Motivation and avoiding negativity

Jjjjjjjbarry

Hello,

I hope to start a new business soon and am not as excited as I was a few years ago when I started the training to get in position.

Mostly it's down to being surrounded by negativity and people telling me what I should have done instead and why what I'm doing won't work and generally not being interested or showing any faith in me.

I am doing what I'm doing because it's what I want to do and for that reason, I believe I will succeed because I'm willing to put in the hard work. I know others who have walked this path with great success and others who have failed so it's down to hard work and just being determined enough to follow your dream despite any setbacks that come your way.

I've read that to succeed you need to free yourself from negativity and surround yourself with positivity so I'm posting here to suck some energy from other entrepreneurial minds.

How does everyone else keep focused and block out negativity?

jimmii

People are often negative because it's something they wish they could do but are too afraid of failing or too stupid to even try. No one knows you and what you want to do as well as you so as long as you believe that is the most important thing. Belief is what keeps the negativity at bay. In general I never gave a crap what other people said I knew better. Having said that there are those few wise people you should listen to and they will help you on your way you just have to figure out which ones they are as it's not always obvious.

Bandara

I was once told there are two types of people in this world.

Those who don't care if you succeed or fail, and those who revel in your failure.

The only one who you need to listen to is yourself. If your honest with yourself and ask yourself if you will make this a success, and the answer you feel with all your heart is yes then do it.

But, if you have a small nagging voice at the back of your head then walk away. Cause that voice is the real you, and it's telling you want you already know but are too proud/afraid/stubborn to listen too.

And once you make that decision thats it, your either 100% committed and you plough on and throw yourself at it knowing your doing right, or else you are happy to have made the right decision that its not for you, and you walk away happy with it, and start again on something else.

I firmly believe that we always make the right decision once we shut out the bull**** and decide honestly ourselves.

You know if your up to this or not, and if your not thats ok, theres nothing wrong with that except when you ignore your own advice.

Good luck with it.

mrawkward

Negative or positive vibe/reaction to your project will have zero effect on the outcome. It is all about whether you can actually stand up your project and make a go of it. Critique is often mistaken for a negative, if you/it cant handle it, it is unlikely to work. The notion of sucking up positivity here or anywhere else is simply niave and bodes ill.....

pedroeibar1

If you have a s#itty idea and post here or ask your friends for advice about it, do you want to hear (possibly the truth) that it is a s#itty idea and save your investment or get “positivity” and blow a fortune?
Anyone who cannot properly evaluate and accept/reject advice is not going to succeed in anything, be it in improving a golf swing or running a company. Negativity is good when it is properly evaluated, it is as necessary as that chill of fear to motivate you to succeed.
In this Forum or in any business environment you are part of a community. Those communities are primarily made up of good or mediocre people and dreamers. So learn to evaluate.

Jjjjjjjbarry wrote: »

I hope to start a new business soon and am not as excited as I was a few years ago when I started the training to get in position

If you are not excited about starting your own business, then don’t start it because you already have a huge hurdle (yourself) to overcome. Ask a trusted fried / accountant / mentor about your idea & plan, then re-evaluate the project. Reading you OP it is full of self-doubt (and TBH a bit whiney.)

Jjjjjjjbarry wrote: »

Mostly it's down to being surrounded by negativity and people telling me what I should have done instead and why what I'm doing won't work and generally not being interested or showing any faith in me.

Why should anyone have faith in you or be interested in your project? It’s just a project, you’ve achieved nothing yet. It’s like kids – nobody is interested in other people’s babies/ little darlings. What evaluation have you done on their comments? Evaluate them, were they right/wrong? Then make a decision and - if you go ahead - prove the naysayers wrong!

Jjjjjjjbarry wrote: »

I am doing what I'm doing because it's what I want to do and for that reason, I believe I will succeed because I'm willing to put in the hard work. I know others who have walked this path with great success and others who have failed so it's down to hard work and just being determined enough to follow your dream despite any setbacks that come your way

You will not succeed as a result of doing what you want to do. Nor because of hard work and determination – yes, those (and more) are very necessary, but you need much more than that to make a profit and neither self-belief nor hard work generate that.

Jjjjjjjbarry wrote: »

I've read that to succeed you need to free yourself from negativity and surround yourself with positivity

To be honest, that’s BS, stuff that is written by life-coaches and Americans who write ‘business’ books and need to fill pages. Dump those notions. The way to succeed is to properly evaluate your business plan, to stop faffing about and implement it if it is workable. Just “DO IT”, sooner rather than later, because markets change and will change more the longer you delay.

AnCatDubh

It depends on the kind of negativity or positivity and your interpretation of same (albeit I agree with previous posters about beware of the BS merchants out there). Consider the following positive and negative statements/advice:

The positive - "You are a great hard worker son, and I think you'll make an amazing entrepreneur in your new coffee shop. I really wish you well."

The negative - "Ohh, don't know about that. There are already 7 coffee shops in this small town and I'm pretty sure 4 of them are struggling at the moment. If it were me I wouldn't be doing that."

While the positive is easier to hear and stomach, and causes you no angst whatsoever and encourages you no end, I'd sooner hear and evaluate the negative in this case than 100 people telling me the positive. At least I would now at where I am in life.

Sure, the negative may be wrong, could even be spiteful, vindictive, driven by jealously of the advisor or whatever, but if you listen and hear and evaluate and find out as near as you can as to the facts of the situation whatever it is (or not as the case may be), the negative may actually be the more valuable advice. Its you that will make the ultimate judgement call. We all love and need to be encouraged and praised - and yes, that creates a powerful energy and positive feeling within you. Just don't let that blind you to any realities of starting, as in my example, a coffee shop with 4 others failing around you particularly if you are planning on a business model very close to theirs. Sure, understand why they are failing and build your business plan/model around ensuring you won't fall fowl to the issues being pointed out to you, and then proceed with all the enthusiasm that you have and can muster. That'd be the smart way to do it.

Good luck with it whatever you decide to do.

Buttercake

Jjjjjjjbarry wrote: »

I've read that to succeed you need to free yourself from negativity and surround yourself with positivity

This would be the perfect scenario but we live in a very imperfect world! Its impossible to cut of negativity and as some have pointed out, negativity is also whats needed to keep you on your toes and head out of the clouds! It also gives you thick skin when you face unexpected and new challenges along your way.

You need to start somewhere, block out the noise and do what you do.. I'm guessing you will need to sell your product or service to maintain your business and when you start building relationships with suppliers, customers and partners this is when the "buzz" starts and you really start looking forward to working every day, you have people who appreciate your work and want more of it.

Having your own business is the most enjoyable and rewarding things you can do in life.

Best of luck.

gargargar

Jjjjjjjbarry wrote: »

Hello,

I am doing what I'm doing because it's what I want to do and for that reason, I believe I will succeed because I'm willing to put in the hard work. I know others who have walked this path with great success and others who have failed so it's down to hard work and just being determined enough to follow your dream despite any setbacks that come your way.

I've read that to succeed you need to free yourself from negativity and surround yourself with positivity so I'm posting here to suck some energy from other entrepreneurial minds.

Most of the advice you have there is predicated on your idea having commercial value.

For instance if you truly believe there is a better way to secure the web than user/passwords and you have an idea, then yes you can go for it as if you crack it there would be a potential big reward. However, if you enjoy making coffee and want to work at that, then maybe (as another poster said) look at the competition in your area.

Learn to use negativity to motivate you. Negatives become positives in that way, and when you succeed it becomes all the more sweeter. And if you can't do that then stop surrounding yourself with people that are down on everything and seek out positive people. Its all in your hands.

mrawkward

Hard work, dedication and commitment are the most basic requirements to set out in business on your own. If your offering is good enough, your timing correct and there is a sustainable market opportunity available, these factors will have the biggest impact in terms of outcome. The rest is just background noise.....

Jjjjjjjbarry

Thanks for all the responses and good wishes.

I probably should have made it clear that I have what I think is a solid business plan in a market that's not overly flooded but I know that it will not be overnight success. I also plan to start my new business while still working in my old job so I have that security but it's the time and investment that are the big commitment (on top of all the time and money I've already invested in training) Obviously there is no guarantee of success and there is a risk. Hard work, determination, marketing, skill, luck etc.... I know all of that is required.

What I really meant is positivity about taking that 'leap of faith' and putting yourself out there to go forward. I'm sure there are many who plod through life, never taking a chance and regretting it in the end. Maybe they would have taken that leap of faith if those around them were more supportive and encouraging with regard to taking that chance. It can be demotivating when those around you are ticking all the cliche boxes of life and don't understand why you don't want the same things they do.

After all, we only live once and it's not for very long.