Mike Tyson used to scare the hell out of his opponents by saying this. And for many years it worked. He liked to point out that pain will not be avoided, especially if he was involved. So how does optimism help when getting punched in the face?

There’s a perception out there by some that Happiness is a finite resource. So if you give some of that Happiness to Group A, you must by default be taking it from Group B (or some other group). Do you believe that life is a zero sum game?

Maybe you’ve heard the expression your life is a book that you are writing. Or a film that you are directing. Maybe you’ve embraced the radical notion that you can be in charge of your own happiness. But have you?

This year, my biggest goal is to make the case for Radical Optimism. The stoics believed that for many of us, happiness was a choice. There were outliers (the poor, the sick, the broken) but to a huge degree, they thought we could own this. Can we?