Keep it Real

Some of us began 2021 imagining that the year will see an end to lockdowns, normal life will resume and the virus that brought chaos in the world will be eradicated. But 2021 proved to be quite the contrary.

Optimism can be defined as ‘the tendency to expect the best possible outcome or to dwell on the most hopeful aspects of the situation.’ While optimism has helped people to be successful and show problem-solving behaviours, sometimes we tend to be optimistic to a point where it doesn’t make sense anymore. Research by Puri and Robinson (2007) showed that extreme optimists have much shorter-term financial horizons, save less, work shorter hours, exhibit less financial self-control and are less likely to pay off credit card balances than moderate optimists or pessimists.

All of us, by nature, look at life either as ‘half full’ or ‘half empty’, but admittedly, whatever be our natural temperament, keeping it real is what we all need a bit more of in life.