As a student you may be worried about the future. There is a lot of unsettling news available now about the value of a degree, challenges in the job market, and of course, economic conditions. If you pay attention to this news you can develop a sense of learned helplessness about events beyond your control. And yet, one thing you do have direct control over is your outlook. Now more than ever, you need optimism or belief in your capabilities, regardless of the circumstances around you. What you believe about yourself ultimately determines how successful you are. Student who have a sense of optimism tend to see things in a positive light, learn from negative situations, exert more continuous effort and persevere, assuming that the situation can be handled successfully in one way or another. Being optimistic implies being a positive, constructive, and creative thinker. This implies that when a person is optimistic, success cannot be far from him. He sees opportunities in every aspect of life, whether positive or negative situations. A positive attitude helps you cope more easily with the daily affairs of life. It brings optimism into your life, and makes it easier to avoid worries and negative thinking. If you adopt it as a way of life, it would bring constructive changes into your life, and makes them happier, brighter and more successful. Whenever a negative thought concerning your personal powers come into mind, deliberately voice a positive thought to cancel it out. Maintaining motivation and perseverance may be why optimistic people are more likely to succeed in reaching their goals. They are able to maintain their focus and recover better from setbacks, rather than succumbing to a defeatist attitude. Another trait is a stronger ability to seek out creative solutions to problems. By reminding yourself, in advance, that setbacks are not going to define your success, you can become better positioned to deal with them should they arise? While it would be nice if all students shared the same understanding of positive behaviors, they don't. Students come from diverse family, cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds. All these influences, and others, shape students' perspective of what's appropriate, and what is not. It's important that students are taught positive behaviors in a consistent and systematic way at school, colleges and in the classroom.