Optimism vs Wishful Thinking

I’ve been thinking recently about the division between optimism and wishful thinking.

Optimism is essential, but wishful thinking can be dangerous.

Lets say you’re working on a project, and you believe it has the potential to have a big impact. At what point does optimism give way to wishful thinking?

This is where metrics and planning become important.

If I wanted to be a movie star in the next year, without taking any proactive steps to make that a reality, then that is pure wishful thinking. But if I was taking ten auditions in the next month, and thought I’d get a role out of it - then that’s optimism.