Whenever I post about the impact of beliefs on lives and careers, I tend to get at least one comment contrasting “optimism” and “realism.” That’s an odd comparison to make, because they’re actually the exact same thing.
Let me explain.
Because you are human, you are not capable of discerning “reality.” Everything you see, hear, feel, smell, and taste is being channeled through your mind, which assigns meaning to all of those events.
So your experience of reality is actually an experience of your interpretation of reality.
Now, the world around you consists of a long list of things that you can’t control and a short list of things that you can control. That short list, in fact, consists of exactly one item: the actions that you take.
