Moxie: Optimism Is Your Superpower

"One must have a reasonable optimism. It is the force that makes the world go."



(Hershey's Candies produces 80 million Hershey's Kisses every day. That's 60,000 kisses per minute!)

(My goal with today’s Moxie is this: every time you see a Hershey’s Kiss, I want you to ask yourself, How can I be more optimistic about this? Whatever “this” happens to be for you in the moment.

Got it? Hershey’s Kiss = Optimism.)

---

ONE STORY

Now, if you’re not into chocolate, this may not mean much. But for the rest of us, the Hershey’s Kiss is one of life’s simplest joys. One bite. One wrapper. One moment of satisfaction.

And it almost never happened.

Because before the chocolate, there was failure. A lot of failure.

In 1876, a young Milton Hershey borrowed heavily from his family and friends to open a candy shop in Philadelphia. He poured five years of his life into the venture, working long hours, experimenting, hustling to keep the doors open.

Ultimately, the shop failed.

And Hershey didn’t just walk away broke. He walked away in debt to the very people who had believed in him.

(At age 18, Milton Hershey started his first candy shop in Philadelphia in 1876. His seed money was a loan from his Aunt Mattie who gave him $100 to launch the business–that's just over $3,000 in today's money). 

Still, he tried again. He picked up new techniques in Denver, then launched Hershey’s Fine Candies in New York. This one failed too. His products were outdated, his sales sputtered, and competition swallowed him. He closed the shop and came home with nothing but more debt and disappointment.

For a time, he even tried Chicago. Same story. Another failure on the pile.

By his early thirties, Hershey had three bankruptcies to his name, a trail of debt behind him, and a chorus of voices–family, friends, his own doubts–telling him it was time to quit. Enough was enough.

But he didn’t quit. 

You see, while Milton Hershey hadn’t yet found success in business, he had the one thing that all successful entrepreneurs need: Optimism.

"One must have a reasonable optimism. It is the force that makes the world go." -Milton Hershey

In Milton Hershey's mind, no matter the setback, the future was still bright. So much was still possible. 

Back in his hometown of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Hershey turned to caramel. Slowly, he refined his recipes, adjusted his methods, and built something that finally worked. The Lancaster Caramel Company gave him traction. Customers came. Money followed. His reputation grew.

(The Lancaster Caramel Company. Milton Hershey sold the business for $1 Million and invested every last dollar of the sale into the formation of a new milk chocolate company, Hershey's Candies.)

And then, just as things were thriving, he sold it all. Why? Because he believed caramels were a fad, and milk chocolate was the future. Experts in the industry balked. They said milk chocolate was impossible to make at scale. Too complicated. Too costly.

You know what happens next. Optimism all day long. The experts said it couldn’t be done. Hershey’s optimism had only one reply: “Why not?”

So he went back to the lab. More years of trial and error. More money on the line. More doubt from the people around him. But optimism kept him going. And eventually, he cracked the formula: affordable, scalable milk chocolate.

The Hershey Chocolate Company was born.

Hershey didn’t stop at chocolate. Fueled by his optimism and the hope of a better future, Hershey built a whole town for his workers, complete with homes, schools, churches, and parks. With his wife, he founded a school for orphaned boys–a school that still serves thousands of children today. Before his death, he gave nearly his entire fortune to that school’s trust.

(Milton and his wife, Catherine.)

Milton Hershey didn’t just make candy. He created possibility. He built a legacy out of optimism. The kind that shoulders debt, ignores the doubt, and refuses to let failure have the last word.

So yeah, the next time you see a Hershey's Kiss, remember, optimism made it happen.

The Brain Science

It turns out, Optimism isn’t just wishful thinking. It’s wiring.

One part of the brain that helps explain it is the Reticular Activating System (RAS)–the filter in your brainstem that decides what gets your attention. Out of billions of bits of information, it only lets through what it thinks matters. And what matters depends on what you’ve trained it to notice.

(The Reticular Activating System (RAS) is a neural network in the brainstem that acts as a filter for sensory information.)

That’s why when you buy a red car, you suddenly see red cars everywhere.

Optimism trains the RAS the same way. If you believe a setback is temporary, your brain starts scanning for solutions and openings. If you believe it’s permanent, the RAS filters for more proof that you’re stuck.

The difference is massive. The pessimist’s brain gets hijacked by the amygdala, the threat center, and locks into avoidance. The optimist’s brain stays engaged in the prefrontal cortex, where problem-solving and creativity live.

That’s why optimism is more than a mood. It’s a skill. A skill that rewires your brain to keep you moving forward when everything else says stop.

📜 TWO QUOTES

"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."

— Winston Churchill

“Perpetual Optimism is a force multiplier.”

— Colin Powell

🚀 THREE TAKEAWAYS

1. Optimism sees.
It notices possibility when everyone else has stopped looking. Most people give up their vision long before the opportunity arrives. The optimist keeps scanning, keeps searching, and because of that, sees doors others miss.

2. Optimism perseveres.
Setbacks aren’t endings, they’re chapters in the story. The optimist expects obstacles, learns from them, and keeps moving. Where the pessimist stops, the optimist turns the page and keeps writing.

3. Optimism leads.
While others dwell on problems, the leader points to what’s possible. Optimism becomes contagious. It lifts the eyes of a team from what is to what could be, and that shift changes everything.

🔍 MOXIE REFLECTIONS

• Where in my life have I stopped looking, convinced the door is closed? How might optimism help me see another way?

• Which current setback do I need to reframe, not as the end of the story, but as one more chapter?

• As a leader, am I feeding my team more problems to worry about, or possibilities to pursue?

   

🛠️ TOOLS FOR GROWTH

🧩 PATTERN RECOGNITION: Negativity Bias

Your brain is wired with a negativity bias. Evolution taught us to notice threats more than opportunities, because missing a lion was more costly than missing a sunset.

Unfortunately, that wiring still runs the show. Which means failures, criticisms, and setbacks stick like Velcro, while progress and possibility slide off like Teflon.

Optimism doesn’t erase the bias, but it balances it. It reminds your brain to keep scanning for what could go right, not just what’s gone wrong.

🧠 MENTAL SKILL OF THE WEEK: Optimism

Optimism is the skill of interpreting setbacks as temporary and specific, not permanent and global. It’s not blind hope; it’s the belief that the future can be changed by your action.

How to use it: When you face a setback, pause and ask, “Is this really permanent? Or just temporary?” Reframe it as one moment in the story, not the whole story. Then take the next step forward.

The paradox: The more you practice optimism, the more possibilities your brain begins to notice. By believing a solution exists, you actually train your brain to find it.

🌱 ONE MORE THING


(Remember: Hershey's Kiss = Optimism. How can I be more optimistic about this?)

The best version of you isn’t the one that gives up too soon. It’s not the you looking for a way out.

It’s the you who looks for a way through.

The best you still believes. They believe there’s another move, another chance, another possibility just ahead.

That belief is what keeps you in the game long enough to find it.