If you stand for nothing, you fall for everything. I live by these words that my dad taught me, and I think we all should. Today, it's so easy to go with the flow of general culture. People want to tell you what to think and what to believe. I'm not saying that you should never change your mind because there are times when what you believe is just straight-up wrong, and you need to change. There are times, though, when you have a conviction that you need to stay grounded in. Not out of ignorance, but out of doing what you know is right.
Why does this matter? You can never accomplish anything of significance until you can learn to do this. You must develop the habit of standing your ground and sticking up for what you believe in. While at the same time listening and learning from as many people as possible. You have to know how to switch back and forth between these two things. They seem like opposites, but they are not. When you have a conviction based on ignorance, its more about what you don't know, and you try to block out. When you listen to people, your convictions grow stronger out of what you do know.
You can never accomplish anything of significance until you can learn to do this. You must develop the habit of standing your ground and sticking up for what you believe in.
Dream Killers
When you are around a dream killer, they are usually coming from a place of insecurity. They don't love themselves or believe they can accomplish things, so they shoot down others' dreams. We have all done this to someone, and its an ugly way to live.
When you decide to take a habit seriously and start building, it's usually because you have goals and you want to better your life. The second you decide to be better, the dream killers will swarm your life. Suddenly, you will have people around you that seem like friends, but they just continuously plant seeds of doubt.
You have to be able to stand up for what you believe in. One of those things you believe in is your dream. A dream is the easiest to kill in its infancy stage. No one tries to stomp on the dreams of Jeff Bezos because he could crush them with his wallet. But your dream may be small off that one seed of doubt could be enough to end it.
You have to be able to stand up for what you believe in. One of those things you believe in is your dream. A dream is the easiest to kill in its infancy stage.
Dream Builders
Some people are dream builders. At first, these people can seem like dream killers. They tell you some tough things you don't want to hear. The reality is that dream builders care about you being successful, and they want to help clear the path to make sure you arrive. When you stand up for what you believe in, you are not offended by dream builders.
You understand that they are standing up for the same thing ad you. They have similar convictions, but they are driven to be direct and upfront with you. You cant block out these people because you will end up operating in your world. Everything thing seems perfect in your mind until it gets exposed to the world.
How to Listen and Stand Up for What You Believe In
Learn how to listen to people without taking everything they say as gospel. Be willing to listen to everyone, though. I think people miss opportunities to learn because they only respect a specific type of person. You never know who in your world can drop a vital life lesson on you, though. Listen and try and pick up anything you can learn from. If its all garbage, cut your losses and go.
Here is why this helps! It helps you avoid being the type of person that things holding on to your beliefs means shutting everyone out. I will give you an example when I was building my first app. Someone saw I was building iOS and Android at the same time.
He told me it was a bad idea because if you make a significant change, you have to change to devices simultaneously. This was heartbreaking for me, so I just blocked it out. It did not take time for me to realize that he was right. If I had only heard him out and then made the time to do my research, I could have saved myself a lot of money and time.
Learn how to listen to people without taking everything they say as gospel. Listen and try and pick up anything you can learn from. If its all garbage, cut your losses and go.
How Do People Remain Racist
I have learned something. Many of the most racist people I have ever come across don't think they are racist. How does this happen? A significant cause of this is living in an echo chamber. They spend all of their time talking with people who think and look like them. They listen to news stations that just tell them everything they agree with.
After enough time for this, you are convinced that this is the right way because you have only heard one thing your whole life. When you are finally confronted with some different messages, your mind rejects it with everything it can. If you were to believe it, you would have to admit that your entire way of thinking is wrong, and that's hard.
Expose Yourself to As Many Ideas as You Can
One of the best things I have ever done is decide to read 100 books in a year. Before this point, most of the books I had read were business-related. I was living in an echo-chamber myself. But when you decide to read that many books, you have to expand. I started reading about art, history, health, and so many other subjects. It changed so many of my thoughts and perspectives.
I remember reading this book on how we are too positive. Its one of the hardest books for me to read because I am naturally very optimistic. The book was smashing into my beliefs, and my entire being wanted to burn the book in a fire. I kept going, though, because I wanted to fight that desire to shut out anything different.
The more I practiced this, the more I could hear new ideas and face them for what they were. I could do my research and come to my conclusions. I did not need to worry about having to change my views. I accepted that I wanted to switch as fast as possible if I was thinking in the wrong way.
One of the best things I have ever done is decide to read 100 books in a year. I started reading about art, history, health, and so many other subjects. It changed so many of my thoughts and perspectives.
Keep Standing Up for What You Believe in
You have to do them both at the same time. You can't change your views with every new book or person you come in contact with. As you learn more through your convictions will grow stronger, it will take more to change your mind. There have to be some core things you know to be true. These are your non-negotiables that you hold on to. Outside of these, though, it's all up for grabs.
You need to be the type of person with strong convictions that move you towards what you want for life. People need to be impressed with your ability to hold tight to the dream and your ability to keep learning and trying new things all at the same time. It's a hard thing to accomplish, but it's worth every ounce of effort.