The Folly of Doom
Pessimism is addictive.
It always seems to be the cheapest item on the menu. It’s easier to list why something won’t work than to figure out how it will. Destruction requires far less energy and creativity than construction. The brave get mocked and the curious get questioned because pessimism requires no effort to solve the problems, only the foresight to identify them.
It's intellectual safety.
Predicting failure seems like wisdom. If things go well, nobody remembers your dire predictions. If they go badly, you get to be the sage who saw it coming. An asymmetric risk profile where pessimism always feels like the smart bet. Weak culture often equates cynicism with intelligence. The person who points out flaws appears more thoughtful than someone who focuses on possibilities. A lazy and a much easier path to take opposed to building.
Self-fulfilling prophecies leading to behaviours and habits that make bad outcomes more likely. It’s contagious and has the staying power of a chronic disease because it requires zero effort to spread. It borrows its credibility from negativity bias that feels coded in us. Our ancestors paranoia kept them alive. Miss a threat and you die, so the logic would be to suspect everything and prepare for the worst.
Today we’ve replaced sabretooth tigers and pneumonia with things like financial risk and career transitions.
The Surrender
It’s surrender disguised as being a realist. There’s an endless list of scapegoats to blame if we choose.
Circumstances, other people, systems or bad luck. And it’ll appear sophisticated especially dressed up in philosophical quotes. After all, “even a broken clock is right twice a day”.
It’s why we gravitate toward the stable job with the steady paycheque, say it’s the “responsible choice” and call it “Wise Risk Assessment” knowing damn well it’s a lie.
Our entire financial future depending on the competence and success of other people. Betting everything on factors completely outside our influence: company politics, market shifts, technological disruption, economic downturns. Offering no control over the value we’re allowed to create, or capture putting a permanent ceiling on our potential to earn and grow. If an entrepreneur fails, they lose a business model but keep the skills, systems and infrastructure to pivot and repurpose. If you lose your job, you lose 100 percent of your income in a moment. The value you create vs the value you control.
But many will still choose the comfort of surrender. Expecting failure is an easier pill to swallow than the uncertainty of hope and pain of disappointment. Forfeiting personal agency and accountability to outside forces gives you permission to quit while maintaining fake dignity.
I did it for years because blaming outside forces sounded much better than admitting that I lacked the courage to take my shots. I’m paying the price now playing catch up with goals that stopped waiting for me to return their calls.
The Paradox of Delusion
There is a certain level of delusion required to slay the Dragon. A level of audacity to dare.
· You have to risk genuine disappointment. As much as you believe in yourself and despite doing everything within your control, you have to risk being emotionally unhedged for failure. Imagine ticking all the boxes and still falling short?
· You have to be willing to look stupid in public. Openly going against the Negative Nancy’s and Doomsday Dans knowing damn well they are the majority and the majority rule.
· You have to act like everything is going to work out despite the odds and your feelings. Smile on the bad days and laugh on the worst. To jump without a safety net amidst the paralysis of fear. An almost arrogance of expectation.
· You must have an ego. Big enough to force march through uncertainty.
However, delusional optimism can be as damaging as realistic pessimism. When it creates a disconnect from reality, it can lead to reckless decision making, ignoring warning signs and dismissing legitimate feedback. The gambler playing one more hand. The entrepreneur who refuses to adapt.
Healthy optimism explores solutions and acknowledges challenges.
Delusional optimism crosses from courage to self-destruction.
The Balance
“The colour of truth is grey”
-Andre Gide
In cinematography and photography, middle grey represents the neutral midpoint that cameras and light meters use to determine correct exposure. When middle grey appears truly neutral without any colour casts, it confirms that the overall colour balance is accurate, making it the essential foundation for exposure and colour correction decisions.
Our reality is partially constructed. Whether from the lens of pessimism or optimism, both will shape behaviours and habits that affect the outcome.
Manifestation isn’t magic. It’s the choice that bridges thoughts to reality. The safety net of jumping into the unknown is you. The skills you learn, the systems you build and the network you create.
Ignoring failure isn’t the key, it’s knowing that it’s a guaranteed certainty along the way to the top. Looking stupid in public is a pit stop to mastery. Going against the grain is having the agency to be independent in a world of parrots. Your ego should be big enough to help you march through adversity but light enough to not weigh you down.
These aren’t unique insights newly discovered. These are things we all inherently know but choose to ignore.
The folly of doom isn’t that it’s silly but that it is arguably the single most crippling self-imposed obstacle that we place in front of ourselves. Forfeiting the match before the whistle blows. Creating a world of boogeymen and phantom hurdles that serve as crutches so we can lie to ourselves and everyone around us.
We don’t need any more motivational speeches or inspirational videos.
We need to either choose or stop complaining.
“Real self-confidence doesn’t come from shouting affirmations in the mirror. It comes from giving the world real irrefutable proof that you are who you say you are”
-Jimmy Car quoting Alex Hormozi
