Being an optimist doesn’t mean you have to be ill prepared for challenges.
But on the flip side, spending 100% of your time dwelling on the worst-case scenario is a bad place to be.
Some percentage (usually pretty high) of the worst-case scenarios never occur. But when you spend all your time worrying about something that never happens, you subject yourself to undue misery. In the situations where it does occur, you have subjected yourself to the emotional pain twice.
You also don’t want to completely ignore a potential situation such that you are caught unprepared. So, focusing on it from the standpoint of understanding how to address it should it occur is important. But once you’ve developed your plan, you should pivot away from thinking about it any further.
Plan for the worst but hope for the best. Live your life on the positive side of the equation.