Optimism Explored
One characteristic of successful people and enterpreneurs that has been expressed in more than one words is OPTIMISM.
What is Optimism? What are the things people confused it for? When is it stupid to be optimistic? To answer these questions, it would take writing a book to do so. Don't fret, all you need to know is in this blog if you could take your time to read through.
What is Optimism?
Optimism is having a state of mind or believe that you would surely get and achieve what you are expecting and pursuing. Pessimism unlike Optimism is doubting the chances of achieving or getting what you are expecting or pursuing.
What Optimism is not!
Optimism is not evil-wish. Evil-wish is expectation of the impossible.
What of Miracle?
Miracle is the occurence of what you didn't expect, not what is impossible. If it is impossible, I believe it wouldn't have happened.
When I was a boy, I and my friends would fantasize and shmooze on how we would spend a Million Naira if we found it on our way to school or during one of our adventurous play (playing around). Thank God it was a child's fantasy; but a lot of us grew up to be an adult with this Childish mindset.
''I should just be going and I should see One Million on the floor''. Is One Million such a small amount that the owner would lose and never felt. One Million is not One Thousand I can easily put in my pocket and when it gets lost I might not feel its absence immediately. It is impossible to have One Million on me - I can only have it with me.
''Someone should just come and tell me he would help me with any amount I need''. Hey! The person coming is your family? Quit these childish thinkings!
Optimism is acceptance of the brutal fact, making a plan of achieving your goal with the consideration of the brutal fact and being courageous of pushing through, with the assurance of achieving your goal at the end. The assurance used here is not to guarantee that your goal would be achieved rather it is to serve as a moral boost for you to persist.
''I never expected Tesla to be a great success'' -- Elon Musk.
It is not everyone who knows there is a light at the end of the tunnel that would eventually reach the end of the tunnel. Only people who had light with them in the tunnel usually make it to the end of the tunnel.
You might ask where they got the light in the tunnel. It is the light at the end of the tunnel. They are optimistic they would get to the end of the tunnel. They accepted the brutal fact that they are in darkness and made plan of getting out of it. They are courageous and repeatedly assured themselves they would reach the end of the tunnel.
''I don't pray to God to let me see the light at the end of the tunnel; I pray to Him to provide me light in the tunnel'' -- Anonymous
In his book Good to Great, Jim Collins quoted his interview of Stockdale (a soldier who was imprisoned in the enemy's camp for 8 years; was later released anyway)
''This is a very important lesson. You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end - which you can never afford to lose - with the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be."
To be a sane optimist, you must observe the folloing steps:
1) Accept the brutal fact(s): Accept and know your status quo. Accepting your status quo is different from defining yourself with your status quo.
An actor in the Mentalist S05E09 summarised it better:
''What we are is not who we are''
When you accept your status quo, it is being sincere with yourself 'This is where I am today'. But when you define yourself with your status quo, it implies you are saying 'This is who I am'. They are two different things, learn the difference.
2) Make Plans: After critical analyses and acceptance of status quo, devise plan of how you would change it. It is still true that failure to plan is planning to fail. Don't be an evil-wisher, thinking you would jump out of that state overnight. It takes sound strategic planning.
3) Be Courageous & Assure Yourself: It takes courage to doubt the present; it takes courage to set out to achieve your goal; it takes courage to keep going. A lot of people have plans, many have a sound idea; the difference between those whom IDEA rules the world and those who serve them even though they have sound IDEA of theirs is Courage. They took action! (For to how to generate and execute IDEA). Anybody can make a plan, anybody can dream big, only the courageous takes action. And that is where the difference really sets in.
In the course of pursuing your goal, be warn: a lot of people would tell you, 'You are insane!' Many would discourage you, even people you trust - worse people you respected most. The only person that can discourage you is YOU! Nobody can stop you, only YOU! Can. Always assure yourself you are doing the right thing, that is the best way to boost your morale and persist.
''The best way to do the right thing is to do it without waiting for applause'' -- Trivalence
4) Be discipline: Keeping your eyes on your goal is always tough. There would be distraction along the way. This is where discipline sets people apart. When you decide to always wake up by 7am everyday for practise, it takes discipline to keep at it. Don't and never postpone it. Don't say ''I would double my practise tomorrow so I can forgone today''. Talent is built by consistency.
5) Don't Quit: The cause of failure sometimes is not lack of action, courage or discipline, instead quitting when you are so close to your goal. Napoleon Hill tells a story of a man in his book 'Think & Grow Rich'. The man was digging for gold only to give up when he was 3feet to his fortune (the gold). He sold the property (land) and his machines to another man who digged further and hit the gold at exactly 3 feet away from where he stopped.
''Failure sometimes is not the lack of action, courage or discipline, instead quitting when success is not far away'' -- Trivalence.
Celebration: Do all of the above and you are sure of success. However, these processes cannot guarantee you, you would always achieve your goal at the end of its practise. Ask any successful person and they would tell you they also had their share of failure too.
''You only need to be right once, and people will call you an overnight success'' -- Mark Cuban
What is Optimism? What are the things people confused it for? When is it stupid to be optimistic? To answer these questions, it would take writing a book to do so. Don't fret, all you need to know is in this blog if you could take your time to read through.
What is Optimism?
Optimism is having a state of mind or believe that you would surely get and achieve what you are expecting and pursuing. Pessimism unlike Optimism is doubting the chances of achieving or getting what you are expecting or pursuing.
What Optimism is not!
Optimism is not evil-wish. Evil-wish is expectation of the impossible.
What of Miracle?
Miracle is the occurence of what you didn't expect, not what is impossible. If it is impossible, I believe it wouldn't have happened.
When I was a boy, I and my friends would fantasize and shmooze on how we would spend a Million Naira if we found it on our way to school or during one of our adventurous play (playing around). Thank God it was a child's fantasy; but a lot of us grew up to be an adult with this Childish mindset.
''I should just be going and I should see One Million on the floor''. Is One Million such a small amount that the owner would lose and never felt. One Million is not One Thousand I can easily put in my pocket and when it gets lost I might not feel its absence immediately. It is impossible to have One Million on me - I can only have it with me.
''Someone should just come and tell me he would help me with any amount I need''. Hey! The person coming is your family? Quit these childish thinkings!
Optimism is acceptance of the brutal fact, making a plan of achieving your goal with the consideration of the brutal fact and being courageous of pushing through, with the assurance of achieving your goal at the end. The assurance used here is not to guarantee that your goal would be achieved rather it is to serve as a moral boost for you to persist.
''I never expected Tesla to be a great success'' -- Elon Musk.
It is not everyone who knows there is a light at the end of the tunnel that would eventually reach the end of the tunnel. Only people who had light with them in the tunnel usually make it to the end of the tunnel.
You might ask where they got the light in the tunnel. It is the light at the end of the tunnel. They are optimistic they would get to the end of the tunnel. They accepted the brutal fact that they are in darkness and made plan of getting out of it. They are courageous and repeatedly assured themselves they would reach the end of the tunnel.
''I don't pray to God to let me see the light at the end of the tunnel; I pray to Him to provide me light in the tunnel'' -- Anonymous
In his book Good to Great, Jim Collins quoted his interview of Stockdale (a soldier who was imprisoned in the enemy's camp for 8 years; was later released anyway)
''This is a very important lesson. You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end - which you can never afford to lose - with the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be."
To be a sane optimist, you must observe the folloing steps:
1) Accept the brutal fact(s): Accept and know your status quo. Accepting your status quo is different from defining yourself with your status quo.
An actor in the Mentalist S05E09 summarised it better:
''What we are is not who we are''
When you accept your status quo, it is being sincere with yourself 'This is where I am today'. But when you define yourself with your status quo, it implies you are saying 'This is who I am'. They are two different things, learn the difference.
2) Make Plans: After critical analyses and acceptance of status quo, devise plan of how you would change it. It is still true that failure to plan is planning to fail. Don't be an evil-wisher, thinking you would jump out of that state overnight. It takes sound strategic planning.
3) Be Courageous & Assure Yourself: It takes courage to doubt the present; it takes courage to set out to achieve your goal; it takes courage to keep going. A lot of people have plans, many have a sound idea; the difference between those whom IDEA rules the world and those who serve them even though they have sound IDEA of theirs is Courage. They took action! (For to how to generate and execute IDEA). Anybody can make a plan, anybody can dream big, only the courageous takes action. And that is where the difference really sets in.
In the course of pursuing your goal, be warn: a lot of people would tell you, 'You are insane!' Many would discourage you, even people you trust - worse people you respected most. The only person that can discourage you is YOU! Nobody can stop you, only YOU! Can. Always assure yourself you are doing the right thing, that is the best way to boost your morale and persist.
''The best way to do the right thing is to do it without waiting for applause'' -- Trivalence
4) Be discipline: Keeping your eyes on your goal is always tough. There would be distraction along the way. This is where discipline sets people apart. When you decide to always wake up by 7am everyday for practise, it takes discipline to keep at it. Don't and never postpone it. Don't say ''I would double my practise tomorrow so I can forgone today''. Talent is built by consistency.
5) Don't Quit: The cause of failure sometimes is not lack of action, courage or discipline, instead quitting when you are so close to your goal. Napoleon Hill tells a story of a man in his book 'Think & Grow Rich'. The man was digging for gold only to give up when he was 3feet to his fortune (the gold). He sold the property (land) and his machines to another man who digged further and hit the gold at exactly 3 feet away from where he stopped.
''Failure sometimes is not the lack of action, courage or discipline, instead quitting when success is not far away'' -- Trivalence.
Celebration: Do all of the above and you are sure of success. However, these processes cannot guarantee you, you would always achieve your goal at the end of its practise. Ask any successful person and they would tell you they also had their share of failure too.
''You only need to be right once, and people will call you an overnight success'' -- Mark Cuban
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