Truer words have never been uttered. We spend so much time trying to gain the approval of people who really don’t contribute much to our lives.
We hold back ideas that could be great, we hesitate to grasp opportunities that could lead to wonderful things, and we scale back notions that could change lives. We do all that because we want to avoid the negative feedback from people who don’t understand the vision.
The truth? Those people can’t understand the vision. They don’t see it. Any of it. They see your ideas as a threat, as evidence that they lack the vision you’re trying to share.
It’s easier-and safer-for them to snipe at your ideas. They’re right, by the way. When you do little but snipe at other people’s ideas, you’ll be safe. If the idea comes to fruition, you can always say, “Yeah, well it’s a miracle it did.” If it doesn’t, you can say, “See, I told you it was stupid.”
Excuse me. These are the people whose feedback worries us? These are the people whose approval we seek so energetically? These are the people whose negative feedback has such a profound effect on us?
Listen, when a jerk like that calls you an idiot, it’s not an insult. You’ll never receive a finer compliment.