perception and how it is connected to our lifestyle.
From Perception to Lifestyle
A person is the only one who possesses their thoughts; they choose their way of thinking. We’re drawn toward negative thoughts, while positive thoughts do not occupy as much space in our brain as we would like.
First of all, positive thoughts change our perception: of thoughts, actions, events, and our life as a whole. We have already discussed that the process of perception includes such a stage as interpretation and evaluation. To understand more clearly how this process occurs, let us try to visualize it:
Let’s imagine a long rectangle. This figure will symbolize our process of perception. There are four circles inside it, representing the stages of perception: attention, expectations and past experience, objectivity, and interpretation and evaluation.
Let’s examine the last stage in particular.
It’s this stage that is responsible for a person’s subsequent actions. Visually, bring this circle closer by enlarging it. It’s important to examine what’s included in this figure. When we evaluate and interpret something, a very important factor comes into play — our thoughts. This is exactly where they begin to work consciously, because we consider a situation in order to give it some kind of evaluation. Let us imagine this as a square located inside the circle of the “last stage.”
It’s necessary to pay attention to the fact that interpretation and evaluation are part of the stage of perception and are not a separate part that occurs later. As I’ve already stated, in this circle we begin to think, meaning that thinking comes into play. To put it directly, this is the part where we face a choice: positive or negative thinking. Let us return to the visualization. Add a kind of lens at the very edge of the circle. It is worth noting that this is a “prism” that symbolizes a kind of filter — not only the end of a particular stage, but the end of the entire process of perception. Let our choice be located precisely here.
Passing through this filter, we, already relying on the process of perception we have gone through, move on to practical thoughts, that is, thoughts that lead to actions. Visually, we leave our rectangle, and this is when the consequences of our choice begin: depending on it, we take certain actions and make decisions.
Ø The more often we choose positive thinking, the more natural it becomes for us to think in an optimistic way. This changes our lives and our attitude toward them. Through the consistency of these thoughts, our lifestyle also changes.
Positive outlook vs Optimism
“If we think optimistically all the time, it leads to ignoring reality. This should not be done, and it is the wrong approach.”
Many people, after they start “using” positive thinking, face difficulties in the form of a “hard life” and then claim that this approach does not work.
It’s necessary to be able to understand the differences between optimism and a positive outlook. People who say this, mostly don’t understand how positive thinking works. Moreover, they don’t simply become optimistic; they begin to move toward unrealistic optimism, which leads to less favorable consequences.
~ Unrealistic optimism is a cognitive bias in which a person overestimates the likelihood of positive events in their life and underestimates the risk of negative ones.
Unrealistic optimism
There are many studies based on the study of unrealistic optimism. Here are the main conclusions reached by the authors:
1. Underestimating risks. A person begins to believe in a more favorable outcome, thereby underestimating the risks.
2. Reduced caution. The more a person feels optimism the less careful he becomes when making decisions.
3. Ignoring negative information. If a person has unrealistic optimism, they most often do not pay sufficient attention to negative information.
4. Unrealistic expectations. A person develops expectations that are statistically very unlikely to be fulfilled — they are unrealistic.
All of these points lead to the fact that after taking a particular action while approaching it with unrealistic optimism, a person quickly loses interest, becomes discouraged, and, for some people, this can even develop into depression. We can say that at this moment, a kind of “jump” occurs from what seemed to be an optimistic reality to a pessimistic and tragic one. And notice that people usually say that a person has “come back down to earth,” but in reality, most often, they only make their reality worse, turning into a bundle of gloom and pessimism.
The main differences
It’s important to understand that positive thinking is primarily about perception, not about expecting a particular outcome.
A person with a Positive Outlook:
· Hopes for the best possible outcome
· Does everything possible on their part
· Sincerely believes that they will achieve a good result
· Does not exclude the possibility of failure or an outcome different from the desired one
· Does not perceive unfulfilled desires as the end
A person with unrealistic optimism:
· Convinces themselves that everything will work out
· Is blind to risks
· Is unable to accept the final outcome
· Often rejects the possibility of an outcome different from the desired one
People confuse these concepts precisely because they believe that convincing yourself that the outcome will turn out as expected and simply expecting it to happen is what Positive Outlook means. This is the fundamental difference: positive thinking is always about the way we perceive things.
Ø Unrealistic expectations are about distorting reality, whereas Positive Outlook is not about changing events and actions in your mind, but about being ready to accept them as they are, change your attitude toward them, and find positive aspects even in failure.
The conclusion
I started this work by examining what a personality is and how it is formed. This helped us see that all people grow up in different conditions, developing and learning about the world with different opportunities. This shapes their personality and their background. We connected this with their future lifestyle, which continues to develop over time.
Lifestyle’s a changeable concept. By gaining experience and knowledge throughout our lives, we remain in the process of improving our lifestyle. Studies have shown that most people want to change their lifestyle for the better, in particular because a good lifestyle provides a more satisfying existence. The problem turned out to be that only a small proportion of people actually worked on improving their lives, while the majority, as surveys showed, had problems specifically due to a lack of material resources.
Positive Outlook is a universal way to improve your life by changing your perception of it. The term “perception” is the key concept, and it has four factors:
1. Attention
2. Past experience and Expectations
3. Objectivity
4. Interpretation and Evaluation
There are two types of thinking: positive and negative. A person is inclined toward negative thinking (based on Rick Hanson’s research), which makes it more difficult for them to notice positive information. They should control the flow of this information, notice it, and mark it as important, focusing on it for some time.
Then, through visualization, we examined the process of perception more precisely, incorporating the concepts of negative and positive thinking into the final stage — interpretation and evaluation. After the process of perception, our brain moves on to practical thoughts, that is, actions and behaviors. What they’ll be depends on the choice made earlier. Thus, by choosing the positive side more often, we act on the same basis, and our attitude toward life also becomes more positive, followed by our lifestyle.
To make sure that we correctly understand how positive thinking works, we compared it with another concept — optimism. We found differences, including differences in expectations, reactions to the outcome, as well as blindness to risk.
Ø Thus, Positive Outlook is one of the most accessible and effective ways to change your lifestyle simply by changing your attitude toward life. It’s a whole process that needs to be gradually incorporated into one’s life, and it’ll happen differently for each person. Most importantly, it can be called universal precisely because it’s accessible to everyone. This approach is not about changing events and actions, but rather about how a person goes through them.
About the Author
