Be an optimist, not a pessimist

You know those days as an entrepreneur when it seems like everything is hard - an uphill struggle to get things done? Days when it seems like everyone around you is simply just adding to the stress, not coming to the party to help find solutions, and piling on unnecessary irritation. It could be all too easy in times like these to get overwhelmed by pessimism. But there is another way of dealing with these times, and it requires a mindshift. Staying optimistic and not letting ourselves get dragged to other people’s negative levels is a choice - being an optimist instead of a pessimist is our choice. So the next time you are confronted with challenging days, ask yourself three questions that will help you to find the positive in any irritating situation. Firstly, find just one thing that is positive about the situation you find yourself in. Secondly, ask yourself if there is any lesson to be learned from the situation, and turn that into a positive. Finally, ask yourself, is there an opportunity to be seized from this situation? Chances are that by putting on your positive lens when tackling a tough day, you will become a whole lot more optimistic about the outcome. As Winston Churchill famously said: “A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.”