Become An Optimistic Pessimistic Optimist

As an opportunist you have to be an optimist first and a pessimist second.  One takes priority, but both are essential. 

Obviously, without optimism you won’t ever get off your posterior long enough to find an opportunity.  You’ll simply languish in an antagonistic mode until all chance for opportunity has passed you by.  There will ALWAYS be a reason for not risking and not venturing out from the relative safety of the ‘status quo’.

If your ‘status quo’ is really that good, then maybe this is not a bad thing.  But, chances are that if you are contemplating change, then things aren’t exactly as you’d hoped they would be.  Accordingly, you are merely ‘settling’, if you maintain your life in its’ present mode.  You are ‘sitting on the fence’ watching everyone else have all the fun.

‘Nothing ventured, nothing gained’ should become your motto. Is this the life you had hoped for?  Probably not.  So, why acquiesce? Isn’t life supposed to be an adventure?  Why subjugate your wants and desires to others bolder than yourself. Why become a ‘couch coach’, pontificating what could have been, if only you had taken this or that action way back when.

Now…..don’t get me wrong.  Optimism doesn’t mean you have to blatantly accept every absurd idea that comes along, and many are just that.  You can be optimistic yet realistic.

In fact, if you are to be successful in your quest to get the best out of life, you have to be brutally pessimistic to afford yourself the opportunity to be optimistic.  If you succumb to every ludicrous idea you encounter, you will surely squander all your resources in vane and quickly become disillusioned with the concept of change altogether.  In this context, pessimism becomes a forerunner to optimism.  They have a symbiotic relationship.  One cannot survive without the other.  You have to be a pessimist to be an optimist.  Once you have satisfied the pessimist in you, then the optimist can takeover. Paradoxical, but true.

Let optimism reign, but before your hopes overrule your sanity, let your realistic and pessimistic side ‘have a go at it.’  NOTHING is risk free, so don’t become absurdly critical of new ideas.  Simply do a cost versus benefit analysis to determine if the risk is worth the reward. 

Once you have determined what you’re willing to risk in terms of money, resources or time to achieve your desire, set the parameters and venture forth until you have either reached your goal or have exceeded your boundaries.  If you surpass your risk parameters, stop, cut your losses and move on to something with a greater potential.  Don’t give up without a good fight, but also don’t pursue a bad idea to the point where you disembowel your optimism.

Balance your optimism with realism.  You want to win the war.  You might lose a battle or two and be forced to retreat temporarily, but you will always win the war with the proper balance of optimism, persistence and a realistic dash of pessimism.