So today I wanna share with you a little secret... I am a pessimist, and I guess I don't really "hate" optimists since that's a really strong word. I'm more annoyed by how they're always going on and on with their endless positivity -
“Oh, don’t worry about it! I’m sure these things will sort themselves out!”
“You didn’t get through your second round of interviews? I’m sure your next one will go well!”
“Your first business crashed and burned, and you lost your wife in the process? It’s ok, at least you had a good experience and your wife will come back sooner or later.”
So here's the defintion of an optimist, according to the dictionary -
I really dislike the word "hope", I think nothing ever really comes out of it. This is pretty accurate, though. Most optimists are unbearably full of hope.
I get a lot flak for being a pessimist, but I feel like pessimism has helped me out so much more than optimism ever will, and in this post I will explain why.
Everyone should know what happened to Nokia by now. Well, for those who don't know, they were bought over by Microsoft, and it was during an emotional press conference where Steve Ballmer ended his discourse by saying –
“We didn’t do anything wrong, but somehow we lost”
I have nothing against Nokia, in fact I was a huge fan of their phones when I was a kid. You'd think that they would always be a face in the mobile phone market with how big of a foothold they had back then. But that's what happens when you're too optimistic.
Nokia was optimistic in thinking that their competitors wouldn’t innovate faster, better, and stronger than them. They failed to adapt, and ended up paying the ultimate price.
Now, many of you would argue that this isn’t optimism, but plain complacency or incompetence, and I personally don’t think that Nokia is or was an incompetent company. They might have been positioned well with a good head-start to take over the mobile market, but it still takes a lot to make it that far and solidify that big of a foothold in any industry.
That leaves us with complacency, and the way I see it, optimism is complacency. What else do you call closing your eyes to all reason and hoping for the best? When you have the monopoly in any market, and you think that what you’re doing now will always be good enough for the future, you are being optimistic.
When your competitor launches a brand new revolutionary product, and you laugh it off, you are being optimistic.
No matter how ridiculous the concept of the iPhone might have seemed back then. Did Nokia prepare themselves for the worst case scenario?
Obviously not. If Nokia was prepared, they wouldn’t be where they are today.
Being a pessimist allows you more room to make preparations, because you are always seeing the worst case, you are always asking questions.
You’re never thinking that things would “work themselves out”, because you know that’s the stupidest shit you have ever heard people say.
Ever heard of Murphy's Law? Shit happens. Make sure you're prepared for it.
Take it from me. Here's what I've gained from the pessimistic side of myself over the years -
I’m not saying that you should be a downer and go around telling people that they are going to fail all the time. What's the matter with you, why would anyone do that? Goodness, I wouldn’t have any friends if I did that.
My point is...
You should be more objective when thinking about any outcome, instead of harboring blind hope for future outcomes. Anticipate problems and challenges, while also preparing for those situations.
That's it for today's post! I really enjoyed writing this one, so I hope you guys like it. As always, if you disagree, feel free to call me a stupid cunt in the comments. It's an open forum.
And remember, the next time your friend tells you that your interview failed because the lady interviewing you was on her period, you tell him to shut the fuck up, and start looking for ways you can improve your interview game.
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Oh, and I joined a thing since my last post. If you're a newbie like me, it's a chill place to hang out so feel free to join!
