Excessive Optimism
In a 2007 study researchers found that while optimism is a discernible characteristic of high performers, excessive optimism is a distinguishing attribute of non-performers. Why? Because optimism is constructive when it creates an affirmative sense of possibility that inspires you to take productive action but, destructive when it encourages the careless sense that your fortune, good or bad, is a foregone conclusion. While pretending that everything will work out for the best alleviates you from the anxiety of personal responsibility it also takes away your essential freedom to act upon your circumstances.
This issue of excessive optimism is of particular importance when it comes to creativity where a sense of possibility is essential. The more radical the idea the less likely we will have any meaningful experience to guide us along. Simply put, there is no data on the future where our most marvelous works take form! More so, too much fact finding is a type of resistance because it stops us from taking action, the entrepreneur who makes successive business plans instead of opening up shop or the writer who makes dozens of outlines in lieu of grinding out pages.
All learning is developmental and requires that we accelerate the failure cycle if we hope to master a new skill. Speak a foreign language, play a new instrument or sketch a picture of your dog and a casual observer can tell you at what age you stopped learning to draw.
So, here is your challenge. When you are truly creative, failure is inevitable because your ambition initially extends farther than your talents. You do indeed need optimism to carry you through this difficult stage and keep your momentum. But through these failures you make adjustments, learn new skills and perhaps even develop new competencies. Whether driven by hope or dissatisfaction, it is your will that compels you to act.
Jeff DeGraff, Ph.D.
Psychology Today
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