The Most Important Difference Between Optimist and Pessimist
Most people boil down optimism to thinking positive and pessimism to thinking negative. While this explanation does have a sliver of truth, it doesn’t provide a true picture of the most important difference between these two mindsets.
Optimist don’t always think positive and pessimist don’t always think negative. However, what optimist do differently than pessimist when they have negative thoughts is attribute those thoughts to things they control. Conversely, when pessimist have positive thoughts, they attribute those thoughts to things they don’t control.
For example, when an optimist fails, they will attribute the failure to their need to prepare more. When a pessimist succeeds, they will attribute their success to luck. The reverse of each of these situations is true as well. Pessimist attribute failure to a permanent lack of ability they were born with. While optimist attribute success to their ability to work hard and prepare.
What this means is that optimism is not only the key for remaining resilient through adversity, it’s also the key to consistent success. What’s more, optimism is a mindset you can learn / choose even when in the past your tendency was to be a pessimist. Simply start by being self-aware of your thoughts and mindfully choosing to focus on things you control.