How many times have you abandoned an idea, project or dream
because someone made a disparaging remark or rolled their
eyes when you told them about it?

Relinquishing your dreams

All too frequently we allow others to dictate what is good,
right or possible. We allow them to steal our dreams. Notice
I use the word “allow.” No one can put you down, stomp on
your dream, or kill an idea of yours unless you allow them
to.

Consider that:

The movie Star Wars was rejected by every movie studio in
Hollywood before 20th Century Fox finally produced it. It
went on to be one of the largest-grossing movies in film
history.

As a child, Sylvester Stallone was frequently beaten by
his father and told he had no brains. He grew up an unhappy
loner. He floated in and out of schools. An advisor at
Drexel University told him that based on his aptitude tests
he should pursue a career as an elevator repair person. It’s
not a bad profession but it’s certainly not where “Rocky”
ended up!

Einstein was criticized for not wearing socks or cutting
his hair. He didn’t speak until he was four, and didn’t read
until he was seven. One observer noted, “He could be
mentally retarded”.

An expert said of Vince Lombardi:”He possesses minimal
football knowledge. Lacks motivation. . .

Beethoven handled the violin awkwardly and preferred
playing his own compositions instead of improving his
technique. His teacher proclaimed him hopeless as a
composer.

Walt Disney was fired from his job as a newspaper editor
for lack of ideas. He also went bankrupt several times
before he created Disneyland.

Henry Ford failed and went broke 5 times before he finally
succeeded.

Louisa May Alcott, the author of Little Women, was
encouraged to find work as a servant or seamstress. She
would certainly never be a writer.

In 1944, the director of the Blue Book Modeling Agency
told modeling hopeful Norma Jean Baker (Marilyn Monroe),
“You’d better learn secretarial work, or else get married.”

It Takes Courage

So what are your ideas? Your thoughts? Your dreams? Your
plans?

It doesn’t matter if anyone supports what you want to do.
The important thing is for YOU to believe. For YOU to ignore
the people who say you can’t do it – and DO IT ANYWAY! It
takes courage. It takes persistence. It takes believing in
the “voice inside” when no one else does. Ideas, dreams and
visions are planted within you because you have the ability
to make them happen. You’ll learn, grow, scramble, fail, and
get back up again! The important thing is to simply never
give up. The people I mentioned earlier never gave up – and
they made great things happen!