Negative energy is something we all have to deal with every single day. The difference between the people who lead a fulfilling life and those who live just to “get by” is what they do with that negative energy. I think a lot of us that are on this path to success (and if you are reading this you obviously have the desire to improve) think that we will get to a point in our lives where there will be no more negativity in our lives. The truth is, it will never go away. There will always be people who will say things to make you question your own ambitions, goals, beliefs, and dreams. This is a concept that is talked about more and more everyday. You know, “Ignore the naysayers” and “f*** the haters” and other sayings along those lines. The thing is, the “haters” aren’t the big problem. It’s not too hard to ignore that negative comment on your video from someone you don’t even know. No, I think the real problem that often stops people from following their wildest dreams, is the people you love. These are the people that “want the best for you” and so they tell you to be “realistic”. So what do most of us do? We LISTEN to them!

There is something about this that people need to realize. That is, every time someone tells to you be realistic, what they are really saying is, “I don’t think you can do that.” or “You’ll never be able to accomplish that.”. They are expressing doubt. We must remember that they are NOT inside our head. They do not see the things we see! They don’t have the vision we have, let alone the guts to admit they might actually be able to do it. I think it’s so sad to see this problem bring so many people away from following their dreams. The worst part is, this message often comes from those who we are closest to. The more we care about someone, the more likely their message is going to affect us. This then, is very subtle negative energy that pulls us away from where we want to be. It can pull us away without us even realizing it.

When I tell people that I wake up at five o’clock every morning, I’ve noticed I get one of two reactions. The first is someone who says something along the lines of “Wow, that’s inspiring.” or “Dang, I need to wake up earlier.”. The second says something like “Why would you wake up that early?” or “You’re crazy.”. I’m a firm believer that anything that drives someone to call you crazy, is probably worthy doing. EVEN IF that person calling you crazy is a member of your family. Again, they don’t have the vision you have. The key is to NOT let the things those people say get to us!

I was out to lunch with a good friend and fellow entrepreneur of mine talking about this concept of negative energy. How it is all around us, and how it is often most powerful coming from our friends and family. He gave me a metaphor that is spot on. A blazing fire. Lets look at all our ambitions, goals, and dreams as a fire. Negative energy is the firewood. Each time someone says to you, “Be realistic”, “You’re crazy”, “You’ll never be able to do that”, or any other form of negative energy, they are giving you a piece of firewood. Now, we have two options. We can either throw it up on our back and let it weigh us down, or we can throw it into our fire and let it fuel us even more. Think about that! If we could turn all the negative energy we receive on a daily basis into fuel, imagine how much hotter and bigger our fire would be! How much harder would it be to extinguish? If we can get in the habit of turning negativity into fuel, there really is NOTHING that can stop us from becoming what we want to be. I don’t know about you guys, but there isn’t much that feels better than proving wrong those who doubted you.

Let’s get out there and let our fire burn! Let our light shine! We weren’t put here to be mediocre. We were put here to be truly great in our own authentic and unique way, so let’s go out and do it! Let us burn!