One of the things that helped me and hurt me the most when I first became an entrepreneur was that no one believed in me. All of my family and friends were negative to the point of ridicule. There was one exception and that was my mother in law. She adamantly believed in me and scolded anyone she overheard making fun of my “crazy” ideas. I loved her for believing in me and thank God to this day that she lived long enough to see my companies flourish and validate her early faith in my abilities.
Ironically the negative sentiment that was heaped upon me helped me immensely because their telling me that I could not succeed made me all the more determined to show them that they were wrong. It also strengthened my faith. I believed the Bible when it said, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”, and when I was ultimately successful, my faith in it became all the more vibrant.
Although the negativism did help me; make no mistake, it also hurt me. I tried not to let it bother me; but I was hurt by their lack of faith in me. The funny thing about it was that none of them had ever founded their own successful companies; in fact not a single one in the lot of them had ever dared to attempt to found a business of their own. I don’t know why I allowed these “pseudo experts” to discourage me, but they did for a while; especially in the first business or two that I started.
Take it from me, it’s difficult enough to take the risk and put in the hard work to found a company and get it off the ground without having to endure naysayers. It probably bothered me more because it reminded me of my childhood when my family and others would make fun of me, or tell me that I would never amount to anything. Ultimately it made me very angry and gave me a desire to lash out at them.
Okay all you pious Christians here comes a shocker, I think the one thing that helped me the most was to just get angry when they belittled my ideas. I did not release my anger by beating the crap out of anybody because of it; I didn’t even argue and eventually refused to even listen to their negativism anymore. Instead I rolled up my sleeves and went to work and became very determined to show them that they were all very wrong about me. And show them I did!
Anger is not a sin, (at least not all of the time). Jesus was angry at the money changers in the temple. He was found to be without sin. I’m not comparing my situation to His mind you; I’m just stating that I think there is nothing wrong with being angry at injustice in this world, particularly if it stimulates you to accomplish your goals through Christ.
Will there be naysayers about today’s entry?
You betcha!
To them in all humility I say:
Blah!
Proverbs 22:4
Humility and the fear of the Lord bring wealth and honor and life.