If you’re an ambitious person, chances are you’ve run into naysayers.
Some people are quick to shoot down your aspirations, whether it be a business idea, career change, or goal to go after a big promotion.
Sometimes that naysayer might just be you.
Coming up against doubt can be truly frustrating and rain on your brightest visions for the future.
How can you keep shining and striving without letting naysayers dampen your spirit?
I say have it out with them (or you). Call them (or yourself) to the table on it.
Try this simple, but powerful, exercise I call the “So What?” game.
They say: But you’ll lose so much money in the process!
You say: So what?
Them: Don’t you care if you lose money?
You: So what if I lose money?
Them: You’ll deplete your investments; it’ll be terrible!
You: So what?
Them: You’ll be in a bad position.
You: So what?
Eventually…
Them: You’ll die! (or some other catastrophic consequence)
The whole exchange will begin to feel ridiculous. You’ll see how deeply invested they are in “the fact” that you’re going to fail — when, in fact, this is something they can’t predict.
The idea is to disrupt your line of thinking. They can’t possibly know you’re going to fail. Suddenly their naysaying no longer holds the weight it once did. It’s not grounded in anything solid.
It’ll nudge you out of that loop of worrying over the worst-case scenario. You can begin laughing it off by now asking yourself, why not?
Why not give it a try? Why not break out of the mold and do something new? Why not take a risk?
“So what?” becomes “Why not?”
You can always change your thinking by disrupting naysayers, even if that naysayer is you.
Leave a Reply