Optimism as an Act of Resistance

Summer isn't the best time to launch a consulting business. I knew that. I did it anyway.

Because the right moment doesn't really exist. There's only the moment when you decide that what you carry deserves to exist in the world.

Over the past few weeks, I've been sending messages, presenting services, reaching out. And there are doors that don't open. "Maybe in the fall." Silences. Timing that doesn't match.

I know that feeling. You've been preparing something for a long time. You believe in what you do. And the world just hasn't caught on yet.

So you have a choice. Close the doors yourself before someone else does it for you. Or decide that you're onto something real, and keep moving forward.

I chose to keep moving.

Closed doors. And then, the light on the other side. Photo : Christian Wiediger / Unsplash

What the EQ-i 2.0 Says About This

In the EQ-i 2.0 emotional intelligence model, optimism is defined as the ability to maintain a positive attitude in the face of adversity. Not a surface-level attitude. A stable inner stance that allows you to keep taking action even when results aren't there yet.

What's particularly interesting in this model is that optimism doesn't exist in isolation. It's deeply connected to other emotional competencies — self-awareness, flexibility, stress tolerance. It's an ecosystem. We don't develop optimism in a vacuum; we build it by strengthening what surrounds it.

And that changes everything. Because it confirms that optimism isn't reserved for naturally positive people. It's a skill. It can be worked on. It can be chosen.

Optimism as an Act of Resistance

There's something I want to name, because I don't think it gets said enough.

In a world that accumulates bad news, that polarizes, that exhausts — choosing optimism is political. It's an act of resistance.

Optimism as an act of resistance. Displayed. Owned Photo : Annie Spratt / Unsplash

Staying oriented toward possibility when everything pushes toward cynicism is refusing to give power to those who want to see us collapse. It's believing, despite everything, that we can have a positive impact on what's happening around us.

And we can only have that impact if we keep that flame alive.

Not naively. Not by closing our eyes to what isn't working. But by choosing, every day, not to let the weight of the world extinguish what we carry.

That's grounded optimism. Solid. Resistant.

What if it were the most subversive skill of our time?

I invite you to leave a comment or subscribe to the newsletter to continue this conversation.

Rachel

What if you explored, too, the lens you choose?

¹ EQ-i 2.0, Multi-Health Systems — modèle d'intelligence émotionnelle utilisé par Rachel Boutin Consultante.

Photo credits : Christian Wiediger / Unsplash — Annie Spratt / Unsplash