Cautious Optimism…..

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Have you ever experienced something very exciting, enjoyable and amazing all at the same time?
Did you truly embrace the experience or did you steadily look over your shoulder and think, is this real? Will it last or be taken away from me?

We all have done it a time or two, I am sure. Something may feel too good to be true or it’s so amazing that you keep the “red flag” up and validate your caution. It feels so great and right that you want someone to pinch you to validate it is real.

This can occur in our business life or personal life.

Living in the great province of Alberta, Canada, this comes up alot in terms of the economy. Business leaders are getting busier, and generating more revenue but are still “cautiously optimistic.” A line that I heard from a friend and business associate of mine last week was an aha moment for me. He stated, “I can’t celebrate because I am so unsure!” While business is going great, he is still operating in a cautious state.

In our personal world we may enter relationships and suddenly realize that they are pretty awesome, yet we somehow decide to be cautious. Can “this” really be so awesome? Do I deserve awesome?

From my perspective there are two sides to the above business and personal scenarios.

Sometimes we can be “too” cautious and miss the enjoyment of something that is great. We hold back and don’t take full advantage of the experience. We aren’t fully engaged and present to appreciate what we are experiencing.
On the reserve side, cautious optimism can be a good thing at times. When we are cautious we are more aware of the challenges, downside or pitfalls of a particular opportunity. We simply need to calculate the risk vs. reward and overall feeling to validate what we may actually have.

To put a bit of a spin on an old line for the purposes of this week’s blog.

It is better to have “lived” and lost, than to never have “lived” at all.

This doesn’t suggest that you throw caution to the wind.
When you throw caution to the wind, you are tossing it away, and letting the wind take it. So if you throw caution to the wind, you are abandoning it completely, knowing that from now on you will have to act boldly – you can’t go back to a cautious place.

Here’s a thought…….try throwing caution to the wind in moderation at first and see how you feel. Remember, throwing caution to the wind does not always have to be “all or nothing”. You may throw caution to the wind in one situation (personally or professionally).

“I can’t change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination.”
-Jimmy Dean

I welcome your comments on this week’s Blog in the section below.

“Helping you to the next level”