Entrepreneurial Optimism

Kris Plachy: Entrepreneurial optimism is a super power and can also be a little bit of a poison. Let’s talk about it today! Hey, everyone. Welcome to the podcast! This is Kris Plachy. Thank you for joining me here on Leadership is Feminine and this whole season we’re talking a little bit about magic.

And how magic realizes itself in your business uniquely, I think; as an entrepreneur and as a woman. I believe a lot in magic; I think that we take a lot for granted. We dismiss things that happen. We over emphasize: exertion, struggle, hustle. And we under value and under appreciate and under notice things that happen that really don’t make a lot of sense. And like I say all the time... do you ever just stop and think?

Like look at you. Here you are. This woman, who had an idea in her head... and because of the world
that we live in today you were able to translate that idea into a material thing (service) and make
money. And, by extension, then hire other people and pay them money. So, now they make money. I
think that’s magic. And I think when you only talk about effort. Only make it an individual exercise,
right? It’s just you doing it all.

You dismiss this whole unseen opportunity to tap into things that I just don’t think we talk about enough. So, I want to talk about optimism today because I think it’s a super power. As entrepreneurs... I don’t even know if you see it, but I want to point it out to you (haha) because I think it’s very real. I think you have to be an optimist to become an entrepreneur, right? Like I do think, obviously, we talk about it as like risk-taking (obviously).

That risk-taking and optimism have to go together, right? If you are willing to take the risk that means that you believe something will work out. You’re an optimist! You have this perspective that it’s gonna be ok. It’s gonna be better than ok. You see the bright side. You see that. And I was talking to my oldest son... this was a little while ago and you know? For the kids, who are alive today... what a couple years. I mean those of us who are older... certainly the pandemic has been incredibly hard for all of us in our own unique ways, which, actually, for me, will end up making some changes to my business as we go forward, but for our younger people inour society... I have a 21-year-old son and I have 17-year-old twins.

And I’m sure all of you can relate to this, right? Kids are really really working to find their footing in different ways. Some kids are totally unaffected, but I do think that most kids in many ways are. And we were having a conversation and my son actually said to me, “Is the world ending, mom?” (haha) and of course I don’t know, but I’m like,” No. It’s not ending.” He’s like,” Yea, but this is out of control like...” And I said,” you know? There have been these moments in my life time and other people’s lifetimes when we thought it was the end.”

And I remember when I was a teenager and the AIDS epidemic hit and it was terrifying. We were... right?
Before we knew what it was, we were terrified. And we’re still, you know? It’s still something to be incredibly cautious of, but look at our relationship now; just even globally with this HIV. And then there’s been natural disasters, right? You know? Or... I wouldn’t even call them natural. Like the Exxon Valdez and these massive oil spills where we just think the Gulf of Mexico is going to be destroyed forever. So, there’s a resilience to humanity and to this planet that I believe in.

And so, I hold that for my kids like listen I know this is terrible and I wouldn’t choose this either, but we’re human and we have a level of resilience. And I do believe in a bright future. I do believe there is so much to be happy about, excited about, to lean into... And so, he actually said to me,” How are you always so optimistic?” And so, I’ve been thinking a lot about it since he said that to me because I am. I guess, you know? Knowing the thought model like I do...

When I first started learning that really understanding how what you think about really influences so much of what happens in your life. I realize that you can either keep thinking things that make you feel terrible on purpose or could decide to believe in a different future. Like you get to pick, right? You don’t know the future. Do I know the future? I don’t know the future. So, I would rather believe in something really cool than something awful because it makes me feel better (haha). And since I don’t know what the truth is, Imma pick that one.

There's no use in doomsday for your business, for your life, for the planet. DO we pay attention to science? Of course, we do, but we still have room in here. We have free will. We have opportunity, So, people, as an entrepreneur I already know you do this. And what I want you to think about too is how this plays out even in your business, right? I notice in myself, right? We might have really exceptional quarters and then we have quarters that are a little rougher... But I ‘m back at it! I always believe there’s more cool stuff coming. There’s
more cool clients coming.

There's more amazing work to do. I have so many ideas. My ideas stimulate the feeling of optimism. Now optimism can work against you, I suppose, because you might be too piein-the-sky. You might disconnect from what the potential is. You might... your optimism can become overwhelming to your team, if it translates into copious amounts of work. So, we have to be aware of our optimism.

We have to have a note... our sort of... our trusted advisors that we consult with and we chat with and connect with that help us think things through. Not just as dreams, but as plans. But I love a good dream and I love believing in possibilities and options and new paths to follow. We’re never really stuck. I know there are times when we believe that we really are and I know there are times when we really really are experiencing our business and our life that way. And I believe as entrepreneurs you have a heightened emotional awareness and so you feel things richly, deeply.

But I really wanna invite you to lean into your optimism especially if this is finding you at a time when you’re struggling with that. When you’ve worked so hard over the past 2 years, and we don’t know what next year holds. So much of that really will be up to us, I think. And so, don’t hide your dreams. Don’t hide your joy. Don’t hide your belief in the potential of the future because you’re trepidatious. I think we just need to go all in.

Dream the dreams. Hold space for potential (for possibility). Model that ‘cause I already know that you have it, or you wouldn’t have that beautiful business of yours. So, optimism is a brilliant skill and I want to say one more thing about it. Optimistic leaders are wonderful leaders to work for. Optimistic leaders are able to cultivate, recultivate; recreate vision.

So, even when the team is feeling overwhelmed, downtrodden, frustrated... You have an opportunity, as a leader, to bring that skill of yours in and show people what is possible if we just hold the optimistic view. If we work through what the issues are, but we do so with a refreshing perspective and not one that is heavy.

As a leader you set that tone. Pessimistic leaders hire pessimistic employees and then they don’t get the results they want; and then they get frustrated because all their employees are so negative. But you gotta look at that. It’s a truth telling, yeah? And I wanna reiterate if the last several years have been hard on you, it wouldn’t surprise me if you are feeling pessimistic (haha) right now. But I’m willing to bet that is against the grain for you.

So, as you think about winding down 2021 and winding up 2022, how about we take the optimistic view
for yourself, for your business, for your team, and even for the planet? More of us doing that raises the
entire vibration of everything that we do. And we need that. All of us need that, ok? You’re amazing,
madam entrepreneur.

And I want you to take that to heart and really sit with that today. You’re a magician. You really can create what you want. So, if you abdicated some of that power and authority over your life and your success, how ‘bout we take it back today? How ‘bout we write down the thoughts that make us feel optimistic? How ’bout we identify the dreams that you have that trigger optimism? And let’s go all in on those this time around. What do yah say? Thanks for tuning in!