We fail not because we can’t succeed, but because we let other people’s opinions decide for us. We fail because we put up obstacles between ourselves and our goals. Negative self-talk and barriers created by the opinions of others do us no favours. To achieve our goals, it’s important to silence unfavourable and negative opinions.
No dream is crazy enough not to be pursued. All it takes is self-confidence and encouragement to make the dream a reality. Whether you succeed or fail depends solely on the power of your self-confidence. So, if no one believes you, be your own cheerleader and have the confidence to break through the dark barriers of the naysayers. I know it’s hard to encourage yourself when everyone else is on the negative line. I know we fear regrets and « I told you so’s ». But are they valid enough for us to give up on something we firmly believe in?
How many times have we given up on our passion and our dreams, simply because the people who should be encouraging us – our teachers, our parents, our friends, our supervisors – have put an end to our dreams because they were « crazy » and unrealistic? It takes a strong will to overcome these obstacles, but a sense of self-confidence, good faith and self-belief is what we need to thwart them. Many entrepreneurs you know have succeeded because they believed in themselves and had confidence in themselves: Bill Gate, Elon Musk, ring any bells?
Staying positive is preparing for success even when it seems we are failing
It’s hard to stay confident and follow your dreams, but when we stay connected to our dreams, the impossible becomes « I am possible ». Very often we have given up on our dreams and passion, simply because outside thoughts and opinions have made us think they are crazy and idealistic/unrealistic. I call these the toxic voices of despair and desolation. These are voices that, instead of making the best of us, make us unhappy and make us give up chasing our dreams. They don’t just kill our self-confidence, they unwittingly rob us of energy.
Many of us have given up on our childhood dreams, which we had the strength and passion to pursue, simply because negativity and bad language got in the way. Yet we should all be like Joan K. Rowlings, who was turned down 12 times, but never gave up. A single mother, she dreamed of publishing her Harry Potter series, but publishers didn’t think it was publishable. She went so far as to hide her identity, not even mentioning her full name on her manuscript. She just wrote her initials and surname, fearing that publishers wouldn’t publish her if they knew she was a woman. Well, she got the last laugh: she’s one of the best-selling authors and has her own HP brand and spin-off products. I know we often have to be realistic and not try to hatch an egg into a cow, but the wildest dreams are the ones that produce the best results.
Courage 💪