Optimistic?

How are you feeling, today?  I had coffee with a grade school friend of mine.  We agreed.  We’re optimistic about America’s future – when, that is – the younger generations are in charge and fix what we Baby Boomers broke.  And if our young people aren’t up to the task: 

We hope that when the insects take over the world they will remember with gratitude how we took them along on all our picnics. 

Bill Vaughan 

Not everyone is optimistic, true?  It’s OK.  That strikes a balance, and balance is good: 

Both optimists and pessimists contribute to society.  The optimist invents the aeroplane, the pessimist the parachute. 

George Bernard Shaw 

It’s a mindset.  Some of us are “wired” to look on the bright side; others, no so much.  Here’s a test from Beverly Kaye: 

What does this say?

     OPPORTUNITY ISNOWHERE

The optimists among you read, Opportunity is now here!

The pessimists see, Opportunity is nowhere.

Still others of you are pretty sure it says, 

     Opportunity I snow here (and we'd like to meet with you later...) 

Those snow hounds!  Optimism through and through, HaHa!

With today’s headlines, it can be challenging to remain optimistic.  We seem to be surrounded with negatives; negative social media, negative news, negative weather reports.  In the face of all this negativity, how do we remain optimistic?  Should we even try? 

Elizabeth Scott, PhD, wrote in this article for VeryWell.com, “How to Recognize and Respond to Pessimism”: 

Pessimists are often better prepared for tough times and may avoid risks that more optimistic thinkers might ignore. Research has shown that pessimists tend to foresee obstacles more readily since they expect things to go wrong, meaning that they are more likely to plan for difficulties. 

We’re, “…planning for difficulties” alright! 

Even so, I prefer to gravitate to the optimistic side.  Maybe it’s an outcome from my career: 

A good business manager hires optimists as salesmen and pessimists to run the credit department. 

Unknown Sage 

Whatever your personal perspective, sales, credit department, it’s OK.  We need aeroplanes and we need parachutes, too. 

GAP 

When life gets tough we could get a helmet… or… we could leverage the peace and share the power of a positive perspective.

 

What’s your source?

I was thinking about what kind of thinker I am, as well as the kind I am not.  All that thinking made me think about the source of my intelligence. 

The setting was a book signing.  People often stop and take a cursory look at my book.  Sometimes we chat.  I’ve heard the usual excuses aka objections.  “I’ll be back.”  “Let me think about it.”  “Oh, I have so many books.” 

You’d think after 4+ decades in the sales profession I would be good at overcoming objections.  Truth is, at $15 a copy, I’m not interested in convincing the unwilling.  They don’t need an excuse not to buy my book.  It’s OK.  It’s just a book.

This time, a woman caused me to think.  She asked, “What’s the source of your peace and power?”  I knew it was a leading question.  I knew she wanted me to say “God” or “Jesus”.  When I didn’t immediately respond with the right answer, she told me she didn’t need my book because her source was God.

She caught me off guard.  I hadn’t fielded that particular question at a book signing before.  She was impatient for my answer.  Yes, I feel the Lord guiding me throughout my life but He is not the only source of my peace and power.  That’s what I was thinking about when she walked away. 

You see, I’m a contemplative thinker.  I’m not a quick-on-your-feet thinker.  Which led me to think about the connection between thinking and intelligence and the source of my intelligence.  As I looked into it further I found there is “Crystallized Intelligence” and “Fluid Intelligence”.  Among many definitions, these resonated with me: 

Fluid Intelligence    

Ability to think quickly and adapt to new situations without relying on prior knowledge

Crystallized Intelligence 

Knowledge and skills accumulated over time and comes from experience and practice

If I were fluid I would have responded to her quickly about my perpetual optimism perhaps with this quote: 

For myself I am an optimist – it does not seem to be much use being anything else. 

Winston Churchill

If I had crystallized intelligence, I would have said that my life’s trials and tribulations accumulated over time have crystallized my practice of believing both in the peace and the power of a positive perspective as well as in God.  Or, if I was a quick-on-your feet thinker, I could have just opened my book to the last quote on page 313 to answer her question: 

Thank you Lord. I may never have a lot; but I have always had enough. 

Gary A. Pokorn 

If she was a contemplative thinker, she might have stopped to read the introduction: 

This chapter is dedicated to you – the reader; and to the great memories that might have come to your mind when you read these quotes and short stories.  To a smile I hope you felt on your face, in your mind, and from your heart.  And to your ability to face daily stress and all that can be bad in our world with the steadfast peace and tremendous power that can be attained by maintaining a positive attitude. 

Everyone may not be able to do this for a living - but each of us has the personal choice and the absolute ability to do this for our life. 

What’s your source?

GAP 

When life gets tough we could get a helmet… or… we could leverage the peace and share the power of a positive perspective.

Self-Sufficient?

Throughout my sales career, I prided myself on being (mostly) self-sufficient.  I say mostly because there were specific elements in my selling cycle where I accepted help – lots of help. 

First, I had great teammates in the role called “Systems Consultant”, “SC”, or generally “Pre-Sales”.  They are product and technology experts.  When the prospect asked a capabilities questions, even when I knew the answer, I deferred.  I knew as the salesman, my credibility could be suspect. The prospect always preferred answers from Subject Matter Experts. 

At the other end of the sales cycle, I rarely “closed the deal”.  I was skilled at it but closing simply wasn’t the part I enjoyed.  I was an excellent “opener”, a prospector, a “hunter” and I enjoyed the “hunt” more than I enjoyed the “kill”.  I usually turned control of the closing cycle over to my sales managers or company executives.  Imploring them not to screw things up, I pursued the next deal.  The best part was the commissions paid were the same! 

The third element to my lack of total self-sufficiency was caused by my curiosity.  I asked my prospects, “Why?” throughout our interactions.  I genuinely wanted to understand.  They welcomed my approach.  It was refreshing vs. my competitors constantly trial closing. 

To show their appreciation, my prospects would, "put their arm around my shoulder” and say, “Gary, let me help you.”  Then, they would tell me exactly what they planned to buy; why; how much they would pay; who I was competing against; when they would sign; and who was involved in the approval process.  All a result of genuinely asking, “Why?” 

What I learned later in life is being 100% self-sufficient causes ill effects.  A close companion of self-sufficiency in our career, and in our life, is: 

            Success Addiction 

          The feeling of never enough 

                        Unknown Sage

Ever feel that “never enough” feeling?  Does it keep you continuously connected?  Are you never “away” from your cell phone?  Do you bring work on vacation?  (I know – just “checking in”, right?) 

Turns out if we’re not careful – and during the height of my sales career I wasn’t careful – success addiction can lead us back to our Sage: 

The burden of self-sufficiency: 

• We set punishing performance standards for ourselves

• We have a compulsive work ethic

• We carry sadness and failure alone

It’s that last element, … “carrying sadness and failure alone”, that has become increasingly visible to me as I age.  The weight gets heavier if we let it: 

Success has many fathers while failure is an orphan. 

Russian Proverb 

Today, I’m trying to put my pride aside and accept help.  I want to eliminate “punishing performance standards”.  It’s time to dial down my effort.  I don’t want to keep beating myself up over failure.  At this point, I’m (finally) trying to become less self-sufficient. 

There’s so much more to life, true? 

GAP 

When life gets tough we could get a helmet… or… we could leverage the peace and share the power of a positive perspective.

Discernment…

If you’ve read me for a while you know I continue to be more of a Luddite than a technology enthusiast.  Artificial Intelligence and the machines scares the GPUs, TPUs, and NPUs out of me.  Not familiar with what those are?  They’re just a few of the technology things that in a single data center consume more electricity than all of Lucas County Ohio, home of the city of Toledo.

What does that mean for the rest of us?  Exactly.  Our future living with the machines is a bit obscure in my mind.  Obscure?  Well, the Merriam-Webster Dictionary offers: 

Dark; Shrouded; Mysterious; not clearly seen or easily distinguished 

But Gary, you might think, what about all of our conveniences courtesy of artificial intelligence?  I get it.  And truth be told, I too benefit from the machines.  I’m simply trying to learn the full picture of how AI is impacting us.  It’s the full picture that scares me.  I’m aligned with this charter school in Lakewood, Colorado: 

We believe that ability to discern is what separates us from beasts and is worthy of lifelong study. 

Addenbrooke Classical Academy 

Discernment?  Back to the dictionary: 

the quality of being able to grasp and comprehend what is obscure 

Merriam-Webster Dictionary 

Ian Leslie in his book Curious © cautions: 

… digital technologies are severing the link between effort and mental exploration.  By making it easier for us to find answers, the Web threatens habits of deeper inquiry - habits that require patience and focused application… there are those who argue that by releasing us from the need to use our memories, the Internet is allowing us to be more creative.  But such claims fly in the face of everything scientists have learned about how the mind works.

What I’m curious about is why we the people are not more curious about the adverse impacts of  technology.  After all, most of us enjoy chocolate but we also know that over-consumption of it can adversely impact our health, true?  

Have you noticed the machines don’t eat chocolate?  My discernment skill makes me suspicious. 

GAP 

When life gets tough we could get a helmet… or… we could leverage the peace and share the power of a positive perspective.