Why Believing Other People Is the Worst Thing You Can Do
I sat through one of the most mentally straining hours of my life the other night. It was difficult because I had to listen to 9 people who knew little to nothing about my chosen profession (marketing) bash it, and I couldn’t say a word. (think of an indirect, less offensive, and less humorous version of the “The Office” episode where Michael gets roasted…p.s the clip is hilarious!)
The reason I had to sit through this event without saying anything is because we held a focus group for one of our assignments, where we invited 9 people to come and give their honest opinions on the topic of marketing research as a career. Seeing as how we wanted their honest, authentic opinions on the matter, I was unable to defend the industry and my chosen profession (sorry to all my fellow marketers out there).
I can only imagine what a real roasting would feel like; Michael from The Office is a brave man!
I have to admit that my faith in what I am doing/want to do waivered momentarily as I sat in that room listening to the common negative, uninformed opinions on marketing, basically that all we do is try to trick you into buying something that either doesn’t work or you don’t need. However, this event, along with reading a blog post on the website of one of the people I look up to the most, Michael Drew, gave me some powerful, practical insight. (Michael’s doing something similar to what I want to do…spread enlightened ideas. He’s a book publisher who has put more than 65 books on national bestseller lists (not an easy task)).
My favourite quote from this article is:
“Expose yourself to the refiner’s fire and let your peers criticize you. If it’s too hot for you, maybe you weren’t the hot stuff you thought you were. If you survive, you will become much stronger.” – (www.beneaththecover.com)
I gained some powerful insight from this experience which the quote above tied together nicely:
- Although it is important to surround yourself with supportive people who will help you achieve your goals, occasionally throw yourself into the “refiner’s fire” to test your direction and conviction, and to gain new perspective
- Listen and test what others say, but whatever you do, DO NOT BELIEVE THEM. Whatever other people say is a reflection of what’s going in their head, based on their knowledge and experience, and HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH YOU. Make decisions based on your judgement and feelings, and trust yourself. (I actually first picked this rule up from one of my favourite books, The Four Agreements, by Miguel Don Ruiz).
Just wanted to share this small breakthrough and relieve some of my mental uneasiness, I’m still working on getting back into the zone so I can blog more often. Thanks to everyone who has followed me so far, I truly appreciate you taking the time out of your day to read what I have to say, and I love hearing from people who have read my blog.
Have an awesome day, and carefully filter what you hear from other people, i’ll certainly be doing my best to!
