Be realistic: Path to failure
Feb 22, 2016 08:06 am | Robert Rubinstein

Whenever I have tried to do something that gives me energy or seems to be my passion, it often challenges the status quo. The most widely repeated comment that I hear from colleagues and relations is “BE REALISTIC. Don’t bother. It won’t work. Too hard. System too entrenched. It will never fly. You need to be realistic.”

WHY SHOULD WE BE REALISTIC?

Did being REALISTIC help Steve Jobs building Apple when Microsoft and IBM dominated the pc market or Nokia owned the mobile phone industry? Elon Musk could have save him a lot of time if he was only REALISTIC and not start an electric car company, after all others failed. Barrack Obama was not realistic when he went up against Hillary Clinton for the nomination, and was elected twice and proved that “Yes we can” was not realistic. If only Gandhi had been realistic with his civil disobedience, he might have gotten somewhere other than independence for India. If only Aung San Suu Kyi had listened to reason, her party wouldn’t have won the first free and  fair elections with 86 percent of the seats in the Assembly of the Union , well more than the 67 percent supermajority needed. Pity. Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David  were totally unrealistic making a tv show (Seinfeld) about absolutely nothing. Then Larry David went on to make another show (Curb Your Enthusiasm) that was even more pointless, namely a show about the minutiae of daily life, with no script.

Do yourself a favour. Don’t be realistic. Laugh at those who laugh at your ideas. Tell them. Are your living your dream or your nightmare? I plan to remain unrealistic and fill this world with authenticity, balance, love, and humour. That is being realistic.