What Kind of “Ist” Are You?

For me, there are three types of “ists”. They are: realists, optimists and pessimists. I know that there are probably many other “ists” that you may be able to come up with, but in general and for the sake of this article, these are the main three. Of course, there are many derivations of these “ists” such as, optimistic realists, realistic pessimists and pessimistic realists.

I do realize that those last two seem to just have the words flipped around and at first glance that may not make such a difference to you. However, look at it like this; in an example where a first time marathoner says to someone, “I plan to run a 3:20 marathon”, the difference in reactions might be something like:

Realistic pessimist: “That’s a pretty ambitious time. You’d be better off just getting across the finish line.”

Pessimistic realist: “Yeah right. Maybe you should just focus on finishing strong.”

You still may not see much of a difference in those two, but to me, the message that is sent with those subtle differences means a lot. First though, I would like to give my definitions of the three main categories.

Realist: Someone who see things as very black and white. This can sometimes be mistaken for pessimism, but I believe that the intent is not to cut down, but rather just to not build unacceptable expectations.

Optimist: Someone who always looks at only the bright side of things. In it’s purest form I think that optimism often even ignores the true details of things so as to not let in anything negative to their own detriment.

Pessimist: Someone who is always trying to find the worst case scenario and point it out constantly to themselves and others. AKA “Debbie Downer”.

There have been some things that I have seen and read recently in the running/triathlon blogosphere that have brought me to the point of writing this article. In particular, there are a few people who are extremely accomplished and studious athletes, but their attitude, while I’m sure is founded in realism, has crossed the line into outright pessimism. From what I have seen this reaction comes as a direct result of other peoples unbridled optimism. What makes this incredibly frustrating to the point of making me angry, is that there seems to be an inability of our pessimistic friends to let others be happy.

But what separates the pessimists from the realists? The line between the two is often very hazy and I think changes depending upon perception. I have a very hard time distinguishing between the two myself and as as result, I have had to force myself to step back and try to place myself inside the head of  some so that I can see that they truly are not trying to bring me or others down, but rather are just trying not to let us fly too high only to be brought crashing back down to reality.

I understand being in a realist mindset and in fact, I would actually define myself as an optimistic realist. I believe that the first thing someone should do is encourage others. After that, I feel it is very important to make sure that people know that they should not be disappointed if the outcome of whatever training or race they’re preparing for is less than they expected. I feel like people should have goals that are beyond their current selves, but not so far out that they’re constantly met with disappointment.

Then there are our buddies the optimists. I think it is so wonderful to see the world in all sunshine and rainbows but I just think that if that’s the case, when disappointment does in fact rear it’s head, the appearance the world crashing down is that much greater. There’s not too much I can say about unabashed optimism that wouldn’t take me back to talking about being realistic, so I’ll just leave this alone and move on.

I believe that most people are a mixture of two or all of these things. But, what is the use in being pessimistic? As I said before, I think pessimists believe they are being realistic and that they know better due to their experience or erudite view of others. I think this group should really exercise the on saying, “If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.” far more often.

Every now and then I’ll get an email from a listener that gets me so excited for them. Usually it is from someone who is about to go run their first marathon or something and they have an extremely lofty goal time. The first thing I do I to say, “that’s awesome!”. I say that not out of some obligation to be nice or polite, but I say it because I really do think it’s wonderful. As soon as I am done saying that though, I will usually let them know to make sure they have a contingency plan laid out in their mind. I refuse to be negative to any of my listeners/readers like that because I know from first hand experience that when you get into a race and something goes wrong, your mind is capable of throwing more negativity at you than you can handle. I believe that any goal, no matter how high, is one worth going after.

So, now that I have rambled along about my “ists”, what kind of “ist” are you?

“If you shoot for the stars and hit the moon, it’s OK… A lot of people don’t even shoot.”