Is it Always better to be 'Realistic'?

Seeing another person succeed is inspiring to me. My latest form of inspiration came from my friend Steven Perry. Steven has tried and failed at a lot of different things over the past year (which is a key part in finding your way in life). But recently, Steven has found success in making people laugh. One of his most recent Instagram videos hit over 10,000 views in less than 24hrs. Steven has found his own way of connecting with and positively impacting people. His recent success inspired me to ask myself; “How can I do the same, in my own way?”

The Elevate brand has done a great job of inspiring, encouraging and motivating others. However, I wanted to take things a step further and personally connect my content with people. With this in mind I decided to conduct an experiment. I posted a poll on my Instagram story asking my followers a thought-provoking question and then encouraged them to dm me explaining why they voted the way that they did. My theory was that people would want to share their point of view and also hear those of others. It was my hope that this would lead to deep conversations and ultimately each person, myself included, would walk away with a slightly different perspective than they had before. I was right.

So what was this thought-provoking concept that we discussed? I asked my supporters if it is always best to be realistic.

A lot of great points were made on both sides. But to me, the most surprising part is how many different ways the question was interpreted. It seemed that everyone had a different idea of what “being realistic” meant. The first two points of view were responses that I expected. Some saw “being realistic” as a way of protecting yourself from disappointment. The idea was that if you set your goals too high, you would fail to reach them and end up disappointed. Others saw being realistic as a trap that kept people from reaching their potential. They believed that being realistic meant forcing yourself to settle for less than you’re capable of. But there was also another point of view that really surprised me.

This group saw “being realistic” as a source of motivation. Their view was that being realistic meant understanding that you can achieve anything but only if you were willing to do the work that’s required. They believe that being realistic meant creating a well-thought-out plan of how you’re going to achieve your goal. Not being disciplined and committed to the plan expecting things to happen on their own was the only thing that this group viewed as being unrealistic.

So whats my point of view?

Well whenever I hear someone say “be realistic”, its often used as another way of saying “Don’t set your goals so high” or “You can’t achieve that”. So to me, “being realistic” essentially means “settle”, which I am very much against. Therefore, I definitely agree with the second group. I would certainly rather set my goals too high and get to my full potential while trying to reach them than to aim low and leave some of my potential untapped. With that said, I also think that the last group is right. Dreaming big isn’t enough. You must have a plan for how you’re going to get there and you also have to stay committed putting in the work that’s required. To think that you can achieve your dream without doing the necessary work would be unrealistic.

So is it always better to be realistic? How you answer this question all depends on how you interpret it. But I think Sammantha Au (@Sammjau) summed things up beautifully when she said, “Anything is realistic if you’re willing to work for it.”

Thank you for taking the time to read this article. Feel free to follow my Instagram to participate in these conversations and share your point of view in future discussions (@DedicatedAustin). Also, because I’m going to be consistently asking questions like these, I figure I should have a name for them (Ex. Austin Asks, Dedicated Q’s, etc). Please feel free to send me a dm or email (DedicatedAustin@gmail.com) with name suggestions. Thank you!

Austin