The Importance of Ignoring Advice
sneak peak: if there's nothing in the way of your dreams, go after them. now.
What do you think about when you find yourself daydreaming? Where does your mind wander when you don't give it a map? How does your life look when you think forward ten years from now, rife with optimism and free of 'sensible' decisions?
I am a firm believer that life is too short to miss opportunities. If you want to do something, if you have an inkling of an idea, a seedling that could grow into a whopping great forest, you should do it. I've been thinking about this a lot lately, and I've simplified it down into a very straightforward observation:
People will ask you "why?"; you just need to be able to say "why not?".
They may try to tell you that 'why not' is a terrible foundation for making a decision. It is not. When you really mean it (no flippancy here, this isn't a 'whatever'-style response), as a thought-out and measured reply, the very core of 'why not' is the realisation that there is nothing stopping you, no reason to hesitate any longer.
If you wanted to write a list of reasons why not, then you could, but analyse them again and you'll see that they stem from one single thing - it's risky. If we never did anything risky, we would never do anything at all. Isn't part of the joy of life taking risks and seeing how they pan out? Therefore risk gets scratched off the list too, and suddenly there are no reasons left - "why not?"
Obviously, if there is some gigantic unavoidable hurdle that isn't just the risk factor, things are different, but in the way of most dreams is simply the fear that it's less sensible, less safe, less guaranteed. Once you've looked at what your barriers are, and found that the only thing in the way is risk, discount it. Everything that exists today exists because people took risks. You wouldn't be reading this blog post if I hadn't taken a risk and published it, or if you hadn't taken a risk and bought your phone/laptop/tablet, or if Google's founders hadn't taken a risk and started Blogger in the first place.
At the end of the day, you're only willing to take a risk when it's something you care about, otherwise you wouldn't bother - because of the whole fact that it's risky. Therefore risk is not an excuse - it's proof you're doing something that matters. It might only matter to you, but that's enough.
I've been having this conversation a fair bit recently, and as it was eloquently put to me today, "Life is too short to have any regrets. What would 80-year-old Immy think if she was looking back on this decision? Would she think [doing A] was a good idea, or would she think it was a good idea that she went out and [did B]?" (Sub in A and B with the specifics of your own life, and voila - like a horoscope, it suits everyone.)
In short, if there's nothing concrete holding you back from turning the daydream into a reality, other than the doubt of people less audacious (some may say reckless, others brave) than you, then say 'why not' and get a move on. Providing yours is a considered risk, there should be no reason for anyone to talk you out of it. The only thing you will get from waiting around is less time to work on your dream.
- post #7 of 21 in the 21-day challenge -
What do you think about when you find yourself daydreaming? Where does your mind wander when you don't give it a map? How does your life look when you think forward ten years from now, rife with optimism and free of 'sensible' decisions?
I am a firm believer that life is too short to miss opportunities. If you want to do something, if you have an inkling of an idea, a seedling that could grow into a whopping great forest, you should do it. I've been thinking about this a lot lately, and I've simplified it down into a very straightforward observation:
People will ask you "why?"; you just need to be able to say "why not?".
They may try to tell you that 'why not' is a terrible foundation for making a decision. It is not. When you really mean it (no flippancy here, this isn't a 'whatever'-style response), as a thought-out and measured reply, the very core of 'why not' is the realisation that there is nothing stopping you, no reason to hesitate any longer.
If you wanted to write a list of reasons why not, then you could, but analyse them again and you'll see that they stem from one single thing - it's risky. If we never did anything risky, we would never do anything at all. Isn't part of the joy of life taking risks and seeing how they pan out? Therefore risk gets scratched off the list too, and suddenly there are no reasons left - "why not?"
Obviously, if there is some gigantic unavoidable hurdle that isn't just the risk factor, things are different, but in the way of most dreams is simply the fear that it's less sensible, less safe, less guaranteed. Once you've looked at what your barriers are, and found that the only thing in the way is risk, discount it. Everything that exists today exists because people took risks. You wouldn't be reading this blog post if I hadn't taken a risk and published it, or if you hadn't taken a risk and bought your phone/laptop/tablet, or if Google's founders hadn't taken a risk and started Blogger in the first place.
At the end of the day, you're only willing to take a risk when it's something you care about, otherwise you wouldn't bother - because of the whole fact that it's risky. Therefore risk is not an excuse - it's proof you're doing something that matters. It might only matter to you, but that's enough.
I've been having this conversation a fair bit recently, and as it was eloquently put to me today, "Life is too short to have any regrets. What would 80-year-old Immy think if she was looking back on this decision? Would she think [doing A] was a good idea, or would she think it was a good idea that she went out and [did B]?" (Sub in A and B with the specifics of your own life, and voila - like a horoscope, it suits everyone.)
In short, if there's nothing concrete holding you back from turning the daydream into a reality, other than the doubt of people less audacious (some may say reckless, others brave) than you, then say 'why not' and get a move on. Providing yours is a considered risk, there should be no reason for anyone to talk you out of it. The only thing you will get from waiting around is less time to work on your dream.
- post #7 of 21 in the 21-day challenge -
Great post! :)
ReplyDeleteThank you! This is the kind of feedback I always pay attention to, not biased at all..
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