“The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change;  the realist adjusts the sails.” William Arthur Ward

I was reminded of this brilliant principle last week when I spoke to one of  my business coaching clients. There can be no doubt that we are living in  interesting times…. the global financial crisis has impacted overall spending  and consumer sentiment – and this has hurt many small businesses around the  country. It’s no good hoping that circumstances will change – in order to  survive we all need to dig deep and find creative ways to work smarter not  harder.

Jim Collins, in his book, “Good to Great,” talks about this very interesting  paradox that he calls “The Stockdale Principle”. According to Collins, “you have  to be realistic about your current situation and yet, stay optimistic about the  future”.

General Stockdale was the highest ranking American prisoner of war in Hanoi,  Vietnam. Over the years he began to notice an interesting phenomenon – optimism  could in fact be a liability. His fellow prisoners (who were the eternal  optimists) constantly set themselves up for disappointment. They set huge  milestones – “we will be rescued by Christmas” – but those milestones came and  went year after year and with it… their will to live.

Conversely, the prisoners who looked at the painful day-to-day reality they  were in and channeled their energies to the right places survived. This is not  to say that the second group were pessimists but rather realists that maintained  an unwavering faith in the end game, and a commitment to survive despite the  brutal fact of their incarceration and torture over a period of years.

Here’s how Stockdale put it in his own words:
“I 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.”

How many of us would look back on seven years of detention – with regular  torture, dismal living conditions and an uncertain future – as an experience we  would not trade? Do you regard the greatest obstacles or challenges in your life  as the defining moment that shaped who you are today or do you choose to look at  them as an excuse or reason why you have not achieved more?

Have you ever sat back and thought how this distinction between optimism  versus reality could apply to your business/career or your life in general?  Where in your life are you ignoring reality in favour of being optimistic and  missing a crucial opportunity to take action?

Take for example my business coaching client that I mentioned above. She has  an employee who doesn’t take responsibility for her actions, doesn’t pay  attention to details and is often defensive and reluctant to take direction and  feedback. This employee is negatively impacting the entire work environment as  everyone gets caught up in the drama of it all. My client doesn’t want to let  the employee go and is resisting doing what she knows that she must. She hopes  that it will somehow improve without any action on her part – she is now  learning the distinction between reality and optimism. When she sees the  difference for what it is, then and only then, will she become decisive and take  action.

Another area where it’s easy to be blinded by optimism is in the financial  arena. Do you have detailed financial reports, KPIs and cashflow forecasts in  place to drive your decision making or are you simply relying on your optimism  instead of reality? Failure to effectively plan in this area (especially in  these tough times) could lead to a cash crunch and the demise of your  business.

Take a moment today to examine your relationship to optimism, pessimism and  realism. Success belongs to those who operate from both sides of the Stockdale  Paradox. The key is balance – knowing when to accept reality and take  appropriate action AND never losing faith in the end of the story. If you can  walk this delicate line of balance and responsibility, you increase your odds of  making good decisions and this will lead to your inevitable success and  breakthrough results.

In life, we will all experience setbacks, disappointments, loss and  challenges. What separates successful people from the rest is how you deal with  those inevitable struggles. This is a very important distinction and it is what  divides the winners from the losers. You must never confuse faith that you will  prevail in the end – which is something that you can never afford to lose sight  of – with the discipline to confront the brutal facts and reality of your  current situation, whatever that might be.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/2884021

ImagineeringNow
About The Author
Rhondalynn's life changed forever after the loss of her mother due to a senseless tragedy in 1992. She decided that despite her formal training and a promising career as a lawyer and chartered accountant, she wanted to do something more. So despite the fact she had already invested 10 years of her adult life in university and articling, she did the unthinkable. She left her high paid job as Commercial Manager for one of the largest corporations in the country, she re-trained herself in the sciences of the mind and she discovered a passion for writing and sharing her knowledge with business owners and executives. Rhondalynn has distilled the secrets to business success - that she learned from her life experience and working in GM level roles with Price Waterhouse Coopers, Max Factor, Village Cinemas, and Coles Group Ltd. - and produced a simple step-by-step process that you can apply to your business to boost your sales and bottom line. Rhondalynn can help you put strategies in place to grow your bottom line and ensure that your customers would never think of going elsewhere. She is the leading expert on harnessing the power of your brain and using it to improve your financial results in business. Rhondalynn is the author of On The Shoulders of Giants, Imagineering Your Destiny, Sobre Hombros deGigantes, Financial Foreplay®, and Sales Seduction. She has appeared on CNN, Bnet/CBS, Channel 7, Channel 9, Kochie's Business Builders and 3AW, and writes for Yahoo, MYOB, Fast Thinking, Sunday Life, Dynamic Business, Business Spectator and Australian Retailer.

1 Comment:


  • By Ron Bates 22 Aug 2011

    Thanks for the reminder – there is something that I really need to face and take care of in my business today. Been a bit too optimistic, I would say.

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