Who Cares What They Say? Toxic Opinions
by: Makenzie Kelly
Who Cares What They Say? [Those with] Toxic Opinions
When other peoples opinions are toxic…turn your ears off.
Even the most confident people have bad days, and let other people’s opinions influence their confidence.
This post is for you and for me. For those who are tirelessly driven to achieve, those that have decided to Design their Life to their desires, those striving for financial freedom, those who see themselves as prosperous before they actually have the money in their hand. Written for those that travel the world instead of climbing the corporate ladder, those that chose to teach their children at home instead of in a more traditional method, and everyone else who purposefully walks to the beat of a different drum, I intend this for you.
When I first decided to retire, I was very fearful of telling my closest friends because I was sure they would not understand (so instead I created a blog and posted it to the rest of the world – anonymity is easier.) Five years ago, these same friends were rolling their eyes when I told them that we were starting an ambulance company, “How do you even DO that? You can OWN ambulances? I mean don’t HOSPITALS own ambulances?” and on, and on.
We were ridiculed by some and told that we were lucky if it lasted a year. Well, we decided that listening to this so-called advice wouldn’t get us to where we wanted to be. We would have to forge our own path, and we did. We watch several other companies crumble around us, but we set our eyes on the goal, and maintained.
We worked so hard for that company, and those same people were now singing our praises. Isn’t is funny how dementia develops so easily in Naysayers? So, I was fearful of telling those people that I have decided to retire, take a step back, and let go of the salary. But when I did some rolled their eyes and shook their head, they couldn’t understand. But also I found many were amazingly supportive. I stand here knowing I made the right decision, and the naysayers opinions haven’t killed me, and they haven’t made me decide to change my decision.
Selective Hearing
Taking a page out of my mother’s book, I decided that the best thing to do in this case, when listening to the pessimists, was to develop selective hearing. I may or may not choose to listen to what they have to say, but even if I do, I don’t have to heed their advice. Or Like Ashley Ambirge says from The Middle Finger Project “No one’s opinion matters unless you let it matter. ”
I have found that it helps to think about what their motivation is for telling me that I may not succeed. When you’re aware of their perspective, you may not be so angry, you may feel sorry for them.
1. They have not been around successful people and cannot fathom that anyone could be successful.
2. They are fearful of your success because it will reflect poorly on their perceived ability that they aren’t successful.
3. They have had difficult experiences (whether they are successful now or not) and are trying to “protect” you from difficult experiences.
4. Change is difficult for them, so they assume it must be difficult for you too.
Your Life is Not Their Story
Your life is YOUR story, and while you sometimes care and want approval from those around you, if you have passion toward achieving greatness and success, or want to change your life, you MUST write your OWN story! Might you fail? You might. Might you make wrong decisions? You likely will. But since this is your story, you have to gather the experiences, create your road map and try.
So Stand UP! Push your shoulders back, take a deep breath and forget about what they say. Besides, your best offense is to prove them wrong, so get to it!
Many Adventures to You~
http://freedomventureproject.com