The above paragraph is paraphrased from the now infamous words of Steve Jobs at his Stanford University commemorative address.
I am currently struggling and have been for over a year and half with this very theme: other's opinions of what I should be doing for a living. It's interesting but these "others" don't pay my bills, or help to take care of my home, or deal with the daily issues that come up in my life. It's puzzling than, also, why I allow these others opinions have such a profound effect on me.
Well, they shouldn't have that much affect on me. Nor should anyone else allow the other's opinions to change the direction they know they need to go in! I wanted to be a writer my entire life and I wrote, avidly in my journals... now I intend to write for a living. There are many of us who wish to do the same. Yet we face this immense difficulty getting our words out in publishable print. And from what I gather, so far, that difficulty is caused by the opinions of others.
Like Jobs, if you believe in your product, despite all of the criticism and doomsayers, you've got to stick by it. And my message today to you is to encourage you as I encourage myself, to stick by your product - whatever it is. After all look how far that attitude got Jobs in his iconic and illustrious career.
This post is enough to make me cry! Just because of how accurate it is!
ReplyDeleteOther people are so loud about their opinions, but you just know when you're meant to do something, when you don't want to do anything else. Once you discover that thing it's like your whole life has lit up. You shouldn't let others snuff that out.
Great post and even greater sentiment. Thanks!