College is a time for opportunity and new experiences. However, it is easy to get overwhelmed. I certainly have had many days where I have felt frustrated or even discouraged throughout my college experience so far. But I have come to realize that being pessimistic about stressful life events does nothing but make you more stressed out.

The truth is, having an optimistic mindset is crucial to being successful.

But how can something as simple as a change in mindset change your life?

Attitude is EVERYTHING!

Having a better attitude can not only benefit you but it can benefit others, as well. They say that optimism is contagious. If you put out a good attitude into the world, people will notice and become driven themselves. Likewise, they say that people attract what they put out into the universe. The more negative you are, the more negativity you will attract into your life.

Being an optimist is directly correlated with a healthier lifestyle. The better outlook you have on life, the more likely you are to be less stressed. The less stress you have, the healthier your heart will be. Being optimistic also promotes better emotional health overall. The truth is, the happier your mindset it, the more you are likely to achieve.

One way you can generally be happier is to take a different approach to failure. It is so easy to take on failure as a definition of oneself. Students often spend a lot of energy and time ruminating on their failures.

Setbacks are bound to happen. College is very competitive so it is likely that you will not get every opportunity that you want every time. Instead of looking at a setback as a failure, look at it as a reason to grow and learn.

Instead of looking at failure as a bad thing, look at failure as the start of something new. When things are consistently good in our lives, we tend to get too comfortable. Failure opens up the door for new things that may even be very outside of our comfort zones.

I am not saying that you have to be optimistic all the time to be successful. Of course, we all have bad days and negative thoughts. Overall, it is the act of pushing past those bad things and thriving despite them that puts you in the direction for success.