“Half-Full or Half-Empty?” is the Wrong Question

Forget about liberal and conservative; if you really want to stir the pot, call someone a pessimist.

I recently shared the benefits of being optimistic, and the response it generated was fascinating. I enjoyed these creative takes:

“The glass is always full… don’t forget about the air inside.”

“Not only is the glass half-empty; it’s the wrong beverage!!”

“It doesn’t matter if the glass is half-full or half-empty; the glass is refillable.”

And then there’s this one from an engineer: “A pessimist sees the container as half-empty; an optimist sees it as half-full. An engineer sees that the container is twice the size that is needed.”

It turns out that the labels “optimism” and “pessimism” are like the concept of “life balance” — everyone has a different definition of what it looks like, and a strong opinion of whether it’s possible at all.

No one likes to admit they are a pessimist. So they call themselves realists instead. In my experience, self-proclaimed “realists” are quite good at telling you why something might not work, but less effective at sharing examples of how it might go better than expected.

To be fair, I’ve always been suspicious of people who seem almost too optimistic, in the Lego Movie’s “Everything is Awesome” sort of way. A vital component of creativity is the ability to look for problems, then work to find positive solutions.

The hidden danger of optimism is letting your assumption that everything will work out prevent you from trying to get better. On the other hand, pessimism feels like a synonym for Adultitis, so I can see the vitriol against it as a label. 

So let’s put labels aside in favor of a few things that are really real:

1. “Optimist” and “idiot” are not synonyms.
2. Being an optimist does not preclude one from identifying weaknesses and potential roadblocks.
3. Seeing a flaw in a plan or identifying a reason why something might not work doesn’t make you a pessimist.
4. It is not “realistic” to assume a plan will work out without any hiccups, setbacks, or wrong turns.
5. It’s also not “realistic” to assume there will only be hiccups, setbacks, and wrong turns.

We should all strive to be realists. But a true realist would acknowledge that things might go worse than we hoped, and they may also go better than expected. Failing to imagine a successful outcome or a better way forward is a lack of hope and a form of pride, believing one can see all possible scenarios.

It’s easy to get lost in the weeds, arguing over labels and definitions, and justifying why our point of view is best. Most importantly, whether you label your worldview as optimistic, pessimistic, or realistic…is it helping?

Is it moving you forward, or getting you to stop?

When optimism becomes a form of laziness that believes everything will be fine without you having to put in any effort whatsoever, that’s a problem.

Equally troublesome is when pessimism turns you into not just someone who sees the glass half empty, but a person who gives up and encourages others to give up, too.

Worst of all is giving ourselves the label “realist” to sound smart while providing cover for throwing in the towel.

Screw the labels. Here’s the question that matters: what do you do when you uncover a reason your plan might not work or encounter a setback that threatens defeat?

What then?

If you stop, that’s a problem.

Is it half full, or half empty? Our default tendency to assume the best or the worst in a given situation might be out of our control.

But that matters less than whether we let it make us stop or keep moving forward.

Don’t make being realistic the same as giving up. 

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☕ When was a time you refused to give up and transformed a setback or a potential pitfall into a win?