Optimists see setbacks as temporary and specific, like one investor rejecting a pitch. Pessimists interpret the same rejection as permanent and pervasive, believing all investors will always say no and they're fundamentally bad at fundraising. How you frame failure shapes your response to it.
He was like the father of positive psychology. And he had this really simple distinction. I'm trying to remember it, which was like, for optimists, that's what he labels it. When setbacks happen, optimists tend to label the setback as temporary and specific.
Hmm.
So temporary, right? Like, okay, this one investor said no. And specific, like, okay, it's just You know, it's just this. And pessimists tend to label that same exact experience as permanent and pervasive. So, let me be more, even more clear about it. So, the specific part is like, oh, I didn't do well in that meeting. And the temporary is like, okay, this particular investor said no.
Right.
But permanent and pervasive is like, oh God, all investors are going to say no because I suck at fundraising. So, it's like permanent, it's always going to be this way, and pervasive because it means something fundamental about me. And I thought that was just such a—
mine is not mine, by the way. Well, where my head went is like all kinds of other interesting— like, I have both in me. Yeah, of course. And like, but my inner pessimist is— he knows I'm still really good at pitching. So, it's never anything I did wrong in the pitch. I mean, there's always— you can always be better at a pitch.
