When Others Say it can’t Be Done…
How many times have you had a great idea and when you tell someone about it, they look at you like you’re crazy and then follow with ” that will never work…” I know some of you are shaking your head yes, and I can honestly say I have been told that many times already.
Any entrepreneur can tell you that you have to have thick skin when going after an idea or dream. There’s a difference between an entrepreneur and a non entrepreneur, which is when someone tells you that your idea won’t work, it makes you double your drive to make that idea come to life. Those who are not, will take it in, get mad and just stop as if they have been defeated and move to something else.
Think about how many people get told that their business idea won’t work or it’s not good enough, even some of the biggest businesses were once told that and they proved those people wrong. I love to hear about people’s stories when they talk about how they started out with their idea and how many people turned them down but yet they still made it because they believed in it and all it took was another to believe in it too. Like for instance, Stephenie Myers who wrote the Twilight series, she had this great idea for this book and she sent out numerous letters. She received many rejection letters that came back and she saved each one of them, making it drive her even more to succeed in getting that book published. And one day someone responded to her and picked it up and now look at it, it’s a best selling book and just had a movie about it. I love the part where she said she kept the rejection letters to drive her and don’t you think those ones that rejected her are kicking themselves right now??
Another story I love is the one about Tom’s Shoes. Blake in an interview was asked if there were people who thought his idea would work or not and he replied with “of course, I had so many tell me that this concept would more than likely not work.” But look at him now with what he and his company have done, where they give a pair of shoes away for each pair that is bought. That’s a pretty awesome concept and idea, he definitely proved those wrong.
There is nothing wrong with being pessimistic sometimes because it’s called realism in other words too. You have to have some that pull you back down out of the clouds but it doesn’t mean that you have to forfeit your dream or idea. I have learned that you take the good in with the bad and learn from it but use it to make you or your idea better. And when those tell it can’t be done, prove them wrong. And when you do prove them wrong, how much sweeter is it to go back to them and say “now what do you think about my idea?”
No idea is a bad idea, maybe you need to work out some of the kinks but never give up on a dream or idea because if you do, the world may miss out on something great.
-Ashley
