Dealing With CriticsWritten by Jonathan R Taylor
It seems there is never a shortage of critics around for those who are pursuing their dreams. When faced with critics, I am reminded many times of how crabs react to one another when one is trying to escape confines of a bucket. Just as crab is about to pull himself over rim of bucket to freedom, one of others will pull him back down. In same way, there are people who constantly try to pull us back down to level of mediocrity by criticizing our dreams and goals for future.One of most effective ways to deal with negativity is to avoid it altogether. If we constantly surround ourselves with people who criticize our plans, then it's very easy to get discouraged. Next, do plenty of research to find out every possible challenge you might face along way. Remember, we don't want to fall prey to negativity, but we must also be very realistic in determining obstacles we might face along way. If we desire to start a business, we need to do market research to find out if there is a need for our product or service Lastly, you must have a solid game plan in place for accomplishing your goals. Remember, a dream without a plan is just a dream. It seems that everyone has a dream, but most people aren't willing to put a plan behind their dream. Someone once said, "Success is when preparation meets opportunity."
| | Change MakersWritten by Jonathan R Taylor
Recently, I’ve been reading a book entitled The Change Makers by Maury Klein. The book describes many of great entrepreneurs of 20th century and explains common attributes that made them successful. One particularly interesting chapter is on subject of creativity. Little has been written on subject of creativity, yet it has produced more momentous results than any other activity that humans do. Unfortunately, many people go through their entire lives without really learning to think creatively. Creative thinking is too often associated with artistic people only, but truth is that creative thinkers are needed in just about every field of endeavor. Often, problem is that as people grow up and gain more understanding, habits and routines begin to form in their lives. These routines make life so much easier by placing much of what we do on autopilot. Think about last time you drove home from work. Did you actually think about all turns necessary to get from office to home? No, because it becomes such a routine in your life. The same thing can actually happen in your career. We develop comfortable habits or routines at work that start to form boundaries around our thinking. Einstein once said that insanity can be defined as doing same thing over and over and hoping for a different result. People who get stuck in jobs that they hate often want different results, but are afraid to step out and change because of comfort of their environment. People who are comfortable in their situation don’t want to think creatively about how to change. For example, many people are desperately looking to find other alternatives to what they are doing, but when when asked to sit down and think about creative income alternatives, they quickly reply that there just isn't anything else out there that they can do.
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