YOU NEED TO BE MORE REALISTIC.
So goes the typical response when you share your wildest dreams and ambitions with most people.
Or maybe the world has conditioned you to not even think that BIG in the first place.
Maybe YOU are the one telling people to be more realistic?
As if ‘reality’ is something pre-determined and clearly defined. As if anyone can fully comprehend this reality we find ourselves experiencing.
You just navigate your experience to the best of your ability with the information, wisdom, and inspiration you have available to you.
What else can you do?
You can live as if.
You can shape your reality through your perspective. When you live as if certain things are true, they often work out to be that way.
Let’s take a step back for a minute and recognize the fact that our life experience is drastically shaped by our perspective.
When someone refers to you as an optimist or a pessimist, they are making a judgement about your perspective.
Your expectation determines your outcomes.
Do you expect good things to happen? Or do you expect bad things to happen?
Chances are, you’re right either way.
‘Living as if’ is a practice that takes that idea a step further and encourages you to think through the implications of behaving ‘as if’ certain things are true.
A simple scenario is behaving as if you are going to be successful. Let’s examine how you might behave if that was your thought process each time you were up against a hard choice… say the choice to work on your dreams or to just be lazy and watch tv.
Just step back and say, well I am going to live as if I am already a very successful person.
What would they do?
Joe Rogan says ‘just act like you are the hero in your own movie’. You inherently already know the choices that type of person will make.
The key is actually living as if you already are the person you know you can be.
Here’s another hack:
Because I am an unapologetic optimist, I will take it a step further and say that I also live as if each day is going to be a great day.
Each year is going to be the best year of your life.
Do crazy, unexpected things happen?
Of course they do, but when you are living as if they did not happen, you end up being much happier as you go about your days :)
And because you practice staying positive, you can deal with catastrophe much easier than you could if you were just worried all the time… constantly full of anxiety and fear about the future.
You can thoughtfully respond instead of staying in reaction mode. You can choose to take action instead of feeling powerless.
For a deeper dive into how to deal with those crazy, unexpected life events, check out my blog posts ‘Embracing Change’ and ‘Beginner’s Mind’
Things may not be perfect but you can live as if they are constantly getting better in ways that you don’t understand.
I encourage you to be optimistic almost to the point of seeming foolish.
Your optimism will become a self-fulfilling prophecy and will actually make your life much ‘luckier’ because of it.