By | David Klaasen | Helping You to Create Clarity, Inspire Your People and Drive Performance ★ Trainer, Facilitator, Coach ★ Behaviour Change
Today, I’d like to talk about ‘Realistic Optimism’ and ‘Resilience’. Because Resilience is the ability to bounce back from any adversity.
The Stockdale Paradox
Realistic optimism is a way of being able to look at the facts and look at the reality of the situation while maintaining a deep optimism that you will prevail. And, in psychological terms, this is referred to as ‘The Stockdale Paradox’. Because James Stockdale was a prisoner of war in the Vietnam war. And he was incarcerated in brutal conditions for seven years. And, he was able to maintain a sense of optimism without getting into blind optimism without thinking, “Oh to be all okay”.
He was able to ‘Face Up to the brutal Facts’ of the situation while maintaining a sense that ‘Confidence that I will Cope’ with the situation and ‘Belief that I Will Prevail’ in this situation.