Don't Be So Critical (I Know it's Hard)

Cover of Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us

"What people are afraid of isn't failure. It's blame. Criticism."

- Seth Godin from the book Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us

What an amazing observation.

We're afraid of people saying things like. . .

"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard."

"What a waste of money"

"Who's responsible for this?"

or perhaps even worse. And this stops us from trying new things, taking risks, and from putting ourselves out there.

I don't want to give you extra motivation to stand up in the face of adversity today.

I want to help you let someone else do it. I want you to stop and think about the negative things you might say, that you have said, that people will imagine you saying when they stand up to try something new.

There's two sides to every story. I know I don't let fear stop me from doing things. But I also know that I am quick to criticize. I am quick to shoot down ideas I don't think will fly. Ideas that are not exactly on my wave-length. Stuff I think is stupid.

I'm going to try my best not to do that any more. It's going to be a difficult thing to do, but I don't want to hold someone back. We should all be able to follow our dreams without fear.

That's my thought of the day!