March 19, 2025 • 32 mins
Positivity can be powerful, but blind optimism? That's a slippery slope—just ask Greg, who found himself literally sliding down a bunny hill at Breckenridge, unable to stand on skis despite looking like a pro in his brand-new gear. His hilarious and humbling experience perfectly illustrates how "just staying positive" without proper preparation can lead to embarrassing situations or worse.
We've all been there. Believing everything will magically work out because we want it to. Ignoring red flags in relationships because "things will change." Launching businesses without proper research because we're "manifesting success." Avoiding budget conversations because somehow the money will appear. This isn't healthy optimism—it's delusion with a sunshine filter.
In this episode we're covering:
- What blind optimism is and why it’s dangerous
- Why looking the part isn’t enough in business, relationships, or life
- How optimism should fuel action, not replace it
- Three strategies to avoid the blind optimism trap
- The importance of balancing belief with preparation
Listen now to rethink your approach to success! And, be sure to head over to YouTube to catch the footage of Greg's skiing mishap! www.youtube.com/@cameoelysebraun
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello and welcome to the Cameo Show.
I'm your host, cameo.
We are joined today by myhusband and co-host, mr Greg
Braun.
Hi, greg.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
How are we doing so glad to be here?
Speaker 1 (00:09):
Greg likes to start us with a dad joke, so do you
have one?
Speaker 2 (00:13):
I do, I do.
Actually.
What do you call the line ofguys waiting outside of the
barbershop?
Speaker 1 (00:20):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
A barbecue.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
Very good, Very good.
Today we are going to talkabout we're going to venture to
the dark side of optimism Onthis show.
We talk about a positivemindset.
We talk about how, if you keepshowing up and you keep a
positive mindset, good thingswill happen.
You just have to stay in thegame.
But sometimes it feels likejust stay positive isn't really
(00:49):
enough.
And Greg has a great story.
This one's from the vault.
This one goes all the way backto a family trip we took in 2019
to Breckenridge to go skiing inthe winter, and you've never
shared this.
You haven't shared this withvery many people that are even
close to you, right?
Speaker 2 (01:08):
Yeah, this story is a tad a wee bit embarrassing for
old Greg here, but I'm willingto share it because I think it's
important, because we do alwaystalk about optimism and being
optimistic and going for it, butthere is a negative side to
that.
So we went on this skiing tripand I have never really skied
(01:31):
before.
You've snowboarded.
You know the kids have all rode, you know skateboards, they
have balance, you know, becausethey're kids and they can do
things, but I've just never.
I've always been kind of aclumsy, awkward lad and not
super athletic, but a few yearsago I had long hair.
We got some new Columbia gear.
We looked really cool Like Ilooked like oh my gosh, here
(01:54):
comes a guy who knows how to skior snowboard because he's got
all the gear and we went on thisfamily trip.
It was, wasn't it?
Christmas time?
Speaker 1 (02:05):
Yeah, so it was a surprise Christmas present for
the kids.
They literally woke up, openedtheir presents.
It was suitcases full of snowgear.
We live in southwest Florida soyou know obviously we don't
have snow gear.
So it was all new and we got ona plane that day to go to
Breckenridge for skiing andsnowboarding.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
Yeah.
So we get there and we get onthe lift and go up the gondola
and I remember just like feelinglike gosh, I look like I know
what I'm doing here, you know.
And when we got up there it waslike okay, you guys kind of
went and did some slopes, right,you and Faithy.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
Not, yet we all went over to like the learning slope
the bunny slope.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
Okay, yeah.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
Let me back up just a second For those of you who
don't know Greg personally.
He is 6'3" 6'4" on a goodposture day.
He's tall, he's lanky.
You're not not athletic, you'rejust.
You're just a little clumsy,right.
Like so things like, thingsthat we've done in the past,
(03:17):
like roller skating me, me finemotor skills maybe.
Skiing.
You know these types ofactivities and Greg are like
he's he's got a lot of height,so there's a lot of, like you
know, center of a balance center.
That makes it difficult for him,I think because of your height
(03:41):
you're not low and agile to theground Right, so these types of
activities are tough.
So he did look good.
He looked totally likeeverybody had new gear and I was
jacked because I used tosnowboard all the time in high
school and hadn't really been.
But it's kind of like riding abike, like once you know how to
do it, you just get on it and goand the first couple of runs
(04:01):
might be difficult but thenyou're like ready.
The kids, you're right.
Hoverboards, skateboards, allthe things, they're ready.
Everybody looks the part, youlook the part and for whatever
reason, we decided that you andour son, ben, who was like nine
at the time, would ski and faithand I would snowboard.
I don't know why I didn't putBen on a snowboard and maybe you
(04:23):
would have done better on asnowboard, but you put on skis.
So we all carry our gear overto this like bunny hill and
click in right Like you'd neverreally even know.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
I had no idea how to put the shit on.
I had no idea.
And we're standing around.
I felt like Will Ferrell insome kid movie, where he's like
the big dumbass and like there'sa bunch of little six-year-olds
.
I had no idea what I was doing,and yeah it was.
The ground was literally leveland flat, but I was falling on
my ass and just I couldn't doanything, I couldn't move.
Speaker 1 (04:56):
And then it was like you didn't even know how to like
click into the skis nothinglike okay, so when you click
into skis you put your toes infirst, you kind of stomp your
heel and you're clicked into thebinding.
You're like latched into theski.
Speaker 2 (05:07):
Well, okay, lesson number one we didn't get ski
lessons, that's what I was goingto say is like I looked around
in that moment and thought maybewe should have, like at least I
should have taken lessons for ahalf day or something.
I mean otherwise this is goingto be, but but again, blind
optimism.
I got this, I'm going to dothis.
Speaker 1 (05:26):
Well, and I had blind optimism for you, because I'm
like he doesn't need aprofessional lesson.
I know enough.
I skied before I snowboarded.
I know enough to show you whatto do and you'll get it it's
fine.
It's not that difficult.
Speaker 2 (05:40):
So even on flat ground, I'm falling all over the
place, I can't do anything.
And then I think, after, likesome you know, laughter and
frustration for whatever reasonwe're like, let's go over to the
what do you call?
The next level up from therewas like a place where, like you
, had ropes and this kind of,and it was literally flat.
And then the other one was aslight elevation, the one where
(06:02):
I went to next.
Speaker 1 (06:04):
I don't remember the one with the rope, I just
remember the one where you okay.
So this bunny Hill is not likeyou ride a chair up to a small
like foothill and bunny Hill,this bunny Hill that we're
talking about.
For Greg, I forgot about therope, so I don't I'm.
I'm sorry, I missed that part,but this is like one of those
where you stand on the thing,the motorized little like
(06:26):
treadmill thing, and it pulls itlike runs you up the hill.
So, as you can imagine, it'snot very high, it's not very
steep, you're literally riding abelt.
It takes you to the top.
Speaker 2 (06:38):
It's like a one degree elevation, it's nothing.
Speaker 1 (06:40):
I mean maybe 10, I don't know, 10, 15 degree slope,
I don't, I have no idea if itwas even that much.
It's so not sloped that it'sdifficult when you're a
snowboarder because you can'treally go anywhere Like it's.
You don't have any muchmomentum and most of the people
on that hill were little kidsand they were like zooming by
(07:02):
and Ben and Faith went up andthey zip, zip down.
Speaker 2 (07:05):
It's fine, you know.
It's like okay, now watch olddad.
And then now we've got to likepause this and show the footage
of me right now of what happensnext.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
Yes, if you are listening on a podcast platform,
I go to YouTube.
To go to YouTube.
It will be worth it.
You will laugh.
I know it wasn't funny for youin the moment, greg, but I've
never felt so bad.
I felt really bad for like atfirst, but then I couldn't do
(07:41):
anything but laugh because Icouldn't.
I cannot explain to anyone soyou have to watch the video how
funny it is to see a giant grownass who has fallen on a no
degree slope.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
It looks cool.
Speaker 1 (08:02):
It looks like he knows what he's doing.
Here comes Sean sean white, youknow, and I'm like laying with
his like skis that are also verylong, because you're tall like
tangled up and you can't getthem off and you're trying to
like I would try to like sit upand it would slide out from
under me and, just like I was,like so helpless.
(08:23):
So I'm trying to help you standup and I can't because you're
giant and it would slide outfrom under me and just like I
was like so helpless.
So I'm trying to help you standup and I can't, because you're
a giant and it's awkward andthere's like a little bit of
slope that's enough to make youstart sliding.
And then you're trying to useyour poles to like push the
binding to click your feet outand you can't get that either,
and at some point I just gave inand I couldn't not laugh and it
(08:44):
couldn't stop laughing.
And then that made it worsebecause you were, you were not
laughing at this point, you werepissed oh yeah, it's like the
frustration level and the but.
Speaker 2 (08:54):
But it's funny because, like, you came out and
tried to help me and he liketook one of my my steak.
What are they called?
Poles?
Poles.
You took one of my poles,you're trying to like pull it to
help me up and all you weredoing was like pulling me and I
was just sliding you were like,you were like oh my god a body
(09:16):
that was not able to move Idon't know, why couldn't you
move?
Why?
Speaker 1 (09:19):
couldn't you help yourself at all.
Literally, it was like whycouldn't you move, why couldn't
you help yourself at all?
Speaker 2 (09:23):
Literally.
It was like they threw weekendat Bernies out there, and I was
just like a corpse, just likenothing made sense.
You know, I just couldn't standup, I couldn't, you couldn't
pull me it, just nothing wasworking.
Speaker 1 (09:38):
Let me remind everyone at this point Again,
there was no chairlift, therewas like very little slope.
We're laying almost on flatground.
So wait, was there?
Okay, we're going to have topull the video footage because
and we should have before westarted talking but wasn't there
(09:58):
also a moment where you find it, oh God, you finally did get
going and you were going likethree miles per hour because
there's no slope.
You like tucked your poles.
Speaker 2 (10:12):
Like I'm going off the black diamond or something.
Oh my God.
Speaker 1 (10:16):
It was so funny.
Somebody ran into the orangefence, was it you?
Did you also run?
Speaker 2 (10:23):
into the orange fence at the end, I think so, oh my
god, it's just too much it's toomuch and I was scared, you know
also the whole time, the wholetime of like running over a kid
or like smashing over somebodylittle.
Just you know it's just such ahazard it's a lot of mass to be
(10:43):
out of control, and so I'venever shared that story or put
any pictures or videos up onsocial media or anything, just
because it's quite embarrassingthat I'm, that it's just that
unavailable for me to stand upon skis so I think that's the
definition of blind optimism,the belief that everything will
(11:05):
kind of magically work withoutputting any thought behind it,
without any action or practice,or I'll just show up looking
cool.
Speaker 1 (11:16):
Well, you looked the part, that's for sure.
It was kind of like hope in aside of delusion A lot of
delusion, a lot of delusion.
Well, thank you for beingvulnerable and sharing that.
I haven't laughed so hard in acouple of weeks.
That really just brought me outof my little funk that I've
been in because recalling thatmoment and I'm sure when we go
(11:37):
back through, yeah.
I'm good.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
I'm good, just putting all the raw footage in
here of because, bia, your momrecorded the whole thing and
she's just laughing her ass off.
Which, yeah, and afterwards itwas like, after all of that, I
was like I'm just going to gointo the, into the lodge, and
just drink coffee and you guyshave fun, don't I'm done?
Yeah, and just drink coffee andyou guys have fun, don't I'm
(12:03):
done.
Yeah, you did, it's like don'tlet me ruin your day, but this
is not my jam.
Speaker 1 (12:11):
Which is a bummer because I wish it were or maybe
next time like okay, here'swhere like-.
Speaker 2 (12:16):
I'll go take lessons Like healthy optimism is okay, I
can do this, but I'm also gonnaplan.
Speaker 1 (12:22):
I'm gonna put like a plan in place and take action on
that plan so that this doesn'thappen again.
And that's exactly what we'retalking about.
Like being blindly optimisticin that case is just ends up
being a funny story and that'sgreat.
But sometimes it can be reallydangerous because you're
ignoring red flags, you'reignoring potential things that
(12:43):
could be a detriment to yourexistence, right?
If we start talking aboutthings that are more serious in
life, like relationships orbusiness or finances, you kind
of have this false sense ofreality.
When it comes to blind optimism, you delay the problem, you
think you can will your waythrough it.
(13:05):
Or you know, we talk a lot aboutvision boards or envisioning
things or manifesting.
Those things all come with aplan.
Those are all things that youenvision, you dream about, and
they are like an end game, anend goal for you to then back
out of and go okay, what are thesteps that I need to take?
(13:25):
What is the action that I needto take to get there in order to
actually achieve those things?
They don't just like happenbecause I put them on my vision
board.
You know, five years later, allof a sudden, I'm not going to
be releasing a book because Iput it on my vision board.
It's been five years of laborand tears and sleepless nights
(13:46):
and working lots and lots ofhours.
And that's just one example oflike something.
For me personally, that didn'tjust happen because I think like
, oh well, I'll just manifest it, that's not what that means
Newsflash.
That's not what manifesting isor what it means.
You can't just decide you wantsomething and then you manifest
(14:09):
it and it just shows up.
So other potential dangers ofblind optimism and I have fallen
into this trap myself is kindof this delayed problem solving
idea.
What do you mean idea?
So what do you mean?
Well, like kind of waiting fora sign, so like red flag, red
flag, red flag, the writing's onthe wall.
(14:35):
But before I take action, I amkind of waiting on this sign
that'll tell me, hey, it's, it'stime to make a change.
Or hey, you've got to pivot alittle bit.
And I think that that just isbecause it's extremely
uncomfortable to recognize whensomething isn't working out the
way that you want it to.
And it's kind of maybe it's notexactly what blind optimism is,
but it's kind of like.
It's kind of like its cousin,right, like this idea that like,
(14:56):
okay, things aren't working theway that I want.
But rather than giving up onthat idea, I'm waiting for
something to really tell me thatit's, it's for real not going
to happen.
Right, like some sign.
That's going to be the momentwhen I realized, like, okay,
I've got to do somethingdifferent.
Speaker 2 (15:12):
Yeah, I think another thing in in life it's it's like
this delusion that that that wehave, like the other one, is
like fighting, like before wedid any fight, training like
jujitsu or kickboxing, sparringyou have this false sense of
like, oh, I would just get realmad and punch somebody.
(15:34):
But there's this reality checkthat when you actually go
through the practicing of doingit, the sparring, the rolling,
you realize like, oh my God, Iwould get destroyed if I was
doing, if I was finding someonethat knew what they were doing.
So it's like that same kind ofoptimism of like I can just ski,
(15:56):
I'll just rent the skis and Ican just go do it.
I'll just go buy a drum set andthen I'll get some sticks and
dress up like a rock star andI'll be able to do it.
And it's like you know there'sthe other element here in all of
these equations, is like yougot to do the work.
Yeah, you got to do the actualstuff.
That's not sexy.
And like I'd have to gopractice these things.
(16:18):
I have to practice skiing andhave someone show me how to
throw a jab across and a rolland a hook.
You know, like you're not justgoing to get mad and throw a
haymaker and you might get luckyand land that thing, but like
if someone knew what to do, theywould grab you and throw in the
ground and you'd be in an armbar.
Speaker 1 (16:36):
Yeah, that's a great point, that's a great like
example, because I think that'sour ego that jumps in and goes I
can handle it.
And, on a more serious note, asa female, martial arts training
has taught me that if I everwere in a situation where I were
being attacked prior to this, Ireally wouldn't have known what
(16:57):
to do.
My ego might have told me Iwould be able to get out of it.
I'm strong, I'm tough, I'mstrong, I'm tough, I'm smart.
And I'm not saying that thistraining now would equip me to
be able to get out of asituation like that with no,
absolutely no, no doubt.
But I definitely feel like I amin a in a better situation
because of this training to nowknow what to do or at least have
(17:19):
a fighting chance.
Not just blindly assume thatwell, if it happens, I'll know
what to do or at least have afighting chance, not just
blindly assume that, well, if ithappens, I'll know what to do.
So back to that whole thing ofit can be a major detriment to
ignore potential situations thatcould be dangerous for you by
being blindly optimistic andthen, the fighting and the
training like that is definitelyis definitely like a big one
(17:41):
for me to as I reflect on that.
Other ones are, like you know,when it comes to like budgeting.
Right now we are budgeting.
I hate the word budget more nowthan I ever have in my entire
life because I have to focus onit and I don't like it and it's
like really annoying to look atit and go, okay, where are we
spending money?
Where do we need to cut what'snecessary, what's not?
(18:02):
Yada, yada, yada.
But here's the thing Like it'sbetter to go through these
things and analyze them andreally have a grasp on where
things are now, before thingsstart to accumulate and you get
each other and go, well, whatthe hell happened?
How did that get out of control?
How did we not see where wewere spending so much money on
(18:23):
eating out or shopping orwhatever the case may be?
Right Before you're like, oh myGod, I just blindly
optimistically thought that,well, it's not that bad until it
gets bad.
And that is the loop that we allfall into, and we fall into
that loop with people too, right?
So this idea that someoneyou're in a relationship with,
(18:45):
your spouse, your, yourboyfriend, what?
Whatever your partner like,well, they'll change.
Things will change eventually.
Like we're we're just gettingused to each other.
And it's like back to what yousaid.
It's not really about that.
It's about recognizing what'shappening because you're aware
of it, and instead of just kindof looking past it and waiting
for the dreamy rainbows andlollipops setting to to come
(19:09):
into play.
It's like, well, there's workto be done here, like there's
some storm clouds that we got towork through and cover from and
figure out it.
You're right, it's the not sexystuff.
But here's what is sexy Havinga plan B, having an awareness to
like, what am I going to do ifmy plan doesn't work out the way
(19:30):
that I am manifesting it to orthe way that I'm blindly
optimistically planning for itto happen?
Your plan B in Breckenridge waswell shit.
Speaker 2 (19:41):
I didn't have a plan B.
I was going to ski all day.
Speaker 1 (19:43):
So now I'm going to go sit in the lodge begrudgingly
right, because you didn't havea plan B.
So, yes, that was plan B bydefault, but if now you went and
we did this again, you wouldplan in a different way, right?
Speaker 2 (19:59):
I'd be the video, I'd be the camera guy for the day.
Speaker 1 (20:04):
Well, maybe you'd have a couple.
Y'all have fun.
Speaker 2 (20:06):
I'll bring my backpack with snacks.
Speaker 1 (20:10):
Well, but what you would bring is maybe an open
attitude to learn.
So maybe you would try lessonsin this case next time.
Or you would already go knowinglike this isn't for me, this is
for my family, but I'm going tobe here in the lodge to do
those things to video, to havesnacks, and I'm going to bring
my laptop and I'm going to workon music, or I'm going to bring
(20:30):
a book and I'm going to read bythe fireplace or whatever the
case may be, like a plan B.
Plan B is really important whenyou're talking about those
things that could be dangerousor that could be severe in your
life, that you're maybeoverlooking out of ego, out of
lack of awareness, out ofcompletely dismissing it as even
being an option.
Speaker 2 (20:50):
Yeah, well, and just being real here, it's quite a
superpower to be able to have ashit sandwich thrown in your lap
and an absolute disaster, stormfinancially, come into your
life and a bunch of tragedy, andbe able to blind,
(21:11):
optimistically, look at it andgo we're going to get through
this, and be able to like suckit up and go, do it and like
believe in yourself so much thatyou feel like I don't care what
the world throws at me, I'mgoing to make this shit happen.
So that also lives in me.
But it's just knowing when it'sappropriate to harness that
(21:33):
superpower and when it'sappropriate to be more even
about it and realistic about itand be like, well, maybe I can't
go climb Everest withouttraining, or maybe I do have to
train before I go run a marathon.
You know, I'm not a bionicsuperhuman.
You know I do have to put inthe work, you know, and it's
like it's it's it's like anawareness of understanding and
(21:56):
the only way you ever do is likepay attention to your life and
be like, okay, in thesesituations I really, in this
situation, I really did fall onmy ass and I couldn't get back
up.
You know, I basically plundereddown this 1% grade hill to the
bottom where there's like littlesix-year-old girls looking at
(22:17):
me laughing at me.
Speaker 1 (22:17):
You know what I mean.
Speaker 2 (22:18):
Like it's just like that, like that's you know, next
time take lessons.
Speaker 1 (22:24):
Yeah, yeah, well, and that's a great segue into a few
actionable ways to stay oncourse without falling into the
blind optimism trap.
And you said it reality checkyourself.
Like ask yourself what are thethings, what are the steps that
I need to take to actually makethis happen?
We are all about dreaming big.
(22:46):
I am all about manifesting andvision board and the law of
attraction and going for whatyou want.
That's how big, fun, amazingthings happen in your life and
if they don't, you learnsomething and you pivot and you
go again.
But you have to have a plan ofaction.
Optimism should be fuel so,like you're saying, knowing when
(23:07):
to channel that but itshouldn't like replace action.
It should be fuel for action.
And if you can't map out a plan, maybe you have to kind of
rethink your approach and pivotand figure out what will work to
get me closer to that end goal,not just jump out of the plane
and hope that a parachute willautomatically appear on your
(23:27):
back Right.
Speaker 2 (23:28):
Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1 (23:31):
The second thing, after kind of the reality check
and awareness, is to use thehope plus proof formula.
So great to believe in apositive outcome, but a lot of
times it's great to have someevidence, like it's great to
look at past experiences of yourown.
(23:51):
It's great to look at, maybe,some experiences of other people
that you can learn from books,podcasts, data, expert, expert
advice that will help you makeinformed decisions.
Speaker 2 (24:05):
Yeah, about what's possible yeah.
Speaker 1 (24:07):
About what's possible without just kind of crossing
your fingers, putting on theoutfit and saying I hope this
works.
Yeah, On that note, I will saythat there is something about
putting on the outfit Like thisis kind of a little sidebar here
, but like if I dress the part.
Speaker 2 (24:25):
That's half of it.
Speaker 1 (24:26):
That's half of it.
Like you did the right thing indressing the part because it
does give you this kind of likesense of confidence that like,
okay, this is what I'm doing.
Like, whatever it is, if I'mgoing to be a fighter, I'm
dressing the part wrapped up,gloves on, mouth guard in.
I feel more powerful in thatway.
If you're going to be a skier,the outfit right.
(24:48):
If you're going to do thosethings, it is fun to dress the
part because it does give you asense of confidence, but
sometimes it can be slightly afalse sense of confidence.
So you definitely have to havesome evidence to support the
actions that you're taking.
And the third thing that willhelp you stay away from the
(25:08):
blind optimism trap is that planB what if?
A, what if plan don't fear abackup plan and, instead of
assuming that everything willwork out, ask yourself what's my
plan if it doesn't?
So, if you have an alternative,it doesn't mean that you don't
believe in your ability toachieve what you're set out to
do.
It doesn't mean that you don'tbelieve in success.
(25:30):
It just means you're preparedfor anything.
And it means that you'reopen-minded enough to say if
this doesn't work out, I'm notgoing to be ruined.
I'm going to know that Ilearned something.
I'm going to take that and storeit in my internal experience
data folder and reference it toknow what to do next time.
Speaker 2 (25:51):
Yeah, I'm all about the idea of like living life in
a way of where you're just likeburn the boats, like we're here,
we're doing this, we don't needboats anymore.
Let's go and I know you are.
But but yes, you're right, andthat's what you're saying here
is the idea that, like I can'tlose here, because I'm either
going to win or I'm going tolearn, there's no losing.
(26:12):
So you know, and you can applythat to anything.
It's just where I would lose isif I would go back to
Breckenridge, dress the part,not take lessons and go flinging
down the side again, becausenow, for some reason, I feel
like I've manifested thesepowers of skiing and I think
that's probably the mistakepeople make is like, well, this
(26:33):
business failed.
I didn't really contemplate whyit failed.
I'll blame the market orsomeone else, or I had a bad
business partner.
I'll try it again.
I'll blame the market orsomeone else, or I had a bad
business partner.
I'll try it again.
I'll fail again, but I didn'treally fix the thing that needed
fixed, which was I needed toactually have good lead sources
and good reoccurring generatingbusiness, or whatever the reason
is.
I'm just using that as anexample.
(26:54):
But like, you got to learnsomething from your losses, or
else it is just a loss and it'snot benefiting you in some way.
You know Right.
Speaker 1 (27:02):
Well, and a lot of times people double down when it
has failed and you feel like,well, I'm going to do this again
because of some external sourcecausing me to fail and I'm
going to double down on myefforts.
And that's not always the rightanswer either.
I think that comes with justmaturity and awareness and being
able to ask yourself hardquestions, because it's not easy
(27:23):
to look yourself in the mirrorand say what was my part in this
failure?
What was my part in why thisdidn't work?
I wanted it so bad, Imanifested it, I positively
visualized it happening, all thethings.
It's hard to then go, but mydeficiency was that I didn't
have a plan.
I didn't take action on thosesteps as part of the plan.
(27:47):
That's where it can be verychallenging and it can also be
very dangerous.
Speaker 2 (27:53):
Something to really think about and evaluate in your
own life of, like, who's inyour circle, who are you
listening to, who's feeding yourinformation?
Because when you talk about thebudget, you got to have some
conflicting information to whatyou feel.
So if it's left up to me and mycrazy blind optimism, I'm just
(28:14):
going to push through andbelieve that I can make it
happen, but it's almost like Ihave to have someone else in
that mix going.
Well, hold on a second.
Let's be realistic with thesenumbers.
If it doesn't, where are wegoing to be here in two years,
three years Checks?
Speaker 1 (28:30):
and balances.
Speaker 2 (28:31):
Checks and balances.
It's easy to get into a tunnelvision when your social media
feed just reinforces everythingthat you already believe,
because it's the algorithmfeeding you more to keep you on
the app.
That's dangerous, because thenit's you're not really getting
anything, that's.
And then when you get somethinginto your orb that's different
(28:52):
than what you truly feel or howyou're like uh, I don't like
that, I want more of, I wantmore sugar.
I want more sugar, you know,and it like you do need some
counterbalance to to keepyourself sharp and growing and
going in the right direction.
Otherwise, you're just gonnayou're not going to keep growing
.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (29:12):
You're going to stay stuck and then you're going to
be frustrated and then pissedoff.
Really.
I mean it's like perpetuallypissed when you can't figure out
how to get out of this loop ofbeing stuck because you keep
making the same decisions overand over and over again, whether
they're driven by blindoptimism or toxic positivity or
whatever the case may be.
But yeah so optimism is great.
(29:35):
If you're new here, please knowthat we are like all.
For all of these positivethings and a positive mindset
can take you very, very far, butreality checks, counter checks
from other people in your lifethat you can trust.
Evidence can keep you fromallowing it to become
self-sabotage.
And so what I'm not saying islike don't do anything big or
(29:59):
try anything new.
Please try big things and dreambig and do new things and
challenge yourself every singleday.
But just check your parachute.
Make sure it's on before youjump out of the plane, because
it is not likely to magicallyappear.
So stay hopeful, keep a littledose of reality and realism in
(30:20):
your approach, and remember thatpositive thinking works best
when you have a plan of actionand you hold to it.
Thanks so much for joining us.
We have new episodes everyWednesday where we talk about
life's challenges, we talk aboutmindset, we share personal
stories and stories of ourguests, so we do hope that you
will join us again.
(30:41):
You can find more at CameoElise Braun on Instagram or at
my website, cameoelisebrauncom.
Until next time.
Hello and welcome to the Cameo Show.
I'm your host, cameo.
We are joined today by myhusband and co-host, mr Greg
Braun.
Hi, greg.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
How are we doing so glad to be here?
Speaker 1 (00:09):
Greg likes to start us with a dad joke, so do you
have one?
Speaker 2 (00:13):
I do, I do.
Actually.
What do you call the line ofguys waiting outside of the
barbershop?
Speaker 1 (00:20):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
A barbecue.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
Very good, Very good.
Today we are going to talkabout we're going to venture to
the dark side of optimism Onthis show.
We talk about a positivemindset.
We talk about how, if you keepshowing up and you keep a
positive mindset, good thingswill happen.
You just have to stay in thegame.
But sometimes it feels likejust stay positive isn't really
(00:49):
enough.
And Greg has a great story.
This one's from the vault.
This one goes all the way backto a family trip we took in 2019
to Breckenridge to go skiing inthe winter, and you've never
shared this.
You haven't shared this withvery many people that are even
close to you, right?
Speaker 2 (01:08):
Yeah, this story is a tad a wee bit embarrassing for
old Greg here, but I'm willingto share it because I think it's
important, because we do alwaystalk about optimism and being
optimistic and going for it, butthere is a negative side to
that.
So we went on this skiing tripand I have never really skied
(01:31):
before.
You've snowboarded.
You know the kids have all rode, you know skateboards, they
have balance, you know, becausethey're kids and they can do
things, but I've just never.
I've always been kind of aclumsy, awkward lad and not
super athletic, but a few yearsago I had long hair.
We got some new Columbia gear.
We looked really cool Like Ilooked like oh my gosh, here
(01:54):
comes a guy who knows how to skior snowboard because he's got
all the gear and we went on thisfamily trip.
It was, wasn't it?
Christmas time?
Speaker 1 (02:05):
Yeah, so it was a surprise Christmas present for
the kids.
They literally woke up, openedtheir presents.
It was suitcases full of snowgear.
We live in southwest Florida soyou know obviously we don't
have snow gear.
So it was all new and we got ona plane that day to go to
Breckenridge for skiing andsnowboarding.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
Yeah.
So we get there and we get onthe lift and go up the gondola
and I remember just like feelinglike gosh, I look like I know
what I'm doing here, you know.
And when we got up there it waslike okay, you guys kind of
went and did some slopes, right,you and Faithy.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
Not, yet we all went over to like the learning slope
the bunny slope.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
Okay, yeah.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
Let me back up just a second For those of you who
don't know Greg personally.
He is 6'3" 6'4" on a goodposture day.
He's tall, he's lanky.
You're not not athletic, you'rejust.
You're just a little clumsy,right.
Like so things like, thingsthat we've done in the past,
(03:17):
like roller skating me, me finemotor skills maybe.
Skiing.
You know these types ofactivities and Greg are like
he's he's got a lot of height,so there's a lot of, like you
know, center of a balance center.
That makes it difficult for him,I think because of your height
(03:41):
you're not low and agile to theground Right, so these types of
activities are tough.
So he did look good.
He looked totally likeeverybody had new gear and I was
jacked because I used tosnowboard all the time in high
school and hadn't really been.
But it's kind of like riding abike, like once you know how to
do it, you just get on it and goand the first couple of runs
(04:01):
might be difficult but thenyou're like ready.
The kids, you're right.
Hoverboards, skateboards, allthe things, they're ready.
Everybody looks the part, youlook the part and for whatever
reason, we decided that you andour son, ben, who was like nine
at the time, would ski and faithand I would snowboard.
I don't know why I didn't putBen on a snowboard and maybe you
(04:23):
would have done better on asnowboard, but you put on skis.
So we all carry our gear overto this like bunny hill and
click in right Like you'd neverreally even know.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
I had no idea how to put the shit on.
I had no idea.
And we're standing around.
I felt like Will Ferrell insome kid movie, where he's like
the big dumbass and like there'sa bunch of little six-year-olds
.
I had no idea what I was doing,and yeah it was.
The ground was literally leveland flat, but I was falling on
my ass and just I couldn't doanything, I couldn't move.
Speaker 1 (04:56):
And then it was like you didn't even know how to like
click into the skis nothinglike okay, so when you click
into skis you put your toes infirst, you kind of stomp your
heel and you're clicked into thebinding.
You're like latched into theski.
Speaker 2 (05:07):
Well, okay, lesson number one we didn't get ski
lessons, that's what I was goingto say is like I looked around
in that moment and thought maybewe should have, like at least I
should have taken lessons for ahalf day or something.
I mean otherwise this is goingto be, but but again, blind
optimism.
I got this, I'm going to dothis.
Speaker 1 (05:26):
Well, and I had blind optimism for you, because I'm
like he doesn't need aprofessional lesson.
I know enough.
I skied before I snowboarded.
I know enough to show you whatto do and you'll get it it's
fine.
It's not that difficult.
Speaker 2 (05:40):
So even on flat ground, I'm falling all over the
place, I can't do anything.
And then I think, after, likesome you know, laughter and
frustration for whatever reasonwe're like, let's go over to the
what do you call?
The next level up from therewas like a place where, like you
, had ropes and this kind of,and it was literally flat.
And then the other one was aslight elevation, the one where
(06:02):
I went to next.
Speaker 1 (06:04):
I don't remember the one with the rope, I just
remember the one where you okay.
So this bunny Hill is not likeyou ride a chair up to a small
like foothill and bunny Hill,this bunny Hill that we're
talking about.
For Greg, I forgot about therope, so I don't I'm.
I'm sorry, I missed that part,but this is like one of those
where you stand on the thing,the motorized little like
(06:26):
treadmill thing, and it pulls itlike runs you up the hill.
So, as you can imagine, it'snot very high, it's not very
steep, you're literally riding abelt.
It takes you to the top.
Speaker 2 (06:38):
It's like a one degree elevation, it's nothing.
Speaker 1 (06:40):
I mean maybe 10, I don't know, 10, 15 degree slope,
I don't, I have no idea if itwas even that much.
It's so not sloped that it'sdifficult when you're a
snowboarder because you can'treally go anywhere Like it's.
You don't have any muchmomentum and most of the people
on that hill were little kidsand they were like zooming by
(07:02):
and Ben and Faith went up andthey zip, zip down.
Speaker 2 (07:05):
It's fine, you know.
It's like okay, now watch olddad.
And then now we've got to likepause this and show the footage
of me right now of what happensnext.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
Yes, if you are listening on a podcast platform,
I go to YouTube.
To go to YouTube.
It will be worth it.
You will laugh.
I know it wasn't funny for youin the moment, greg, but I've
never felt so bad.
I felt really bad for like atfirst, but then I couldn't do
(07:41):
anything but laugh because Icouldn't.
I cannot explain to anyone soyou have to watch the video how
funny it is to see a giant grownass who has fallen on a no
degree slope.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
It looks cool.
Speaker 1 (08:02):
It looks like he knows what he's doing.
Here comes Sean sean white, youknow, and I'm like laying with
his like skis that are also verylong, because you're tall like
tangled up and you can't getthem off and you're trying to
like I would try to like sit upand it would slide out from
under me and, just like I was,like so helpless.
(08:23):
So I'm trying to help you standup and I can't because you're
giant and it would slide outfrom under me and just like I
was like so helpless.
So I'm trying to help you standup and I can't, because you're
a giant and it's awkward andthere's like a little bit of
slope that's enough to make youstart sliding.
And then you're trying to useyour poles to like push the
binding to click your feet outand you can't get that either,
and at some point I just gave inand I couldn't not laugh and it
(08:44):
couldn't stop laughing.
And then that made it worsebecause you were, you were not
laughing at this point, you werepissed oh yeah, it's like the
frustration level and the but.
Speaker 2 (08:54):
But it's funny because, like, you came out and
tried to help me and he liketook one of my my steak.
What are they called?
Poles?
Poles.
You took one of my poles,you're trying to like pull it to
help me up and all you weredoing was like pulling me and I
was just sliding you were like,you were like oh my god a body
(09:16):
that was not able to move Idon't know, why couldn't you
move?
Why?
Speaker 1 (09:19):
couldn't you help yourself at all.
Literally, it was like whycouldn't you move, why couldn't
you help yourself at all?
Speaker 2 (09:23):
Literally.
It was like they threw weekendat Bernies out there, and I was
just like a corpse, just likenothing made sense.
You know, I just couldn't standup, I couldn't, you couldn't
pull me it, just nothing wasworking.
Speaker 1 (09:38):
Let me remind everyone at this point Again,
there was no chairlift, therewas like very little slope.
We're laying almost on flatground.
So wait, was there?
Okay, we're going to have topull the video footage because
and we should have before westarted talking but wasn't there
(09:58):
also a moment where you find it, oh God, you finally did get
going and you were going likethree miles per hour because
there's no slope.
You like tucked your poles.
Speaker 2 (10:12):
Like I'm going off the black diamond or something.
Oh my God.
Speaker 1 (10:16):
It was so funny.
Somebody ran into the orangefence, was it you?
Did you also run?
Speaker 2 (10:23):
into the orange fence at the end, I think so, oh my
god, it's just too much it's toomuch and I was scared, you know
also the whole time, the wholetime of like running over a kid
or like smashing over somebodylittle.
Just you know it's just such ahazard it's a lot of mass to be
(10:43):
out of control, and so I'venever shared that story or put
any pictures or videos up onsocial media or anything, just
because it's quite embarrassingthat I'm, that it's just that
unavailable for me to stand upon skis so I think that's the
definition of blind optimism,the belief that everything will
(11:05):
kind of magically work withoutputting any thought behind it,
without any action or practice,or I'll just show up looking
cool.
Speaker 1 (11:16):
Well, you looked the part, that's for sure.
It was kind of like hope in aside of delusion A lot of
delusion, a lot of delusion.
Well, thank you for beingvulnerable and sharing that.
I haven't laughed so hard in acouple of weeks.
That really just brought me outof my little funk that I've
been in because recalling thatmoment and I'm sure when we go
(11:37):
back through, yeah.
I'm good.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
I'm good, just putting all the raw footage in
here of because, bia, your momrecorded the whole thing and
she's just laughing her ass off.
Which, yeah, and afterwards itwas like, after all of that, I
was like I'm just going to gointo the, into the lodge, and
just drink coffee and you guyshave fun, don't I'm done?
Yeah, and just drink coffee andyou guys have fun, don't I'm
(12:03):
done.
Yeah, you did, it's like don'tlet me ruin your day, but this
is not my jam.
Speaker 1 (12:11):
Which is a bummer because I wish it were or maybe
next time like okay, here'swhere like-.
Speaker 2 (12:16):
I'll go take lessons Like healthy optimism is okay, I
can do this, but I'm also gonnaplan.
Speaker 1 (12:22):
I'm gonna put like a plan in place and take action on
that plan so that this doesn'thappen again.
And that's exactly what we'retalking about.
Like being blindly optimisticin that case is just ends up
being a funny story and that'sgreat.
But sometimes it can be reallydangerous because you're
ignoring red flags, you'reignoring potential things that
(12:43):
could be a detriment to yourexistence, right?
If we start talking aboutthings that are more serious in
life, like relationships orbusiness or finances, you kind
of have this false sense ofreality.
When it comes to blind optimism, you delay the problem, you
think you can will your waythrough it.
(13:05):
Or you know, we talk a lot aboutvision boards or envisioning
things or manifesting.
Those things all come with aplan.
Those are all things that youenvision, you dream about, and
they are like an end game, anend goal for you to then back
out of and go okay, what are thesteps that I need to take?
(13:25):
What is the action that I needto take to get there in order to
actually achieve those things?
They don't just like happenbecause I put them on my vision
board.
You know, five years later, allof a sudden, I'm not going to
be releasing a book because Iput it on my vision board.
It's been five years of laborand tears and sleepless nights
(13:46):
and working lots and lots ofhours.
And that's just one example oflike something.
For me personally, that didn'tjust happen because I think like
, oh well, I'll just manifest it, that's not what that means
Newsflash.
That's not what manifesting isor what it means.
You can't just decide you wantsomething and then you manifest
(14:09):
it and it just shows up.
So other potential dangers ofblind optimism and I have fallen
into this trap myself is kindof this delayed problem solving
idea.
What do you mean idea?
So what do you mean?
Well, like kind of waiting fora sign, so like red flag, red
flag, red flag, the writing's onthe wall.
(14:35):
But before I take action, I amkind of waiting on this sign
that'll tell me, hey, it's, it'stime to make a change.
Or hey, you've got to pivot alittle bit.
And I think that that just isbecause it's extremely
uncomfortable to recognize whensomething isn't working out the
way that you want it to.
And it's kind of maybe it's notexactly what blind optimism is,
but it's kind of like.
It's kind of like its cousin,right, like this idea that like,
(14:56):
okay, things aren't working theway that I want.
But rather than giving up onthat idea, I'm waiting for
something to really tell me thatit's, it's for real not going
to happen.
Right, like some sign.
That's going to be the momentwhen I realized, like, okay,
I've got to do somethingdifferent.
Speaker 2 (15:12):
Yeah, I think another thing in in life it's it's like
this delusion that that that wehave, like the other one, is
like fighting, like before wedid any fight, training like
jujitsu or kickboxing, sparringyou have this false sense of
like, oh, I would just get realmad and punch somebody.
(15:34):
But there's this reality checkthat when you actually go
through the practicing of doingit, the sparring, the rolling,
you realize like, oh my God, Iwould get destroyed if I was
doing, if I was finding someonethat knew what they were doing.
So it's like that same kind ofoptimism of like I can just ski,
(15:56):
I'll just rent the skis and Ican just go do it.
I'll just go buy a drum set andthen I'll get some sticks and
dress up like a rock star andI'll be able to do it.
And it's like you know there'sthe other element here in all of
these equations, is like yougot to do the work.
Yeah, you got to do the actualstuff.
That's not sexy.
And like I'd have to gopractice these things.
(16:18):
I have to practice skiing andhave someone show me how to
throw a jab across and a rolland a hook.
You know, like you're not justgoing to get mad and throw a
haymaker and you might get luckyand land that thing, but like
if someone knew what to do, theywould grab you and throw in the
ground and you'd be in an armbar.
Speaker 1 (16:36):
Yeah, that's a great point, that's a great like
example, because I think that'sour ego that jumps in and goes I
can handle it.
And, on a more serious note, asa female, martial arts training
has taught me that if I everwere in a situation where I were
being attacked prior to this, Ireally wouldn't have known what
(16:57):
to do.
My ego might have told me Iwould be able to get out of it.
I'm strong, I'm tough, I'mstrong, I'm tough, I'm smart.
And I'm not saying that thistraining now would equip me to
be able to get out of asituation like that with no,
absolutely no, no doubt.
But I definitely feel like I amin a in a better situation
because of this training to nowknow what to do or at least have
(17:19):
a fighting chance.
Not just blindly assume thatwell, if it happens, I'll know
what to do or at least have afighting chance, not just
blindly assume that, well, if ithappens, I'll know what to do.
So back to that whole thing ofit can be a major detriment to
ignore potential situations thatcould be dangerous for you by
being blindly optimistic andthen, the fighting and the
training like that is definitelyis definitely like a big one
(17:41):
for me to as I reflect on that.
Other ones are, like you know,when it comes to like budgeting.
Right now we are budgeting.
I hate the word budget more nowthan I ever have in my entire
life because I have to focus onit and I don't like it and it's
like really annoying to look atit and go, okay, where are we
spending money?
Where do we need to cut what'snecessary, what's not?
(18:02):
Yada, yada, yada.
But here's the thing Like it'sbetter to go through these
things and analyze them andreally have a grasp on where
things are now, before thingsstart to accumulate and you get
each other and go, well, whatthe hell happened?
How did that get out of control?
How did we not see where wewere spending so much money on
(18:23):
eating out or shopping orwhatever the case may be?
Right Before you're like, oh myGod, I just blindly
optimistically thought that,well, it's not that bad until it
gets bad.
And that is the loop that we allfall into, and we fall into
that loop with people too, right?
So this idea that someoneyou're in a relationship with,
(18:45):
your spouse, your, yourboyfriend, what?
Whatever your partner like,well, they'll change.
Things will change eventually.
Like we're we're just gettingused to each other.
And it's like back to what yousaid.
It's not really about that.
It's about recognizing what'shappening because you're aware
of it, and instead of just kindof looking past it and waiting
for the dreamy rainbows andlollipops setting to to come
(19:09):
into play.
It's like, well, there's workto be done here, like there's
some storm clouds that we got towork through and cover from and
figure out it.
You're right, it's the not sexystuff.
But here's what is sexy Havinga plan B, having an awareness to
like, what am I going to do ifmy plan doesn't work out the way
(19:30):
that I am manifesting it to orthe way that I'm blindly
optimistically planning for itto happen?
Your plan B in Breckenridge waswell shit.
Speaker 2 (19:41):
I didn't have a plan B.
I was going to ski all day.
Speaker 1 (19:43):
So now I'm going to go sit in the lodge begrudgingly
right, because you didn't havea plan B.
So, yes, that was plan B bydefault, but if now you went and
we did this again, you wouldplan in a different way, right?
Speaker 2 (19:59):
I'd be the video, I'd be the camera guy for the day.
Speaker 1 (20:04):
Well, maybe you'd have a couple.
Y'all have fun.
Speaker 2 (20:06):
I'll bring my backpack with snacks.
Speaker 1 (20:10):
Well, but what you would bring is maybe an open
attitude to learn.
So maybe you would try lessonsin this case next time.
Or you would already go knowinglike this isn't for me, this is
for my family, but I'm going tobe here in the lodge to do
those things to video, to havesnacks, and I'm going to bring
my laptop and I'm going to workon music, or I'm going to bring
(20:30):
a book and I'm going to read bythe fireplace or whatever the
case may be, like a plan B.
Plan B is really important whenyou're talking about those
things that could be dangerousor that could be severe in your
life, that you're maybeoverlooking out of ego, out of
lack of awareness, out ofcompletely dismissing it as even
being an option.
Speaker 2 (20:50):
Yeah, well, and just being real here, it's quite a
superpower to be able to have ashit sandwich thrown in your lap
and an absolute disaster, stormfinancially, come into your
life and a bunch of tragedy, andbe able to blind,
(21:11):
optimistically, look at it andgo we're going to get through
this, and be able to like suckit up and go, do it and like
believe in yourself so much thatyou feel like I don't care what
the world throws at me, I'mgoing to make this shit happen.
So that also lives in me.
But it's just knowing when it'sappropriate to harness that
(21:33):
superpower and when it'sappropriate to be more even
about it and realistic about itand be like, well, maybe I can't
go climb Everest withouttraining, or maybe I do have to
train before I go run a marathon.
You know, I'm not a bionicsuperhuman.
You know I do have to put inthe work, you know, and it's
like it's it's it's like anawareness of understanding and
(21:56):
the only way you ever do is likepay attention to your life and
be like, okay, in thesesituations I really, in this
situation, I really did fall onmy ass and I couldn't get back
up.
You know, I basically plundereddown this 1% grade hill to the
bottom where there's like littlesix-year-old girls looking at
(22:17):
me laughing at me.
Speaker 1 (22:17):
You know what I mean.
Speaker 2 (22:18):
Like it's just like that, like that's you know, next
time take lessons.
Speaker 1 (22:24):
Yeah, yeah, well, and that's a great segue into a few
actionable ways to stay oncourse without falling into the
blind optimism trap.
And you said it reality checkyourself.
Like ask yourself what are thethings, what are the steps that
I need to take to actually makethis happen?
We are all about dreaming big.
(22:46):
I am all about manifesting andvision board and the law of
attraction and going for whatyou want.
That's how big, fun, amazingthings happen in your life and
if they don't, you learnsomething and you pivot and you
go again.
But you have to have a plan ofaction.
Optimism should be fuel so,like you're saying, knowing when
(23:07):
to channel that but itshouldn't like replace action.
It should be fuel for action.
And if you can't map out a plan, maybe you have to kind of
rethink your approach and pivotand figure out what will work to
get me closer to that end goal,not just jump out of the plane
and hope that a parachute willautomatically appear on your
(23:27):
back Right.
Speaker 2 (23:28):
Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1 (23:31):
The second thing, after kind of the reality check
and awareness, is to use thehope plus proof formula.
So great to believe in apositive outcome, but a lot of
times it's great to have someevidence, like it's great to
look at past experiences of yourown.
(23:51):
It's great to look at, maybe,some experiences of other people
that you can learn from books,podcasts, data, expert, expert
advice that will help you makeinformed decisions.
Speaker 2 (24:05):
Yeah, about what's possible yeah.
Speaker 1 (24:07):
About what's possible without just kind of crossing
your fingers, putting on theoutfit and saying I hope this
works.
Yeah, On that note, I will saythat there is something about
putting on the outfit Like thisis kind of a little sidebar here
, but like if I dress the part.
Speaker 2 (24:25):
That's half of it.
Speaker 1 (24:26):
That's half of it.
Like you did the right thing indressing the part because it
does give you this kind of likesense of confidence that like,
okay, this is what I'm doing.
Like, whatever it is, if I'mgoing to be a fighter, I'm
dressing the part wrapped up,gloves on, mouth guard in.
I feel more powerful in thatway.
If you're going to be a skier,the outfit right.
(24:48):
If you're going to do thosethings, it is fun to dress the
part because it does give you asense of confidence, but
sometimes it can be slightly afalse sense of confidence.
So you definitely have to havesome evidence to support the
actions that you're taking.
And the third thing that willhelp you stay away from the
(25:08):
blind optimism trap is that planB what if?
A, what if plan don't fear abackup plan and, instead of
assuming that everything willwork out, ask yourself what's my
plan if it doesn't?
So, if you have an alternative,it doesn't mean that you don't
believe in your ability toachieve what you're set out to
do.
It doesn't mean that you don'tbelieve in success.
(25:30):
It just means you're preparedfor anything.
And it means that you'reopen-minded enough to say if
this doesn't work out, I'm notgoing to be ruined.
I'm going to know that Ilearned something.
I'm going to take that and storeit in my internal experience
data folder and reference it toknow what to do next time.
Speaker 2 (25:51):
Yeah, I'm all about the idea of like living life in
a way of where you're just likeburn the boats, like we're here,
we're doing this, we don't needboats anymore.
Let's go and I know you are.
But but yes, you're right, andthat's what you're saying here
is the idea that, like I can'tlose here, because I'm either
going to win or I'm going tolearn, there's no losing.
(26:12):
So you know, and you can applythat to anything.
It's just where I would lose isif I would go back to
Breckenridge, dress the part,not take lessons and go flinging
down the side again, becausenow, for some reason, I feel
like I've manifested thesepowers of skiing and I think
that's probably the mistakepeople make is like, well, this
(26:33):
business failed.
I didn't really contemplate whyit failed.
I'll blame the market orsomeone else, or I had a bad
business partner.
I'll try it again.
I'll blame the market orsomeone else, or I had a bad
business partner.
I'll try it again.
I'll fail again, but I didn'treally fix the thing that needed
fixed, which was I needed toactually have good lead sources
and good reoccurring generatingbusiness, or whatever the reason
is.
I'm just using that as anexample.
(26:54):
But like, you got to learnsomething from your losses, or
else it is just a loss and it'snot benefiting you in some way.
You know Right.
Speaker 1 (27:02):
Well, and a lot of times people double down when it
has failed and you feel like,well, I'm going to do this again
because of some external sourcecausing me to fail and I'm
going to double down on myefforts.
And that's not always the rightanswer either.
I think that comes with justmaturity and awareness and being
able to ask yourself hardquestions, because it's not easy
(27:23):
to look yourself in the mirrorand say what was my part in this
failure?
What was my part in why thisdidn't work?
I wanted it so bad, Imanifested it, I positively
visualized it happening, all thethings.
It's hard to then go, but mydeficiency was that I didn't
have a plan.
I didn't take action on thosesteps as part of the plan.
(27:47):
That's where it can be verychallenging and it can also be
very dangerous.
Speaker 2 (27:53):
Something to really think about and evaluate in your
own life of, like, who's inyour circle, who are you
listening to, who's feeding yourinformation?
Because when you talk about thebudget, you got to have some
conflicting information to whatyou feel.
So if it's left up to me and mycrazy blind optimism, I'm just
(28:14):
going to push through andbelieve that I can make it
happen, but it's almost like Ihave to have someone else in
that mix going.
Well, hold on a second.
Let's be realistic with thesenumbers.
If it doesn't, where are wegoing to be here in two years,
three years Checks?
Speaker 1 (28:30):
and balances.
Speaker 2 (28:31):
Checks and balances.
It's easy to get into a tunnelvision when your social media
feed just reinforces everythingthat you already believe,
because it's the algorithmfeeding you more to keep you on
the app.
That's dangerous, because thenit's you're not really getting
anything, that's.
And then when you get somethinginto your orb that's different
(28:52):
than what you truly feel or howyou're like uh, I don't like
that, I want more of, I wantmore sugar.
I want more sugar, you know,and it like you do need some
counterbalance to to keepyourself sharp and growing and
going in the right direction.
Otherwise, you're just gonnayou're not going to keep growing
.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (29:12):
You're going to stay stuck and then you're going to
be frustrated and then pissedoff.
Really.
I mean it's like perpetuallypissed when you can't figure out
how to get out of this loop ofbeing stuck because you keep
making the same decisions overand over and over again, whether
they're driven by blindoptimism or toxic positivity or
whatever the case may be.
But yeah so optimism is great.
(29:35):
If you're new here, please knowthat we are like all.
For all of these positivethings and a positive mindset
can take you very, very far, butreality checks, counter checks
from other people in your lifethat you can trust.
Evidence can keep you fromallowing it to become
self-sabotage.
And so what I'm not saying islike don't do anything big or
(29:59):
try anything new.
Please try big things and dreambig and do new things and
challenge yourself every singleday.
But just check your parachute.
Make sure it's on before youjump out of the plane, because
it is not likely to magicallyappear.
So stay hopeful, keep a littledose of reality and realism in
(30:20):
your approach, and remember thatpositive thinking works best
when you have a plan of actionand you hold to it.
Thanks so much for joining us.
We have new episodes everyWednesday where we talk about
life's challenges, we talk aboutmindset, we share personal
stories and stories of ourguests, so we do hope that you
will join us again.
(30:41):
You can find more at CameoElise Braun on Instagram or at
my website, cameoelisebrauncom.
Until next time.
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