One of the clearest illustrations of the dangers of unrealistic optimism comes from a study of weight loss. And a secret identity that took a lot of trouble to maintain. (Forgetting that even Superman had Kryptonite. Unrealistic optimists, on the other hand, believe that success will happen to them - that the universe will reward them for all their positive thinking, or that somehow they will be transformed overnight into the kind of person for whom obstacles cease to exist. This preparation only increases their confidence in their own ability to get things done. They recognize the need for giving serious thought to how they will deal with obstacles.
Realistic optimists (the kind Bandura was talking about) believe they will succeed, but also believe they have to make success happen - through things like effort, careful planning, persistence, and choosing the right strategies. Put another way, it’s the difference between being a realistic optimist and an unrealistic optimist. Thousands and thousands of experiments later, he has yet to be proven wrong.īut there is an important caveat: to be successful, you need to understand the vital difference between believing you will succeed, and believing you will succeed easily. Albert Bandura, one of the founding fathers of scientific psychology, discovered decades ago that perhaps the best predictor of an individual’s success is whether or not they believe they will succeed. Optimism and the confidence it creates are essential for creating and sustaining the motivation you need to reach your goals. And no, I’m not overstating it.īut how can this be? Isn’t optimism a good thing? Yes it is.
This is good advice to give only if you are trying to sabotage the recipient.
In fact, not only is visualizing “effortless success” unhelpful, it is disastrous. There is one small problem in this argument, however, which unfortunately doesn’t seem to stop anyone from making it: it is utterly false. There are quite a number of motivational speakers and self-improvement books out there with a surprisingly simple message: believe that success will come easily to you, and it will.
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