If Anyone Ever Tells You to Aim Lower, Walk Away!

Why do we (as a society) still dash the hopes of dreamers by encouraging them to “play it safe?”

When a kid says, “I want to be a Major League Baseball player,” the all too often heard response is, “That’s nice. So, what do you want to really do for a living?”

The response is an interesting dichotomy because it is both heart felt and utterly stupid at the same time.

Impossible is just an opinion. (Paulo Coelho)

A person typically says this because they do not want the kid to be “disappointed” in life. They don’t want them to “get their hopes up” and end up “failing.” When someone aims high, the people who have spent a lifetime aiming low immediately believe they are being delusional.

What is with this discomfort that some people have with other people being successful?

The irony is that, if that kid goes about doing what he or she is “supposed to do” (go to school, go to college, get a job, live paycheck to paycheck while spending income she hasn’t yet made in the form of mortgages and credit cards), that kid is gonna be disappointed anyway (just like the person who told her to “aim lower”)!

Why not go for your dreams and have a shot at NOT being like everyone else who gave you that well intended, but absolutely ridiculous “advice?”

Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds. The mediocre mind is incapable of understanding the man who refuses to bow blindly to conventional prejudices and chooses instead to express his opinions courageously and honestly. (Albert Einstein)

Guess what? Somebody gets paid to do what you want to do! They do! They are people, just like you and me, who have a real talent and worked hard for something they were probably destined to do.

Do not EVER let someone discourage you from aiming higher just because they chose not to. (Robin Sacks)

If it is not going to work out for you, you will find that out. That’s OK. But what if it is what you are truly meant to do? Nobody has the right to stop you from going for it. Guess what? It’s really hard to “fail” when you can always “go get a job” like anyone else.

Don’t let other people’s opinions distort your reality. Be true to yourself. Be bold in pursuing your dreams. Be un-apologetically you! (Steve Maraboli)

When you have a fire in your belly, you have a drive; when you have a drive, you have a passion; when you have a passion, you need action; when you add action to passion, you have success…and a sure way out of utter “disappointment.”

Life is ALL about choices. Someone might tell you that “Everything happens for a reason,” leaving our fate in the hands of a greater power beyond. Here’s what we know — you were put on this earth with abilities and talents and ideas and the ability to think (wherever you believe those things came from); what you choose to DO with those things is what determines where you end up.

The well meaning people who want to help you the most (family, friends) are often the ones who have the ability to hold you back the most, because they care too much and do not want to see you “get hurt.” Again, do you see the irony?

I used to care what people thought about me until, one day, I tried to pay my bills with their opinions. (Unknown)

Look at the people giving you their advice. Do you want to be them? Are they already doing what you want to be doing? Are they happy? Are they “successful” (whatever that means to you)? If so, listen to them! They are giving you a road map. If not, say thank you and run!

If they are not serving you, why are you you listening? That is a you thing, not a them thing. The beauty of that? You have total control over your choice.

Find the people who ARE already doing what you want to do. Those are the people with whom you need to talk. Go find them and ask a lot of questions. Go find them and listen to what they have to say. Go find them and became the student.

The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams. (Eleanor Roosevelt)

WRITTEN BY

Robin Sacks Professionally, I am a Confidence & Performance Coach, speaker, author and motivator. Personally, I am a mom, wife, and friend.

I live for bad puns and good mysteries.