Be pessimistic AND optimistic
jasonleow • 28 Mar 2025 •
When dreaming, imagine success.
When preparing, imagine failure.
When acting, imagine success.
Here’s lies the nuance that every wisdom bomb about success lacks.
It’s either, “you can manifest anything, always stay optimistic”, or “only the paranoid survive”. It’s either hippie kumbaya at one extreme or doomsday prepper on the other extreme.
No.
You can adopt seemingly contradictory mindsets at different times and situations, because nuance.
Envisioning success when dreaming is important. It gives you a reality to aim for. This is where the manifesters position themselves.
Preparing for the worst is important when planning. You set yourself up for success when you had thought through what could go wrong, and how to mitigate it. Let’s be realistic here - no amount of kumbaya will save your company when it’s running out of cash all because you failed to plan ahead. Then, after prepared for anything reality can throw at you, you can then…
Move forward and act with the confidence and optimism of a man without worries and fear.
Be pessimistic AND optimistic. Just at different times. It’s not that hard you know… just practice some nuance.
Be negative when still.
Be positive when moving.
Yin and yang.
Comments
@therealbrandonwilson Haha Yin Yahng is definitely the more on point for folks unfamiliar with the intonations.
You can prepare for the worst, but after that’s done, you can let go of that, and then switch into the mindset of hoping for the best when acting. Not mutually exclusive I feel. Just pragmatic (oh that’s it!)
One time, I intentionally mispronounced it as “YING YANG,” only to be immediately corrected that it’s “Yin YAHNG.” A pessimist will call himself a realist, but what is reality except what you create? I’m sticking with the quote from Florence Scovel Shinn, “If you hope for the best and prepare for the worst, you’ll get what you prepare for.”