Often we find ourselves delved in an ocean of judgements, ruthless comments and harsh remarks that only make us doubt our decisions every single day. But what if we could jump right out of that depressing ocean and sail on a happy voyage?
Well, the ride to your ship wouldn’t be too easy. You will have to make some shifts and transitions that will completely transform the way you look at yourself.
It will take time, patience and endurance to fight back all those tough times when you will be attacked and shot down like a little puppy.
Sounds brutal, doesn’t it?
To be honest, this will be difficult, but once you are through this process of gaining confidence, and retrospect the journey you have made so far, you will see your EVOLUTION.
Take pride in who you are
People often tend to belittle other people, especially those who are more content in their life or seem successful enough. The former ones actively scout for the mistakes made by the later ones, and it is only a matter of time till they realize they have discovered flaws that every human being possess – most of which even resemble with their own.
But by then, they have already wasted enough time in finding others’ faults and now lag in their personal growth. If you belong to the second category of people i.e. the ones who are happily content with their lives and are continually growing, you should not apologize for the time other people have lost because of you.
Why would you apologize?
Oh, you would. If you are as sensitive as I once was, you would probably take all the blame on yourself and even begin finding faults in yourself.
Well, don’t do that! You don’t need to be a warrior in a force that is aiming at shooting you down.
If people don’t understand what you do for a living, explain it to them – once, twice and thrice – but after you have given enough significant lectures, let them be.
I am an engineer turned full-time freelance content writer, and when I quit my job to pursue full-time freelancing, it wasn’t even known to many people so they were confused.
Many asked if I was earning enough?
Others were curious to know about how do I earn money by “just sitting at home and playing with my laptop” all the time.
And the rest belonged to this specific group that I talked about in the first few lines, which is only bothered about finding all the wrong things with you.
People who are on a dedicated mission to find faults in others are often those who have these imaginary, invisible massive voids in their lives. It can be a lack of career growth, family issues, relationship problems, financial crunches or just oblivion.
Oblivion is the root cause of characteristics that bring people down. It pulls them down right from the roof to the basement with a painful journey and imparts them with traits that leave them hurt.
But when people judge you, take a moment and pause for a while.
Think about their journey, what must have made them like this, or even have a sneak peek in your soul to look if you are really at fault. But if you are not, and if they have a clean slate, or even if they don’t but have become this obnoxious version of themselves always pulling you down, STEP UP!
Take pride in what you do and who you are. You don’t owe anyone any explanation. It’s just a matter of time before other people begin to value and respect your decisions, till then you have to protect yourself and embrace every tiny particle of your mind, body and soul with utter pride and happiness.
Stop seeking permission from others
When you hear stories from your grandfather about how he ran away as a kid with a penny in his pocket and now, has built this empire with tons of cash flourishing in, do they talk about seeking permission?
Or do they glorify how they mustered up all the courage they had and made a stupid decision as a kid?
Of course, it was a stupid decision (if you look at it from an adult’s perspective). But look where they landed. It is because they believed in themselves, they knew they had the courage and talent to do better things – things that were beyond their reach if they had stayed where they were, things that stirred their whole world but only they could feel and things that only ambitious people could have imagined in their wildest of dreams.
Or it might be because they just got damn lucky. Who knows?
Whatever the reason might be, you have to acknowledge the fact that elders too were young once, they too made mistakes and this is where life has led them.
Now, by saying this, I, by no means intend to provoke the younger generation to take hasty or impulsive decisions.
Think it through!
While your elder generations might not have given much thought before taking any step or they simply didn’t have enough resources to do so, you are one lucky gen to be born in this era. Everything is possible with the power of the internet today.
If you believe in an idea that could change the world, do not seek permission from those who have not walked the exact same path.
You can always take healthy and constructive advice that gives you more clarity and brings you a step closer to your goal. But, don’t allow yourself to fall prey to those who constantly bicker about innovative ideas because they think it will not work!
If they have never done it, how do they know it can’t be done?
Listen to what your mind and heart tell you – don’t follow either, but both – and make sure to plan ahead and lay out a guide map to your own success.