{"id":32274,"date":"2020-12-30T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-12-30T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hyken.com\/a-realistically-optimistic-2021\/"},"modified":"2024-01-17T11:29:00","modified_gmt":"2024-01-17T11:29:00","slug":"a-realistically-optimistic-2021","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hyken.com\/success\/a-realistically-optimistic-2021\/","title":{"rendered":"A Realistically Optimistic 2021"},"content":{"rendered":"\"A<\/a>As we close out the year, I thought I\u2019d break from the traditional customer service and experience topics and get a little personal \u2013 maybe even a little motivational. Here’s to a realistically optimistic 2021!\r\n\r\n\r\nI\u2019m very optimistic about the future<\/a>. But the word very <\/em>doesn\u2019t mean I\u2019m overly <\/em>optimistic. There\u2019s a difference. Put another way, when I\u2019m asked if the glass is half empty or half full, my response is, \u201cYes.\u201d Maybe that seems like a bit of a rude answer, but here is the point. It is half full, and even though I\u2019m very<\/em> optimistic, it doesn\u2019t mean I\u2019m unrealistically <\/em>optimistic. No, I\u2019m realistically <\/em>optimistic.\r\n\r\nSince March, when the COVID-19 pandemic hit the U.S., I hoped it would be over in a few months. That life would be back to normal by the fall. I was wrong, but that\u2019s not the point. Not knowing if I would be right, I planned my business in case it didn\u2019t work out the way I wanted it to. As we moved into summer, my projection for normalcy moved to early 2021. Now, I\u2019m thinking it will be late 2021. I continue to plan and adjust accordingly.\r\n\r\nThis way of thinking reminded me of Jim Collins\u2019 book, Good to Great<\/em>. He wrote about something he called \u201cThe Stockdale Paradox.\u201d Admiral James Stockdale, who was awarded the Medal of Honor in the Vietnam War, during which he was held captive for seven years and tortured more than 20 times, was asked how he was able to endure the captivity. Stockdale said, \u201cI never lost faith in the end of the story. I never doubted, not only, that I would get out, but also that I would prevail in the end and turn the experience into the defining event of my life, which in retrospect I would not trade.\u201d\r\n\r\nThat sure sounds optimistic to me, but consider this. Stockdale went on to say why some of the other prisoners didn\u2019t survive. He described them as optimists. They thought they would be out by Christmas. Christmas would come and go, as did Easter, Thanksgiving, and then Christmas again. According to Stockdale, they died of broken hearts.\r\n\r\nThe Stockdale paradox is about being able to accept your current situation while having faith that you will prevail. In Stockdale\u2019s words: \u201cYou 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 that might be.\u201d\r\n\r\nFor many, our metaphoric captivity this year has been COVID-19 and how it is impacting our jobs, our finances, our relationships and more. A popular saying is, \u201cThis too shall pass\u201d; however, that is akin to sweeping a problem under the carpet, pretending it\u2019s not there, and hoping it will go away because it\u2019s out of sight. I don\u2019t like this way of thinking. Instead, I choose to practice realistic optimism<\/em>, accepting the facts while still having faith in the future.\r\n\r\nSo, here\u2019s to a realistically optimistic 2021. May this be your best year ever, and each year thereafter be even better than the last!\r\n\r\n\r\n
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