If you’re starting (or started a while back) a journey into the world of entrepreneurship, you’re probably aware of the poison I’m speaking of.
As an entrepreneur, especially a new entrepreneur, you receive a lot of {many times unsolicited} feedback from family, friends, and even sometimes from strangers. And the feedback usually isn’t of the supportive kind.
Especially when it’s coming from family or close friends, the feedback you get when you’re setting out on the path of being your own boss and creating a life on your terms is very cautious. People are scared for you.
They’re scared usually because they’ve never done anything like that. It’s uncharted territory, and change coupled with the unknown, scares the living shit out of people.
And to a point, that’s understandable. It’s nice to know that people care about you and want nothing more than for you to be a success. But a lot of times, our (I’m calling us a collective now that we’ve established that we’re cut from the same cloth) definition of success doesn’t match up to their definition of success.
And that’s all fine and dandy, to a point, like I said. We can all agree to disagree and just live with each other, knowing that we have differing opinions.
However, it doesn’t always fly like that. Sometimes people push REALLY hard, trying to lure you back over to their side of the fence. To what they perceive as “safety.”
Now, you might think that the poison to which I’m referring is the negative talk from those around you. But it’s much more sinister than that.
The negative talk of others is exactly that……the talk of others.
It only turns to poison when it allows doubt to creep into your mind. When it becomes the talk of you.
I believe that the biggest factor in the success of any one person isn’t about how talented they are, who they know, what they know, or what they do. It’s whether or not they themselves doubt whether or not they can do it.
Fighting doubt is a battle that is best won by taking action against it every day. Be willing to give yourself a pep talk and actually BELIEVE in yourself every morning.
You’ll find that when you have that morning solo pep rally, any resistance you meet throughout the day, whether it’s from people you encounter, tiny discouragements or fails, or even the big flops, will be much easier to allow to roll off your back.
You have the choice whether you allow their words to become your words. Just because someone hands you poison, that doesn’t make you obligated to drink it.