Since each of us has a spectacularly unique set of personal attributes, I don’t like to generalize but in one important area of life and business — optimism versus pessimism — it is important to understand how each of these behavioral choices impacts progress and happiness.
Whenever we discuss optimism and pessimism it’s vital to differentiate between an attitude and an attribute. Attitude is defined as “an opinion or general feeling about something.” An attribute is intrinsically different. Attributes are intangible things, personality traits defined by the dictionary as “a quality, property, or characteristic of somebody or something.”
An optimist lives with the inherent belief, hope, or expectation that things will turn out well. A pessimist lives with a gloomier outlook; he or she believes that the evil in life outweighs the good. This basic, assumptive approach to living has a dramatic effect on how we think, the feelings we develop, and the behaviors we choose.
For example, contrast how these two differing points of view process a setback:
- When dealing with a setback, an optimist believes the derailment is due to bad luck, bad timing, or secondary factors.
- A pessimist sees is differently. To a pessimist, a setback is validation.
Because of how the setback is perceived, note the difference in how this lack of progress impacts our will to persevere:
- To an optimist, the will to persevere remains undiminished. He or she does not internalize the delay as permanent and keeps plugging, fully confident that progress will soon resume.
- For a pessimist, the will to persevere is diminished. He or she will give up more easily, both in effort and conviction. It’s a defeatist attitude that foster negativity.
Because of the behavioral impact the sustained impetus (or lack of effort) brings, forward inertia will fork off into one of two distinctly different directions.
- To an optimist, forward inertia will continue. Because of this, things will continue to happen. If enough things happen, some of them will be good. Progress will be made.
- To a pessimist, forward inertia will dwindle or cease. Quitting is easy, as is assigning blame. This is a disconsolate place to dwell and yet none of us needs to look too far to see examples all around us.
When the economy was booming and lives were on relentless “up” escalators, staying positive was easy. But now that the escalator has stopped, we must look inside and dust off our resilience in order to reach where we want to go. Instead of taking an escalator, now we sometimes must hike the stairs. But that’s okay–one foot after another will eventually take us wherever we need to go. Might take more time and effort, but the view’s the same at our destination once we finally arrive.
One of my favorite old stairways is in Port Townsend, Washington, a beautiful Victorian artisan’s hamlet of 9,000 located forty miles north-northwest of Seattle. Port Townsend is way out on the Olympic Peninsula and its main shopping road, Water Street, fronts the docks along the coast. High above Water Street, on a scenic bluff, is a paralleling road named Washington Street.
The old block stairway that connects the two is formidable; it dates back around the city’s founding in 1851. When you stand down below on Water Street and take a look up, you have to decide if the endless climb is worth it. Hiking up to Washington Street takes a commitment. But one step at a time, the long march up from water’s edge to the scenic bluff is worth its weight in emeralds. The view at the top is spectacular.
I pity those too lazy to climb a staircase one small step at a time in order to get somewhere in life worth going. Escalators are nice and convenient, but a lazy man’s way of transport. When one’s not available, take the stairs. Sometimes it’s the hike that makes all the difference.