For most of my life, I’ve been a cynic.

Cynicism had crept its way into so much of my thinking over the years, that those around me could practically smell it wafting off of me like garlic the moment I walked into the room.

Fortunately, Shaan Puri had a remedy.

If you’ve never heard of Shaan, he’s an entrepreneur, investor and co-host of the wildly successful podcast My First Million.

Earlier this year, I had an opportunity to work alongside Shaan (and his partner-in-crime Ben Levy) on a small project.

What immediately stood out to me about the two of them was their enthusiasm, positivity and overall happiness.

As a copywriter, I’ve worked with hundreds of founders, CEOs and entrepreneurs. Those who’ve managed to be both successful and happy are a rarity I’d liken to a bear riding a motorcycle.

One day, Shaan clued me into some of his thinking by sharing the following Shaan-ism with me…

“

Cynics get to be right. Optimists get to be rich.

“

While it took a couple of months to set in, that line converted me from a cynic to an optimist. Let me explain why.

Grizzly bears in the wild average a kill rate of about 10%. A Grizzly can run 35 mph, lift up to 700 lbs and bite down with a mouthful of daggers at a force six times more powerful than that of a humans.

Yet, despite these incredible statistics, a Grizzly goes home with no dinner 90% of the time.

Unfortunately, for Grizzlies, they don’t have the luxury of being cynical. Why? Because if Grizzlies were cynical, they wouldn't hunt; and if they didn’t hunt, they would starve.

To think you and I are better at what we do than Grizzlies are at what they do is preposterous. So, it’s safe to assume we will experience a similar success rate as Grizzlies: 90% of the opportunities we chase after will likely result in a wiff of some kind.

We have the choice to view this statistic as a cynic or an optimist.

90% of the time the cynics eating popcorn on the sidelines who were “smart enough” to sit out the game get to be right. They get to laugh at the optimists as we fumble the ball, suffer turf burns and eat shit.

However, the 10% of the time we optimists score our way to massive amounts of success, the cynics don’t get to be a part of that. They don’t get to hold the trophy, split the winnings nor pop the champagne because they were too cynical to play the game.

Cynics get to be right. Optimists get to be rich. Not just financially but mentally, emotionally and spiritually.

By Cole Schafer

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