Assume there will be many challenges
A useful mental model is to expect a large number of difficulties in any real endeavour. Crossing them then feels like progress, not betrayal. Optimism and skepticism both have a job.
A good mental model for any real endeavour is to assume there will definitely be a large number of challenges, say a hundred, even if you cannot name them yet. When you cross one, you are closer to the goal, and the mind registers progress. If you assume there will be none, every obstacle feels like proof that something is uniquely wrong with you or with the project, and unhappiness follows for the wrong reason.
That stance pairs with a mix of optimism and skepticism. Optimism is needed for faith that factors beyond control can still turn favorable enough for the work to continue. Skepticism is needed so we keep assessing whether we are on the right track at all. Either alone is a trap: pure optimism becomes denial; pure skepticism becomes paralysis. Durable work seems to live in the tension between them.
From X
Derived from posts on X as devendrasm: