We’ve all heard the cliche question, “do you see the wine glass as half full or half empty” to determine if you’re more optimistic or pessimistic inclined. My favorite answer to this question was always, “I’d just drink the wine!” Jokes aside, I don’t think it’s necessarily a binary mentality; as with most things in life, it’s a spectrum. It’s good to have a healthy dose of both positive and negative thoughts, it keeps you on a practical path. Sometimes you may find there’s even a whole other way to go about something.
Consider this idea instead, “everything you do in life, will have the exact outcome you expect”. Is this a positive or a negative statement? Really, it comes down to your mindset. If you believe you won’t do well at something, you probably won’t. My instructor always said, “if you go into a sparring match thinking you won’t win, you’ve already lost”. Your mentality towards something will directly affect your ability to succeed in it. You don’t have to be optimistic about everything in life, but a confident mindset is something you should convince yourself to work towards. If you go into something thinking you’ll thrive, you’re more likely to not give up and try your hardest every time. If you believe you can win the sparring match, break the board, or make any of your dreams come true, you’ll have a much higher success rate.
