To think being a realist is often mistaken for being negative?

Anything can happen in the future so it's perfectly realistic to have whatever view you wish about it. If, however, you constantly predict negative future outcomes then yes you are obviously a pessimist.

I was going to say this - everyone by nature thinks they are the realistic one!

YANBU but some people's idea of being a realist is so drastically skewed and blinkered it's just ridiculous.

My BIL considers himself to be a realist. He moans about everything and everyone and claims he's just being realistic. It's laughable!

I feel like everybody thinks that they are a realist but everyone's their perception of reality is shaped by a combination of their experiences, personality, genetics and other factors out of our control.

Op you are no less deluded than the rest of us!

I am a realist but would say I am actually quite an optimistic kind of person. I expect the best but prepare for the worst.
I have some money saved incase things breakdown and I carry an emergency kit in my handbag, just things like plasters, tissues, hand gel, some cash etc

Oh dear me, those in my life who are fond of realism or who are “a spade is a spade” kind of people are extremely hard work and very difficult to be around.
I can never just have a conversation with them. They need to wedge in the negative possibilities of situations and scenarios.
They nearly always have a side order of “I know better” as well.

I would avoid you like I avoid them.

It's not being negative or pessimistic if you ask questions such as, "How much time would it take to make that product to sell on Etsy? What would you sell it for? What would your profit margin be?" It would be pessimistic to say, "There's no point making anything to sell on Etsy. You'll never make any money."

Are you likely to actually be alive at the end of the century?

Idk

A lot of people who call themselves a realist aren’t at all. I can’t speak for you OP, but many are down right miserable and very pessimistic.

I don’t believe in painting people as optimistic or pessimistic - you can be optimistic about one area of your life, and pessimistic / realistic about another. Sometimes realism is needed or people will use ‘optimism’ as an excuse to do nothing, e.g. I’m realistic about climate change as the UK is now on track to be 5.5c warmer by the end of this century, and many people will be deeply affected by that, e.g. we won’t be able to grow crops, and we will inevitably have mass immigration from the parts of the world that become uninhabitable. But I’m fairly optimistic that I won’t personally suffer as much as others because as I’m well off and pretty resilient.. and I know most people are optimistic about their own resilience. But we owe it to the next generation to have a good dose of realism in order to generate the will to avoid them inheriting a nightmare. It’s very difficult to have that conversation though as many people think it’s depressing, pessimistic, not established science, and not their problem, and then they vote for parties like Reform. We’ve got an unhealthy culture in this country when it comes to discussing difficult subjects, but that doesn’t mean you’re the one with the problem.

Being ‘ realistic’ can be negative as you can’t predict the future either.

Often people already know the potential downsides of something so don’t need it pointing out? It’s easy to be negative and harder to find solutions