Three Ways to Guard Yourself Against Nonbelievers

Who in your circle of friends and family rarely shares a kind word? That’s the person to beware of with these three ways to guard yourself against nonbelievers.

There’s always one

“You can’t make money with that!“

Those are the first words I heard from my uncle who asked me to explain the type of book I was preparing to write.

The book had already been accepted by a publisher. I was diligently planning the content and marketing strategy when my mom asked me to accompany her by car to visit her best friend and her husband (mom’s girlfriends and husbands become your aunts and uncles).

This uncle is a long-time musician. He understands entrepreneurship, or so I thought, because of his own need to book himself into clubs and other music-based locations since he had neither an agent nor manager.

I was excited to tell him about my new book, ongoing business, and how my plans were coming together. Then he uttered the you can’t make money with that phrase, twisting his mouth to punctuate his conclusion.

Boy, was I surprised. The one person I knew would get it didn’t, but thankfully that did not deter me. In fact, his pronouncement gave me that “I’ll show him” attitude. That conversation occurred more than 30 years ago, and I’m elated to have not fallen victim to his expectation.

The plot thickens

You’ve seen this same discontent on television shows and in the movies. The main character has a great idea, and there’s always someone who doesn’t believe in the main character’s dream. A similar conclusion will be expressed by someone in your life. Don’t be surprised when it happens.

In fact, it’s great someone you know doesn’t believe you’ll succeed. If everyone said, “Yeah, go for it!,” you wouldn’t watch closely for challenges and setbacks that are bound to happen. Dilemmas frequently occur when moving from the employment world into self employment.

Here are three ways to keep yourself on track as you wade through negativity.

Three ways to guard yourself against nonbelievers

1. Decide who to tell. Not everyone will understand your goals. Some will be on your side, while others will not want to see you advance.

2. Write down anything said to you by the naysayers that you believe is worth monitoring. What some of them say might actually be useful.

3. Don’t internalize other people’s failures. It’s wise to make changes when necessary, but tales of how other people failed is not your story.

I haven’t seen my uncle in a long time, but I have seen my own success because I didn’t let his opinion interrupt my goals. Move forward with optimism to launch your business, write your book, or start that creative venture no matter what naysayers think.