Don’t always listen to what people tell you.
I don’t mean that in a rebellious way, but in a way that you retain your liberty, focus, and goals. There are plenty of times where someone will say your ideas, goals, or whatever you are trying to do is impossible, thus discouraging you from doing it. I don’t believe that anyone intends to cut us down, rather, they might just be rationalizing based off what they know. This is something that sort of just popped into my head as I was getting ready to write for the journal, and was also thinking about my day.
Yesterday someone told me that I might as well just save my time, and not bother looking into a story idea. Today, someone told me that it would be too difficult to get access to someone, and said I’d just have to wait for a response (I’m a journalist, we don’t wait). If I had taken that advice to heart, I would not have taken the steps forward I needed to keep working toward my goal with this story. At times people may say you will fail, and then you do. I’ve been told plenty that it’s ok to fail, but you have to fail trying your best, and pursuing every avenue, not just giving up because someone above you says you can’t do it.
This is more of a problem for me than it might be for other folks. I listen to what everyone has to say too much, and when I have too much conflicting advice, then I go a little haywire. So, I’m essentially writing this as a note to self: Obviously take credible advice, learn from what others know, but don’t stop pursuing your goals (big and small) until you know for sure, tested by you, that it would be better not to continue. Until then, keep on workin’.