While I was standing in line to get a ticket to see the movie Green Book (An excellent film by the way; I highly recommend it), I overheard a conversation in which one of the individuals was enthusiastically sharing a business idea she had come up with and how she was looking forward to bringing the idea to fruition. From what little I did hear about the idea, I thought it was promising.
Interestingly, the other person who I assumed to be her friend, tossed a wet blanket over the idea. She gave a laundry list of reasons why it wouldn’t work and why the whole idea should be scrapped. The originator of the idea was crestfallen and had a look of defeat in her eyes. I don’t know what the woman with the idea decided to do, but I couldn’t help but wonder how many people don’t follow through on their ideas because of disapproving viewpoints of the well-meaning people around them.
So I asked myself, “How do you handle disaffirming opinions of others and protect your ideas, goals and dreams?” Or, as I like to say it, “How do you get the jokers out of your life’s deck?”
Imagine this scenario: You've decided to implement a new idea you are excited about. As you start talking about the idea, doubters, trolls and detractors start to show up. They say things like, “This has never been done before. No one has tried that before.” Or, “Why are you trying that? It will never work. You better stick with what you know.”
Now here’s the thing. When you move into being your best self in life, you may be questioned or even attacked by mediocre minds. Mediocrity always attacks excellence—those are the jokers in your deck. In order to deal with the jokers you need something stronger than them so you are more focused on your vision and what you really want rather than contradictory perspectives.
Here's an exercise that will help you to not get distracted by the naysayers that show up from time to time. Steven Olsher presents the following scenario in his book, What is Your What: Discover the One Amazing Thing You were Born to Do:
Imagine there is someone in your life you love more than anything; someone who, without hesitation, you would die for in order to save their life. Suppose the person you would give your life for was dying from a rare disease and unless you found a cure, he or she would only have 6 months to live. You do exhaustive research on the Internet to learn about their disease and discover there is a miracle cure from a Shaman in the Brazilian rain forest. It so happens he is a capitalistic shaman, all about the money, and he tells you it will cost you $1 million to get this cure. You know it will work, but you only have $1,000 to your name.
Now the question is this: How hard would you work to get the $1 million? Would it be difficult to block out all the distractions in pursuit of your goal? Would you let any negative talk from trollers stop you? Would you listen to those people who say you can’t do it?There is no doubt you would not.
What will anchor your belief so much that you would not be deterred by the jokers, and so that your attention is always on your dreams, visions and goals, and on making a positive difference in the world? Master Jesus said it like this: "What is that to thee? Follow thou me.” In the same way, you can say to yourself, "What is that joker to me? I choose to follow what's really important for me and my life.”
Determine what is so important to you that it far outweighs any disapproving messages or opinions and go after what really matters to you.
Peace and Blessings,
James