Which great changemakers in this world went through life with pessimism?
- Spiritual people such as Buddha, Jesus of Nazareth, or Tenzin Gyatso, the current Dalai Lama,
- world changers such as Gandhi, Martin Luther King, and Nelson Mandela,
- great scientists such as Leonardo da Vinci, Albert Einstein, and Werner Heisenberg,
- outstanding politicians such as Konrad Adenauer, John F. Kennedy, and Mikhail Gorbachev,
- or great entrepreneurs such as Henry Ford, Robert Bosch, and Steve Jobs.
They were all visionaries and optimists, and they didn’t let themselves be discouraged when those around them tried to convince them that they were on the wrong path in their mission. And we ourselves should not try to convince anyone who believes in a utopia or a powerful vision that they cannot achieve it.
If we want to change the world, we need optimism about the feasibility of utopias and business visions. Self-fulfilling prophecies are no coincidence.
Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t–you’re right.
Source: Henry Ford
We should also apply positive thinking to the images we form of other people. Theory X and Theory Y address the self-fulfilling nature of positive and negative images of people.