Is Optimism Killing Your Business?

Sept. 7, 2009 - PRLog -- “The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails.”  William Arthur Ward

There can be no doubt that we are living in interesting times.... the global financial crisis has impacted overall spending and consumer sentiment – and this has hurt many small businesses around the country.  It’s no good hoping that circumstances will change – in order to survive we all need to dig deep and find creative ways to work smarter not harder.

According to Rhondalynn Korolak, author of On The Shoulders of Giants" and  Managing Director of Imagineering Unlimited, “you have to be realistic about your current situation and yet, maintain optimism about the future”.  This principle was first introduced by General Stockdale - the highest ranking American prisoner of war in Hanoi, Vietnam. Over the years he began to notice an interesting phenomenon – optimism could in fact be a liability.  His fellow prisoners (who were the eternal optimists) constantly set themselves up for disappointment.  They set huge milestones – “we will be rescued by Christmas” - but those milestones came and went year after year and with it... their will to live.

Conversely, the prisoners who looked at the painful day-to-day reality they were in and channelled their energies to the right places survived. This is not to say that the second group were pessimists but rather realists that maintained an unwavering faith in the end game, and a commitment to survive despite the brutal fact of their incarceration and torture over a period of years.

Here’s how Stockdale put it in his own words:
“I never lost faith in the end of the story. I never doubted not only that I would get out, but also that I would prevail in the end and turn the experience into the defining event of my life, which, in retrospect, I would not trade.”

How many of us would look back on seven years of detention – with regular torture, dismal living conditions and an uncertain future – as an experience we would not trade?  Do you regard the greatest obstacles or challenges in your life as the defining moment that shaped who you are today or do you choose to look at them as an excuse or reason why you have not achieved more?

Have you ever sat back and thought how this distinction between optimism versus reality could apply to your business or your life in general?  Where in your life are you ignoring reality in favour of being optimistic and missing a crucial opportunity to take action?

As a small business owner, it’s easy to be blinded by optimism is in the financial arena.  Do you have detailed financial reports, KPIs and cashflow forecasts in place to drive your decision making or are you simply relying on your optimism instead of reality?  Failure to effectively plan in this area (especially in these tough times) could lead to a cash crunch and the demise of your business.

Imagineering Profit is a proprietary software that will help you to understand and predict your financial position without having to study accounting!  Uncover the critical numbers that your accountant doesn’t discuss with you - gain insights to grow your business, increase profit and minimize costs.  For a small investment each month, Imagineering Profit will help to pinpoint the areas of pain in your business and allow you to select resources and training to bridge the gap from where you are in the business to where you want to be.

Each month you will receive a detailed financial report on your business generated by our proprietary technology.  This revolutionary reporting system automatically calculates your vital numbers and is easy-to-understand – it gives you the information you need to make good decisions and generate more profit predictably and simply.

For more information, please visit www.imagineeringunlimited.com or send an email to info@imagineeringunlimited.com.

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Imagineering Unlimited provides customized training, consulting and coaching solutions based on leading edge, proven technologies that ignite the quest for self mastery while offering practical techniques to rise above challenges and realize goals.