BiggerPockets

Why Optimists Are Never Successful In This Business

In Jim Collins book "Good to Great", he recounts an interview he did with Admiral Jim Stockdale who was in the "Hanoi Hilton" Vietnam prisoner-of camp from 1965 to 1973. He was captured after his plane was shot down.

During that eight years, he was tortured over 20 times. He had no rights, and no prospect of release. Being an Admiral, he was the highest ranking officer in the camp.

The reason Collins wanted this interview with Admiral Stockdale so badly was that he was trying to gain some insight into companies that ignored what was really going on in their business versus companies that were looking for the truth in their market and their business.

Admiral Stockdale reports that he never lost faith that he would eventually be released. When Collins asked him about the people who didn't make it out, Stockdale replied, "Oh, that's easy - The optimists". Stockdale continued to explain those were the ones who said they were going to be out by Christmas. Christmas would come and go, and they would said they were going to be out by Easter. Easter would come and go, and they said they were going to be out by Thanksgiving. At some point, "...they died of a broken heart."

Stockdale went on, "You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end - which you can never afford to lose - with the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be."

This interview hit me right between the eyes because I can look back to times when I haven't had the courage to look at the facts. Instead, I just kept a positive attitude, and tried to focus on good stuff.

I'll be the first one to agree that you should always focus on the positive, great things that are going on for you. However, when you see that something in your business is not working, if you just hope that things will change for the better, your business won't last long. It certainly won't grow and thrive.

An excellent illustration for real estate is the change in the market that we started to see in 2005-2006. You know what? It's not like it was a hard thing to see what was happening. It was clear that the market was going to move down.

I have to admit I knew perfectly well what was going to happen. I will be the first to admit I could have responded better. Those of us who didn't change their approach to business got a dose of medicine. If you just tried to stay positive, you probably got hurt.

Those of us who saw the change coming and positioned themselves to take advantage of the opportunities are getting wealthier and wealthier. Right now is definitely the time to buy as much as you can.

Comments

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  James Blakeley — about 2 years ago

  I didn't like this title, but after reading you are spot on. We have to believe, optimism good for your attitude. Attitude alone will not get subjects under contract. Only actions, and results determine the outcome.