We recently connected with Benjamin Donnell and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Benjamin, thank you for being such a positive, uplifting person. We’ve noticed that so many of the successful folks we’ve had the good fortune of connecting with have high levels of optimism and so we’d love to hear about your optimism and where you think it comes from.
Every day is filled with a countless amount of decisions. What to eat, what to wear, what to say, etc. A large part of what affects your day usually isn’t one of those more “simple” decisions. The big deciding factor I see that affects your whole days outcome depends on if you are optimistic or pessimistic. In my experience, the choice between those two are the first filter to how the rest of your day goes. So for me, I do my best to first choose optimism. Where does my optimism come from? There are a couple places this comes from, for me. First, my understanding in Jesus Christ and His goodness is foundational for making the choice to be optimistic. Second, at a young age, I saw how the people around me were either pessimistic or optimistic. The pessimistic ones seemed to always be struggling and were never satisfied with their current position. The optimistic ones were having a great time! Life seemed light and hopeful. It was contagious. It was at that point that I chose to emulate that way of life and it really did work out for me. My goal was to approach life through this filter of optimism. It helped shape my every day.
One great way to choose optimism is to slow down in your response to situations. Before you react/respond, think about if you are grumbling and complaining. Is your response going to bring more darkness or is it bringing hope and understanding? Especially in a group setting, this decision can quickly shape the mood or the room. We have seen it many times with many examples. But the one i think about the most is when you are in a pitch black room, everything changes with the faintest glimmer of light. The same works for people. When you bring light into a situation, it is infectious and can change the mood/direction of the situation.
A last point I like to make is reminding myself and others that it takes more than just “choosing optimism”. Jesus lived a life of love, connection, forgiveness, and peace. His circumstances were not great. But His reaction to the situations speak loudly to me. When you nurture a relationship with Him, you find that you are reminded of His approach to situations constantly. When you know Him by spending time in prayer and reading His word, it becomes very easy to reflect that same light He showed so many others. This takes optimism from being more of a chore, to making it more natural and second nature.
I am grateful as well to have a community of people that are actively choosing optimism. I see them respond to situations as well with an uplifting/optimistic response. Having an optimistic community is not only contagious, it is also FUN! Find people that have optimistic outlooks and surround yourself with them. You will find life becoming less heavy and less dark. Giving you a lighter and brighter life! Day by day and choice by choice.
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
I am currently the owner of Glory To Glory Ice Cream. We (my wife and I) run a soft serve mobile dessert trailer. Taking our premium soft serve to events around the Florida panhandle and serving our local community. We specialize in taking the best quality soft serve available and elevating it to new levels with delectable toppings. Our menu consists of things like: Vanilla custard served with freshly chopped strawberries, blackberries, and blueberries. With an Italian lemon white chocolate sauce that has cookie butter nibs mixed in with the sauce, garnished with a Kiwi wheel on the rim of the cup. That is just one example of one of our “Elevated Soft Serves”.
I come from a background in New Home Construction. I left this great career to start my own business in order to get more time with my family. My wife and I have 5 young kids and we are doing all that we can to get as much time with them before they grow up and go chase their own dreams.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
3 qualities that I personally think are the most important for your journey, would be Optimism, Faith, and Empathy. Surround yourself with optimistic people. Explore the depths of scripture and build your faith in the creator of our Universe. Talk to people enough to understand the why behind their decisions. It is a lot easier to have empathy for someone when you understand why they feel what they do. If you aren’t exploring that, you are missing the main point.
Thanks so much for sharing all these insights with us today. Before we go, is there a book that’s played in important role in your development?
The Holy Bible. There is a reason it is the number 1 most sold book in the history of the world. There is a reason you have MANY denominations of people building churches from this book. There is a reason there are countless stories of people overcoming trauma/darkness/depression/addiction/etc. through this book.
Find some time to read it for yourself. Don’t exclusively get your information from people about The Bible because people all get different things from that wonderful book.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Www.gtgicecream.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gtgicecream?igsh=eXg0dTVkY2g4dGR2&utm_source=qr
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61575779759604
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjamin-donnell-38430322b?utm_source=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=member_ios
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
