Don't tell me what I CAN'T do...
Don’t tell me what I can’t do….EVER….
Have you ever been sick and called your plumber to have him diagnose you? Or rewire your house and ask your postal carrier if you should use 14/2 wire for the job?
OF COURSE NOT!! And why?
Because, in these types of instances we seek the advice of experts, people who have real world experience doing exactly what it is we’re trying to figure out. Seems pretty obvious, eh?….
Then why is it, when we attempt to change our lives for the better (via things like real estate or starting a business..or just live life on our own terms) we listen to people who have never, EVER done it or even attempted to do it?? If we’re honest, we take the advice of people with absolutely ZERO experience, but somehow they’ve become total experts on what can’t be done.
See, the problem is, these people are usually the ones closest to us. And most of the time, they don’t intend to be dream crushers. They’ve just never really allowed themselves to believe life can be something other than the status quo. They’re just projecting that same disbelief onto you. For the most part, they’ve focused on “not being able to do anything except average” and really believe that’s all life is. Their negativity is generally coming from two sources; 1) They’re afraid that if you succeed, their relationship with you will change or end and 2) subconsciously, they know misery loves company and if you’re willing to work your arse off and succeed, it’ll be an indication that they could probably do more in their own life to make it better…and that means they’re currently “under-performing”…not a comfortable thing to have to admit.
So, what to do? Obviously, if these people are family, you can’t kick them all out of your life. But I will say, that I have really cut off friends from my past who had no experience accomplishing goals but knew all too well how things didn’t work, how the rich got richer, how so and so got lucky, how no one is making money now, how everyone they knew who tried real estate investing “got screwed”…This last makes sense because they seemed to only want to hang out with losers…anyway…I cut ALL those people out of my life…and replaced them with people who were not only succeeding in what I wanted to achieve, but were CRUSHING IT!!!
This did two things. First, it eliminated all the negative crap I used to hear on a daily basis and replaced it with positive, goal achieving, work with relentless aggression towards freedom, b*lls to the wall, passion that only the truly successful have. Folks, I’M A MANIAC WITH REGARDS TO THE PASSION I HAVE FOR WHAT I’M WORKING TOWARDS…A MANIAC!!!
My dreams are awesome so my effort to achieve them has to be equally awesome.
In closing, make it your objective to surround yourself with people who are succeeding at what you want to do, fill your mind/ears/eyes with the things YOU determine to be success and happiness and most importantly, be true to your vision of what you want life to be.
I know some of this sounds harsh, but this is serious business…this is YOUR life…In the words of my buddy David Alexander, “It’s your life. You get to design it the way YOU want”…And don’t worry, those who truly love you will “get it”…eventually… 
- The Tattooed Investor
Comments (2)
Mitch, You nailed it brother!! It took me a long time to understand all this. It took years of wondering why I wasn't happy doing the traditional "go to school, get a good job, etc".. Then I started to see there was correlation in the things I enjoyed doing outside of a work scenario...mountain climbing, hiking, pushing my endurance...I started to see I like to push the envelope, i.e. take risk, in exchange for the bigger reward. That made my desire to be a successful entrepreneur make total sense. I say this all the time; There are employee-minded people and there are entrepreneur-minded people, neither is better than the other, but neither can be the other. And to be successful in this life as risk takers, we can not allow non-risk takers to crush our dreams... Thanks for taking the time to post.. Let's keep pushing the envelope... Mike aka The Tattooed Investor www.facebook.com/tattooedrei
Mike H., over 14 years ago
I could not agree wit you more Mr. Tattooed. I've live what yu are talking about. Once upon a time, I made a decision; I decided to never listen to anyone that has not garnered from life that which I wanted. It served me very well. I had a hard time cutting off many of those I liked but were no good for my mind set. Fortunately for me, my family has always been on board...but I would've ignored them for measures of time if they had not been on board. May I suggest: being at the bottom is a great place to set this isea in motion. When I was at the bottom I vowed never to go backwards again. I'd buy only assets. I sleep on the foor and eat rice and beans...but I would never go backwards again. It was slow going at first. Anyone who would not sleep on the floor with me was not welcomed on my floor. i did sleep on the floor. I did eat rice and beans. BUT, I had a plan. I never expected nor looked for anyone to accompany me. BUT, One day I found a woman that would sleep with me on the foor. I wasn't looking for her and I did not expect her to appear. Today, we have both exceeded our life expectatiions as far as self-employment and income are concerned. It started when I drew a line in the sand...to delay my gratification and to build a strong financial foundation upon which to grow. Make no mistake; it was not easy and many thought I was craxy! --Mitch Stephen--
Mitch Stephen, over 14 years ago