The Stockdale Paradox

John Stockdale was imprisoned in the infamous Hanoi Hilton for eight years, suffered appalling treatment, continuous torture, isolation etc...
His answer to this question is very enlightening.

Finally I asked, “Who didn’t make it out?”
“Oh, that’s easy,” he said. “The optimists.”

“The optimists? I don’t understand,” I said, now completely confused given what he’d said earlier.

“The optimists. Oh, they were the ones who said, ‘We’re going to be out by Christmas.’ And Christmas would come, and Christmas would go. Then they’d say, ‘We’re going to be out by Easter.’ And Easter would come, and Easter would go. And then Thanksgiving, and then it would be Christmas again. And they died of a broken heart. This is a very important lesson. You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end–-which you can never afford to lose–-with the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be.”

‘The Stockdale Paradox states that you have to have faith that you will prevail in the end, regardless of the difficulties, and at the same time, must confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be.’

Accept the problem.
Assert that we will prevail.
Find our own personal coping methods.
Have belief in ourselves.
Meditate.

Dave x
Jazzer

 

Wow... That's deep.

I'm gonna read that a few times.

Thanks Jazzer... Perfectly suits our situation.

Take care.