How Successful People Think: Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life pdfdrive com

Why You Should Recognize the Importance of Realistic Thinking
If you’re a naturally optimistic person, as I am, you may not possess great
desire to become a more realistic thinker. But cultivating the ability to be
realistic in your thinking will not undermine your faith in people, nor will it
lessen your ability to see and seize opportunities. Instead, it will add value to you
in other ways:

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1. Realistic Thinking Minimizes Downside Risk
Actions always have consequences; realistic thinking helps you to determine
what those consequences could be. And that’s crucial, because only by
recognizing and considering consequences can you plan for them. If you plan for
the worst-case scenario, you can minimize the downside risk.

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2. Realistic Thinking Gives You a Target and Game Plan
I’ve known businesspeople who were not realistic thinkers. Here’s the good
news: they were very positive and had a high degree of hope for their business.
Here’s the bad news: hope is not a strategy.
Realistic thinking leads to excellence in leadership and management because
it requires people to face reality. They begin to define their target and develop a
game plan to hit it. When people engage in realistic thinking, they also begin to
simplify practices and procedures, which results in better efficiency.
Truthfully, in business only a few decisions are important. Realistic thinkers
understand the difference between the important decisions and those that are
merely necessary in the normal course of business. The decisions that matter
relate directly to your purpose. James Allen was right when he wrote, “Until
thought is linked with purpose there is no intelligent accomplishment.” 
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