It's time to stop listening to the haters.
Plenty of us waste our time by surrounding ourselves with the opinions of people who don't truly care about us. Although I've said this many times before, it's extremely important to remember that value doesn't come from praise. It's easy to get wrapped up in the opinions of people on social media, or the opinions of those who want to see us fail. It's easy to put up with fake friends out of loneliness, but you and I both know that you deserve better.
Small minds can't comprehend big visions.
Not everyone is going to understand your goals. That might seem disheartening, but don't let that lack of support stop you! No one has the duty to understand and support you, but there's a silver lining to that, just like anything else. You don't have the duty to please people, and once you truly take that to heart, you'll be able to free yourself mentally and emotionally.
I've been in the place you might be now—when everyone told me I was going to fail at being a motivational speaker, I felt disheartened. When people laughed at my vision, I was tempted to call it quits. But I didn't! My drive beat the opposition and the criticism, and the resolve that got me here is something I'll always be truly grateful for. Because I've been where you are now, I understand your struggle, and I know how real it is.
I might be a motivational speaker, but that doesn't mean I think life isn't insufferably hard sometimes. Life can be truly brutal, and it hurts when the people we love don't love us back. A tough fact of living on this earth is that you can't control other people. You can't make anyone like you, or understand you, or appreciate you, or support you. Unfortunately, the vast majority of people in your life will act exclusively for their own interests. A lot of people will only support you and your vision once you're already successful.
I'd like to challenge whoever is reading this to ask themselves the following questions:
How many people in your life truly care about you?
How many friends do you keep around for the wrong reasons?
Should you really be paying that much attention to social media?
There's no better time than now. Stop letting the noise distract you from your vision. If you want something, go out and get it! Quit worrying about everything you can't control, and focus on optimizing what you can. You aren't getting younger by the day, and it's time to put more energy into living a truly fulfilling life.
It all starts with you.
