What do Howard Schultz, the CEO of Starbucks, Richard Branson, a renowned British business tycoon and founder of the Virgin Group, Maxine Clark, founder of Build-A-Bear and Jason Kilar, founder of Hulu have in common? Yes, they are all successful people but they also made sure to ignore the naysayers spewing venom around them.They powered through and moved on to actualize their goals and welcome amazing success in their lives by believing in themselves and their ideas and by paying no heed to any naysayer around them.
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Naysayers Pull You Back
The path to success is not an easy one for sure but this path is often made more difficult by the cruel voices of the naysayers around you. They are those people who love to put others down, those who don’t believe in uniqueness and originality, those who don’t think outside the box and make sure to put down all those who dare to think creatively and those who think that because they failed, others won’t be able to fulfill their dreams too.
Whenever someone dares to be different, pursue their dream in particular if it is extremely huge or extraordinary or tries to move past the norms set by the society, he/ she is bound to encounter lots of naysayers who try their best to trick that person into believing that he is insane and must not pursue what he believes in.
Success Comes from Battling the Naysayers
Howard Schultz mentioned in an interview that even his business partners were of the viewpoint that Americans won’t be much interested in buying lots of cappuccinos and lattes. Maxine Clark stated in an interview that a lot of those around her believed her idea to create a store that allowed children to make bears themselves was completely bizarre. Richard Branson mentioned once that there was a small group of people who believed that Virgin Atlantic would actually become a successful venture; the rest of the lot was sure it would sink miserably. Jason Kilar once mentioned that when he started his business, many people believed his ideas to be useless and crazy.
Had all these people believed the naysayers around them, we wouldn’t have ever tasted the deliciousness of a Starbucks coffee, the world would have never seen Virgin Atlantic, little kids wouldn’t have stores that let them create their own teddies and television programming wouldn’t have been reprogrammed the way Hulu did it.
These are only a few examples of the many accomplished and renowned people who chose to believe in their ideas and their abilities instead of the negativity thrown by those around them.
Listen to a Naysayer and You May Just kill Your Dream
The moment you pay heed to a naysayer, you let yourself believe that you cannot actualize the dream or goal you have set for yourself; you tell yourself that you don’t have what it takes to be successful; and you affirm to yourself that you aren’t entitled to the success you wish for.Moreover, naysayers are also those who have a habit to compare you with others instead of appreciating for who you are.
For a long time, I believed I could not be as amazing as a certain relative of mine. That relative and I were two really bright kids. She was more ambitious than I was and aspired to study on scholarship in America. When she achieved her goal, there were many people in our social circle that started comparing me with her. Instead of thinking that she and I may be pursuing different things, people started to label me as ‘not-so-courageous’, ‘unambitious’ and ‘not-smart-enough.’ Indirectly, they made me feel I was inadequate and not capable of doing great things.Luckily, I did not let those people get to me and my self-esteem as much as they wanted and kept feeding positive ideas to my brain. Fortunately, I am raised by an amazing and highly positive mother who made sure to lift up my spirits whenever I was down. Years later, when I am now running my household on my own, managing several responsibilities and running my own tiny business, I feel really happy for not paying much heed to those naysayers. Had I believed those people, I would have never been able to do things I love and manage my expenses on my own.
If someone is successful in a certain field or area that does not mean you need to do the same even if the people around you keep forcing you to pursue that field. If a friend of yours is a successful doctor but you left medicine years ago to pursue another field you felt you could do better at and now you’re earning less than him, it does not make him more successful than you. Success is a very relative term. What it means to you may not mean the same to someone else so instead of following the league of someone else just because it is popular or because someone forced you to do so or because people told you that your dreams are impossible, do what you truly believe in.
Don’t allow the naysayers to get to you because when you do that, they rob you of your mental peace, sense of satisfaction and fulfillment, pure joy and happiness and the pleasure you feel when you know you are doing exactly what you want. To live a good, meaningful and empowered life, you need to focus your energies on yourself, your needs and your wants. When you do things that you really want to do, pursue a profession that adds meaning to your life and incorporate all the different elements that bring value to you, you start creating a more meaningful and empowering life for yourself. You start feeling happier from within and when you are genuinely happy with yourself and your life, you let go of your worries and regrets and enjoy the now.
For that to happen, it is quite important you stop listening to the many naysayers around you. Just find out who the poisonous people in your life are and slowly distance yourself from them. It may be hard at first but honestly if you try it a few times and notice the results, you’ll be compelled to do it for good. For instance, I could not completely distance myself from a very close blood relative because of her ties with my mother, I did stop paying heed to her suggestions at all. Whenever she had something nasty to say to me, I made sure to focus completely on a positive quote or excuse myself from the social situation quickly. Similarly, I couldn’t detach myself from my husband, yes, he was a naysayer once so instead of distancing myself from him, I slowly turned him into a more positive person. I was consistently nice to him and I prayed a lot (I’m a big believer but am friends with lots of atheists too so that shows I’m not judgmental) and slowly he started being more open to new ideas and started setting bigger goals for himself too.
When I say a naysayer, I am certainly not pointing to those offering constructive criticism. There is a big difference between a negative person and someone who is saying something negative but only to help you improve. If someone tells you your dream is impossible to achieve and that you don’t have the capability to accomplish your goal, he/ she is a naysayer because he is trying to disown you of the right to think big and believe that you can achieve it. However, if someone tells you that a path you are taking to achieve a certain goal may not be as helpful as another path, he/ she is just giving his/ her insight and may be providing you with a useful suggestion too.
Consider the advice of the critics around you and see if it works for you. As for the completely negative people trying their best to poison your mind, steer clear of them. Yes, you can do that and achieve all your dreams too because you are special and amazing.