I was recently working on a project to load some old doors and shelving into the back of our SUV to drop off at the refuse center. The individual helping me said, “we’re not going to fit all of this in here.” My response was, “yes, we will!”

I am convinced that our attitude toward obstacles in our life is the key determining factor of our ability to overcome what is in our way. Do we view obstacles as a reason to give up and go in another direction or as a challenge that can be solved?

We are in the midst of a blog series discussing values-based decision making, and we’re taking a look at our core values here at Master’s. Today we are looking at our core value – Optimism. We describe optimism as “believing that with the right combination of consistent effort, planning and faith we will achieve positive outcomes.”

Why is optimism important to us as financial advisors? We approach each client situation from the prospective of how can we help make your dreams and desires a reality. We look at all of the stuff sitting on the driveway, so to speak, and make a concerted effort to arrange it just right so that everything can fit into the back of the car. There are times when we need to face the reality that it just won’t fit, but we only come to that conclusion when we have looked at every angle and explored every possibility.

We fully believe that to have appropriate optimism, there needs to be a combination of effort, planning, and faith. Of course, because we don’t know the future, effort and planning can only take us so far. The faith component is trusting that whatever our future holds we will experience a positive outcome. Our trust in a God that promises victory even in death is our greatest reason for optimism. So no matter what we face, we are confident that with the right combination of effort, planning, and faith we will be victorious.

How has optimism helped you overcome an obstacle in your life?