Being an Optimist With Anxiety

I’m an optimist with anxiety—constantly fretting about the future, but optimistic that it will work out fine. This neatly sums up how I feel most days.

I suspect many entrepreneurs are a similar combination. It’s difficult to take on such an endeavor while being pessimistic.

I would go one step further to say default optimism is rational, regardless of what you do.

See also:

• Depression is living in the past, anxiety is living in the future

Links to this note

• Anxiety Doesn’t Give You an Edge

  I hear it often enough that it seems like a commonly held belief that anxiety somehow improves performance at work and gives one an edge. I believed it too, but with the help of therapy, I came to realize it’s not true. If anything, this belief makes us worse at a lot of things—not the least of which is feeling okay.

• Cynicism Is the Opposite of Optimism and Pessimism

  Cynics believe that nothing ever changes at a fundamental level. By it’s nature, cynicism is a dead end where everything stays the same over time.