Monday, February 23, 2009

There's a name for that

I’ve always known that I’m an introvert (INFJ for you MBTI fans). Runs in my family. I wouldn’t characterize myself as a worrier, but it might be fair to call me an overthinker. I often find myself, especially at work, running things through over and over in my mind. “What about…?” “What if…?” Running through every possible scenario, trying to get things worked out just right ahead of time. So while it may seem that I’m slow to change, the truth is not that I don’t like change, it’s that I want to do it right…the first time, preferably. Unfortunately, what happens sometimes is that I get so overwhelmed trying to figure everything out that I freeze up, feeling like I can’t do anything. That’s when I have to calm myself down, take a deep breath, and just work on what I can.

Now, thanks to the insightful people at O Magazine, I’’ve discovered I’m not an overthinker. No indeed, what I am is (are you ready?) a defensive pessimist.

According to this article, "Defensive pessimists…prepare for a situation by setting low expectations for themselves, then follow up with a very detailed assessment of everything that may go wrong." Once they've imagined the full range of bad outcomes, they start figuring out how they'll handle them, and that gives them a sense of control.”

The article goes on to say that defensive pessimists are often very successful because they use the planning as a tool to prepare for every outcome, including failure. And my favorite quote: "Research shows that if you pressure defensive pessimists into being optimistic, or try to manipulate their mood, their performance deteriorates.” So shove off, all you Pollyannas, I’m pessimizing here!

Actually, all things being equal, I really consider myself an optimist, but it’s nice to know that my overheated little brain might actually be doing me some good.

For further reading:

The Introvert Advantage
Learned Optimism
The Art of Possibility

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