I've just taken a new job; it is a promotion and I am afraid I have been promoted beyond my level of competence. I am also becoming discouraged by the number of new things I have to learn. Can you offer me any advice on how to cope?

Remember the “Peter Principle”? The theory was that everyone gets promoted until they reach their level of incompetence. Talk about discouraging!

Did you know that optimism is a virtue? People usually think of optimists as those who are either blessed with a sunny disposition — or just naive. They assume that pessimists are the ones who are realists.

In reality, optimism is a virtue that can be cultivated. Optimism overcomes depression and downheartedness, and can even give us inner peace. We gain peace from being optimistic because we have trustful confidence in God, in others and in ourselves. Optimism is confidence based on reason.

Optimism consists in the ability to realistically assess each situation for both the positive elements to build upon and the obstacles to overcome. If we are fully aware of the strengths and weaknesses of our situation, then we will be able to take advantage of whatever may help us and face up to the challenges with feisty sense of competitiveness. This ability gives us confidence, which in turn makes us optimistic.

We view challenges and new situations facing us neither with rose-colored glasses nor with a gloomy outlook, but are able to rationally and calmly assess the situation vis a vis our own strengths and weaknesses. Here's a sports analogy: A successful basketball coach knows his opponent doesn't have a good “inside game” — they don't penetrate the area near the basket well enough to score a lot of layups and dunks. So he tells his players to focus on shutting down the opponent's perimeter shooters — the guys who can score jump shots from long distances.

Of course, this is easier said than done. In your new job, you are being hit with many new situations at once and the learning curve may be steep. It may be that you are anxious about your situation and are not realistically assessing it. Or maybe yours is a situation fraught with enormous tactical challenges, like putting out the fires of a burning oil rig. You will have to first calmly step back and realistically assess the situation. Analyze your own strengths and weaknesses as well as the challenges and expectations of the job itself, and the strengths and weaknesses of your co-workers.

Remember that the definition of optimism is confidence in God, ourselves and others.

Sometimes, when we are getting discouraged, it is because we are relying too much on ourselves and forgetting to place our trust in God. At those times it's not uncommon for us to forget to ask others for help, too. When we focus too much on the difficulty of the situation or merely on our own weaknesses, and not clearly enough on all the options for resolving the difficulty, our discouragement is all but guaranteed.

It may be, of course, that God is permitting this difficult situation to test our fortitude. However, it may also be that we are simply not trusting that God will never give us a cross too difficult to bear. If the latter is the case, we may need to pray hard to take a fresh look at the situation. The true challenge may be to have more confidence in God, in others and in ourselves to rise to the challenge.

Optimism is a virtue to be cultivated. It helps us focus on the strengths in every situation and then take advantage of those strengths, while bravely facing up to the challenges. Our co-workers, subordinates, supervisors and customers will need to see this virtue in us in order to lead with inspiration. This will make us valued in our jobs as one who possesses inner strength and confidence — trusting in God, ourselves and others.

Art Bennett is director of Alpha

Omega Clinic and Consultation Services

in Vienna, Virginia, and Bethesday, Maryland.