Do you want to do something remarkable in your life, but you’re surrounded by naysayers?
When I decided to quit my 9-5 job, I unleashed a storm of negativity.
–> “If starting a business would be that simple, everybody would do it!”
–> “You will fail! There is already too much competition in your niche!”
–> “That’s a ridiculous idea! Why don’t you keep working here? You’ve invested so much, you can become a director in a couple of years!”
None of the arguments were legit. I had a rock solid plan. Nevertheless, I started to believe what others were telling me. I started to worry about being a miserable failure.
Getting back on track taught me an invaluable lesson: even obvious nonsense can feed doubt and discouragement, if you only hear it often enough.
In order to do something remarkable, you have to protect yourself from all negativity. Here’s how I did it!
1. Stop Talking About Your Plan
Your means of protection against negativity is silence. If you don’t talk about your plan, nobody can discourage you with negative feedback.
It’s your free choice to keep silence about your plan. You’re not obligated to talk with anybody about your life.
Some naysayers might feel offended, but that’s none of your business. You’re not responsible for the feelings of a negative person. Your sole responsibility is to protect yourself.
Therefore, never talk about your mission with small-minded people. If you need advice, go talk to an expert. An expert is a person you has already done what you’re planning to do.
The advice of an expert is invaluable. It can protect you from making mistakes and shortcut your way by months or even years.
2. Build A Kick-Ass Team
The easiest way to do something new is to hang out with people who are already doing it. If you’re surrounded by greatness, your own standards and entitlement will grow.
–> If everybody around you owns a business, you’ll start to do the same
–> If everybody around you hits the gym, you’ll start to do the same
–> If everybody around you creates art, you’ll start to do the same
Build yourself a team that inspires and challenges you. Finding the right teammates is not as hard as it might sound.
Behave like your ideal teammate, and you will attract the right people. Therefore: be positive, never complain, pursue your goals, show genius interest, and help others. In two words: offer value.
Of course you won’t build a kick-ass team overnight. It will take you months or even years. But don’t worry! You can emulate a strong team in the mean time.
The greatest thoughts and achievements of mankind are only a couple of clicks away. Read books and blogs about your topic. Watch videos. Skype with experts. Immerse yourself deep. Eat, breath and sleep your topic.
3. Fight Your Inner Naysayer
Have you ever wondered why it’s so hard to do something remarkable? The answer is pretty simple: your brain is not playing in your team.
Your brain does not care about greatness. All your brain wants is to safe energy and keep you stable.
Whenever you want to take your life to the next level, your brain comes up with some sneaky excuses.
–> “Let’s wait for tomorrow…”
–> “Let’s do this other task first…”
–> “This is not for me…”
Your excuses will be your life long opponent. You’ll never be free of them. But you can learn to ignore them and take action anyway. Do the opposite of a small excuse today and grow further from there.
–> Hit the gym in spite of being tired
–> Make a cold-call in spite of fearing rejection
–> Start your own business in spite of having self-doubts
Train your ability every single day. With time you will build a great momentum. When it’s time to do something remarkable, you only have to repeat what you`re doing on any given day.
4. Have A Rock Solid “Why”
Doing the opposite of your excuses will be a tough challenge. It will be a daily fight against your inner weakness.
You need something that is stronger than your excuses; something that enables you to take action.
You need a rock solid “why”.
Realize why your mission is so important for you? What is your motivation? What are you willing to sacrifice?
Don’t bother with any half-baked attempts. Go for the things that you want 100%, don’t go for anything else.
5. Be Willing To Fail
The conditions to do something remarkable will never be perfect. There will be always some obstacles in your way.
If you wait for the perfect moment, you will wait for the rest of your life.
I understand that starting out is frightening. Starting out scared me to death. But I did it anyway. What should I say? It was one big struggle.
I failed tons of things that were new for me. I made mistake over mistake.
Nevertheless: I’m still alive, I’m still learning, I’m still happy, and I’m still moving forward.
Every successful person I know fails at least once in a while. They try new things, they fail miserable, they learn from it, and they do it better the next time.
Their willingness to fail separates them from the average Joe.
What’s with you my friend? Are you willing to fail?
Please share with us your story of proving the naysayers wrong, we’d love to hear from you.
Thanks for the article Sebastian and Joel. Point 4 really stuck out in my mind as I am currently reading Sinek’s “start with why”… it is not just about the how and what, it is about the WHY!
Alice