An Unlikely Pair: Idealist Or Pragmatist?

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:00:23

Welcome to Blank pages, the podcast. A podcast for people who appreciate the new beginnings of a clean slate, but strive for the courage, willingness, curiosity, and creativity available only on the blank pages of new possibilities. It's the potential to move beyond, move forward, where people are willing to make new decisions from fresh perspectives and are ready to write in a much better way. The world is waiting, and nothing listens better than a blank piece of paper. So welcome to the show. This is episode numero 28. So I'm glad you're joining me here today. I have a cool topic.

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:01:04

Can't wait to get into this. It's about being an idealist or a pragmatist, right? The difference versus. But. Or better yet, what about the unlikely pairing of the two, right? Like you have, you pair, you make a pairing of wine and cheese. Like there's pairings, right? So, ooh, what about the unlikely pairing of idealistic and pragmatistic? Or pragmatist, whatever it is, what is the way? So anyways, you have an idealist and a pragmatist. You can be idealistic or pragmatic. So I'm excited about this because I hope it just opens up a can of worms in everybody's life to maybe look at this a little bit better and a little different. But before we get into it, what I want to do is thank you for subscribing to the show, those of you who have done so, and for listening to the show, thank you for giving me your ears weekly.

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:01:55

I appreciate it. And hopefully your minds and hopefully you see that I care about you. Hopefully I can add value to you, and hopefully you can trust the things that I'm saying and sharing with you. So, but thank you for doing that. And if you haven't subscribed to the show, you can do it at Apple Podcast, you can do it Spotify and under podcasts, or you can go to Amazon music. It's there. And other podcast platforms. There's so many out there, but I'm pretty much anywhere you can find me.

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:02:21

Just look up bl space and K and then space, P space, ges. Basically spell blank pages without the a's. Okay. And you will find it quickly. And then also, I want to let you know, if you go to my instagram account, you can click on the bio link there, and in there you can find resources such as the one that I'm going to share about today that will be available to you to help you find out. Are you more of an idealist or a pragmatist? Right? And then with that, how you take those and take that information and put it to work. So it's going to be pretty cool. But there are other cool resources there.

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:02:58

There's a newsletter also that you could subscribe to that just keeps you in up to date with what I've been doing and sharing and then where I'm going next. And it's just monthly, once a month. And I will not, I promise you, I will not overwhelm your inbox. Okay? That will be the deal. If you join, I promise I will not overwhelm your inbox. And thank you. I appreciate you for signing up already. For those of you who'll do it, um, today I did a cool thing.

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:03:24

I got to read to some little peeps and I'll share more of it. Hopefully I'll put a picture up too, but got to read. Flit learns to fly to some little children. My favorite people in the world, little people. And it's because hopefully you get ahold of little people and you can show little people stuff and you teach little people and you help little people learn and teach little people about kindness and respect and honor and all those things. And later in life, hopefully you don't have to fix a lot of older people that break a lot of stuff. So that's why I love little people and doing that and putting information into them that will be useful and helpful and cool stories and things like that. So that was so fun.

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:04:00

And I'm going to do it again and I can't wait because I am working on a second book, but I can't wait to do that more often. Now, another thing that I told you I'm going to be doing is like show and tell. It's a quick little thing and I will have some in the newsletter that goes out. But today I'm going to just. It's a simple little thing. It's by a company called Ink and Vault in k, the plus sign and then vault like v as in Victor, o l t, ink and vault. And it's just a simple list. I love their pads.

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:04:33

They have these little task pads. They have weekly planners. And I'm holding up to the screen for those of you who are watching online, I am holding up and hopefully it will zoom in to where you can see. But I will also put an image up. But ink and bulk makes a simple little product. I use it daily and at the very top it says tasks. Then underneath it, the date you can circle Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, or Monday through Sunday. And then there's a key area for focus.

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:04:57

Like, what's your focus? Sometimes it's. It's, I want to be present. It's be, be persistent, be consistent. Sometimes the focus is work on your book, whatever it is. But then you have ten items. You can write them down here and you just check them off. A little note, sing at the end. But I love at the very bottom it says, today was, and this is little, tiny, little footer, and you have little boxes that you can check off.

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:05:22

It was not my best. Intense, efficient, fulfilling, or flawless. And then you tear that page, move on to the next day or you carry things over. But what I like, it's simple, it's quick, it's easy, and it is my show and tell for today. And if you don't have something like, okay, great. You can say, tim, why spend money when I can get a piece of paper? If that works for you, do it all day. But for the people I know that are always running and they have a running list everywhere, what if you could do one that kind of helps you get a little bit organized in the way that you do it? That's my show and tell. Hopefully, that'll help you a little bit and put it to work in your life and in your world.

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:05:57

So today's topic, this whole deal about this idealist and pragmatist, right? So I was talking to my wife, and I literally said to her, and, well, I've been doing a lot with companies, okay? And here's what I'm running into. In companies, you have people that are going to be pragmatic about things, and then you get people that are going to be very idealistic about things. And, and here's what I'm finding. You know, obviously, companies have different types of makeup and chemistries and different types of people and blah, blah, blah. But here's what I'm discovering. I. It's interesting that the pragmatists and the idealists, when they get together into the room in some of the conflicts, that they just don't pair well. So it's like you have to get a group of more of one or the other in order to kind of get in any.

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:06:41

You know, to find some majority in some way. Right. Or to find some progress, because you'll have this never ending tug of war unless you create a weightier side or one that has more of an advantage or one that speaks more of what your direction is like. We're more of a pragmatic company. Okay, great. We're more of an idealistic company. Great. But it doesn't mean you do not need some of the opposite.

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:07:06

And so I was telling my wife, I was like, here's what I figured out. I'm a very idealistic person, which I'm going to share some definitions and everything with you guys, but I'm very idealistic and she's very pragmatic. So here's the thing, though, my best stuff happens. Yes, I've been idealistic, and that's how I do life. I move through life as an idealist, but I also. Here's what I figured out. The older I've gotten, I've understand, I've understood that I need pragmatism, and the best things in my life happen when I'm more pragmatic. So it's like my superpower is in being idealistic, but the magic for me is in being pragmatic.

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:07:44

So it's not hard for me to be idealistic. I can do all kinds of stuff, but it's almost like my fine skills, my fine motor skills are when I introduce to pragmatism. In other words, I get more sophisticated and better in what I do. When, as an idea, as an idealistic person, as an idealist, I introduce or bring in or invite more pragmatism, okay, I bring some in. It helps me to finish it off. And equally so, I thought about this with my wife, and I even mentioned it, and I don't know how far I said it to her, but even in my brain, I may have continued the conversation, I don't know. But her, she, when she's more idealistic, her ideas are popping, they're great. When she goes into that mode and doesn't just hold on to that pragmatism, which is how she goes through life.

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:08:33

And I don't know, I didn't ask her the question, but how? Well, I mean, think about it if you want. Once we go through this podcast and you listen to it, you might ask yourself, you know, how well is being me being idealistic serving me? You know, because I want you to find a compelling case to invite something else into your life other than the thing that you normally do and you operate with. So, in other words, I mean, I may, you could be a left brain, right brain, whatever it is, but it takes both sides of your brain in order to function, right? And that's why you even have a frontal lobe, right? So you gotta think about this, things gotta come together. You could be more one or the other, but you have to figure this out. You have to solve this. This is important information. I think so. In that conversation with my wife and then seeing this with companies, I started thinking like, wow, I bet you people this could be helpful, I believe, and useful for people if you could help people identify, you know, what they're more of.

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:09:28

If they're more of a, of a pragmatic or person or more of an idealistic person. But if they can understand whether they're more of a pragmatist or an idealist or a blend of both, I wonder if that is going to help them, I don't know, improve certain categories of their life. Like if they could look at it and know themselves well enough that the value could trans, just be transferred over, that value could just move over into a positive influence, into key areas that are in their life, like things that matter, like from relationships to work to, I mean, you name it. So there's an importance, I think, to understanding yourself. So that's why I'm doing this. I mean, it's all about if I want to get better and to be better as a human being, I got to understand myself. So in this whole topic and me even sitting and understanding with my wife and you know what? I even thought about this. Let me come back to this again.

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:10:25

My wife and I, even our best decisions we make together is when I'm more pragmatic and less idealistic and she's less pragmatic and more idealistic. Our best decisions happen there. And I would probably venture to say that even in collaborations with me, with other people, that that's when I brought the best value, is when typically, I don't just run with my norm because I don't try to just get around a bunch of idealistic people. I try to get around people that are going to bring those necessary tensions that will cause us to think better and differently in order to order to where we're. Because I'm in the solutions business and I'm trying to. I try to solve problems. I want something that's lasting and has shelf life, like, how do you fix that? Right? So you got to know yourself in order to put yourself in types of situations like that in order to navigate and do those well. And in my world, as a person who operates as a coach and a consultant and as a team building person, as a people development type individual, that it's important for me to know the type of individual I am and what I bring to the table so that I know how to adapt to work with other people.

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:11:35

So this self awareness for me is foundation, right? It's a foundation thing for making more informed, intentional decisions about everything that I do. And then, and then also with this self understanding that I want you to get, by recognizing whatever natural tendencies that you have, whether they're ideal, idealist or a pragmatist, or pragmatic, pragmatistic person. Pragmatist. Oh, my gosh. By recognizing your natural tendencies, you can understand why you make certain decisions and how these decisions impact your life. So, for me, when I realized that, wow, I'm just being completely idealistic, and when I define these things, this is going to be helpful. Okay, it's going to be helpful when I give you this definition, which, let me just go ahead and do that now I'm going to give you, let's see, I wrote down a couple of things here that I believe will help you. Let me jump ahead a little bit.

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:12:33

So here's the definitions, pragmatism, and this is me just kind of pulling up a few that I think will help. So here's pragmatism. Pragmatists focus on you ready, practical and realistic approaches. They prefer solutions that are feasible and achievable with current resources. Like, that's what they want to know is like, right now, how do we do this? Now I become more pragmatic as an idealistic person, as an idealist who walks into a room or a team that's having troubles, or a leader who's failing to connect with their people. And so, for me, I come in as an idealist. As an idealist, they can change. I have a growth mindset.

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:13:12

All of that's there. But then the more the conversation unfolds, I need to introduce more of my pragmatism. I need to become more pragmatic, as I'm hearing, because I can still be idealistic, but I have to bring in some more detail. Okay, so this pragmatists, they prefer solutions that are feasible and achievable. Their traits include being practical, realistic, and goal oriented and resourceful. Okay, so that's what I introduce in as an idealist. As an. Because in idealism, idealists are driven by visions.

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:13:45

So me, I'm driven by a vision or values and ideals. That's how I walk in a room, everywhere I go, is a what if thing every day. So that's why that pragmatism, being practical, realistic, goal orientated, resourceful, is very helpful for me, because as an idealist, I'm going to be driven by vision, value, and ideals. I'm willing to pursue ready, ambitious goals, even if they seem completely unattainable. And that's where people go, that's stupid, that's foolish, whatever. I mean, I don't know. But I've done what people said was unattainable, and I've also not done what people said was unattainable. And just because they didn't do what they said was unattainable doesn't mean it wasn't true, because I do know other people that did what people told me was unattainable.

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:14:30

So I'm still going to sit there and say it's attainable, even if you say it's unattainable. Um, and idealism. So here's some traits, include being visionary, value driven, ambitious, and sometimes risk taking. That's me. Check every single one of those. So, to help kind of lay this out so I can move through this pretty rapidly, I'm going to give you a quick story that's going to help you understand this a little bit better. So. And then I'll do more in the future.

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:14:58

But this is just like basically a modern tale of bridge builder. Okay, this is bridge builders. So, in a lively town of Arborville, this is a story that I just. I'm creating just for the point of, of kind of creating a little lesson around this, about this, the, the, um, this relationship. That's what I want. I want to see this unlikely pairing between these two. So, in a lively town of Arborville, she there, um, live two friends. Okay.

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:15:26

Emily and James. And Emily was an idealist, always dreaming big and seeing endless possibilities. And James was a pragmatist. He was practical and focused on what could be realistically achieved. So Arborville had a problem, though. There was a river that divided the town and needed a bridge. So Emily imagined a stunning bridge, an architectural marvel that would be in the town's pride. It would be the town's pride.

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:15:50

And so James saw, envisioned a simple, functional bridge that could be built quickly and within budget. So the town council announced a competition for the best bridge design. So Emily submitted a grand, intricate design, while James proposed a straightforward, sturdy one. And so the town was split between Emily's visionary plan and James's practical solution. So the council asked them to collaborate. Initially, it was tough, okay? But Emily and James disagreed on almost everything from materials to the design. And Emily wanted high quality, beautiful materials, and James insisted on affordable, readily available ones. So one evening, after a particularly heated discussion, they found themselves walking by the river.

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:16:40

And in a moment of vulnerability, they shared their fears and dreams. Emily's fear of lack of inspiration in the bridge design and James's worry about practicality and budget were laid bare. It was in this moment that they both realized their different perspectives were not weaknesses, but they were actual strengths. So what they decided to do is blend their approaches. Emily added artistic elements to James's functional design, and James found cost effective materials to bring Emily's vision to life. So together, they created a bridge that was both beautiful and practical. So this completed bridge is a testament, right, of unity and cooperation. It stood.

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:17:20

It was a symbol of a shared vision. Now, it not only connected the town, it brought more trade and commerce, right? But it also became a source of immense pride. And so Emily and James friendship, as a result, once tested, grew stronger, proving that the blended, the blending of pragmatism and idealism can lead to not just success, but also a deep sense of fulfillment. Now, for me, I don't know about you, but I really like looking at life like that. I like looking at, how can I say if it doesn't have to be like me, no one has to. And I don't have to be like them. But we can be both. They can be them.

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:18:04

I can be me. So here are the opportunities, right? And this is what I'm going to wrap up with and then I'll pick up on these in coming weeks. But there are five opportunities to work to this goal of potential unity and harmony, this unlikely pairing between the idealist and the pragmatist. Right? Pragmatism and idealism. Right? So you. You want to be able to say, what. What is this relation? How can I make these work? How can I bring together these two? How do I do it? Is it possible? Well, here's. Here are five opportunities.

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:18:42

First, you have to embrace different perspectives. So in. Here's the story. Here's the element in the story. It was Emily's idealism. In James's pragmatism. Right? So what is the lesson we get in the story? The first lesson from embrace is, is that that we embrace different perspectives. So in personal and professional growth, we value different perspectives.

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:19:02

Idealism drives innovation, while pragmatism ensures feasibility. Right. Makes it possible. Balancing both these can lead to an effective solution. So that first one, the lesson is we want to embrace different perspectives. So the next part in the story we see, and here's another element of the story. The second thing we want to look at is Emily and James struggled initially, right. But understood each other through their communication.

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:19:27

So the second opportunity. Right. To work towards potential unity and harmony in this unlikely pairing, right? What we're looking to do is we want effective communication. It's crucial. We want communication and understanding. That's the lesson. Effective communication is crucial. Understanding motivations and concerns helps us to find common ground and achieve, achieve the mutual benefit in something.

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:19:55

So, number one was embrace different perspectives. Two, communicate and understand. Right. Do it effectively. The third opportunity we see in the story, and what we see is Emily and James, they compromised to create a balanced design. So whether it's work, you got to get together, come up with a balanced approach to something, whether it's at home, I don't care what it is. A sports team, figure it out. Right.

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:20:20

What's best is what you do together. That's what's best, not what you come up with. You tell everyone else to do and everyone else just do it. That's not best. Maybe for you, but not for everyone. So what we want to look for is they compromised in a balanced design. So it was collaboration. And compromise is your third one.

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:20:42

Collaboration often requires that compromise, if you're going to collaborate, got to compromise. So, blending different strengths leads to successful outcomes in professional settings, personal development and your relationships. So when you blend those strengths, you get better outcomes. So the fourth one, the opportunity we see in the story is the final bridge was a balance of beauty and practicality. There it is. It's the word balance. The fourth one is balance is the key. So when you strike a balance between the idealism, idealism and pragmatism, it's going to enhance your decision making.

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:21:24

So when you get the balance between those idealism and pr and pragmatism, your decision making is going to be enhanced. So you want to blend your visionary goals with your practical steps. That's what you're looking for. So, for me, that's what I do. I take all that visionary, I learn to reel it in and say, okay, what's practical? And then when I work with people that are super, super practical, I say, how far can you see? Like, can you, like, if you lift your eyes, where do you begin to get afraid? Looking too far. Right? Because you have to find out where their place is. So you know how to work with them. Okay.

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:22:01

That's one of my little ways that I like to help people find, you know, where their safe zones are, is how far. When you lift your eyes, when does it get uncomfortable for you? Right. Looking too far. So then the. The. Actually, what was that for? So, number five. Okay, here's the fifth one, and here's the opportunity within the story, Emily and James adapted their approaches. So basically, folks, you ready? Fifth one, value, flexibility.

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:22:29

Put value on being flexible. So flexibility is essential for growth. Being open to new ideas and adjusting your approach is going to lead to better solutions and personal growth. I mean, you can't go wrong with that. So what are the opportunities? Number one, embrace different perspectives. Number two, communication and understanding is an opportunity. Number three, collaboration and compromise. And number four, balance is key.

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:23:02

And number five, you want to value. You want value of, or putting more value on flexibility and being flexible. And so, as I'm wrapping this up, I just want to give you this simple way as. Cause I'm going to set this up for the next week, but there's an application for you to grow here and your application for your personal and professional growth. And what I want you to understand is, and you're. There's these, there are these areas, okay, that I want to tackle in the next episode, but the applications of what I'm talking about in your personal and professional growth in application, how do you apply this in your relationships? And then how do you apply this for the. Just to improve your quality of life, to get into like a better quality of life? By understanding the relationship that there is and needs to be more of between idealism and pragmatism in that you can have both. You can have more of one and less of the other.

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:24:13

You can do that in relationship that way. But it's getting to the self understanding and getting to the place where we recognize the opportunities that we have to make this unlikely pairing that could experience a potential unity and harmony that we've never known before. Because we just stop and it's right in front of us. The opportunity is right there. So hopefully this will help you along the way. As you say, hey, you know what? It's okay that they're more pragmatic, you know, or it's okay that they're more idealistic. Because I know what I need to do. I know how I need to work with them, connect with them, communicate with them, and how to work towards balance.

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:24:55

So I look forward to next week, and I hope that you find favor in everything that you do, and I hope that you walk favorably with everyone that you do life with. So, until next time, we'll talk soon.