3by9

Fuck Em

Pretty strong title huh? Maybe not what you wanted or expected to see, but it is something you need to learn to say. Why? Because sometimes it’s the one saying that will keep you going. Sometimes it’s the one saying that will remind you that you have a path to follow and whether you are wrong or right (the future will decide that for you) it is the path you have decided to take.

Now there are definitely times when you shouldn’t say such things especially if you are ruining your life or someone else’s. But if you are taking a chance with your career because you have a passion for something and the people around you wish to talk you out of it maybe you need to say it and push forward. When people doubt you you really need to say this.

You don’t have to say it to their face, but say it to yourself to empower your belief that you can do it. You don’t always need people to pat you on the back and tell you great job. You don’t always need people to tell you how great you are. What you need to do is believe in what you are doing whether it works out or not.

Too often we have people trying to blow smoke up our ass when they don’t believe in what we are doing. Other times we will have people doubting what we do and it is one thing to disagree, but another to doubt that we (or you) are not trying to do what is best for us.

The confusing aspect of this is that you should care what people think. I am often confused as someone who doesn’t care what people think about me and that couldn’t be further from the truth. I do care, but there is a limit to how much I will care. If you care about my well-being and are stating your opinion based around that then lovely. If you are criticizing to criticize then no I probably won’t care how you view me. An example of this happened a couple years ago at SXSW. I was told that I don’t dress appropriate for someone in my position and that I almost dressed like a clown.

Now there was no event that I went to that was formal wear. There was never a time I wore anything offensive. I simply wore the clothes that I wear everyday. When people want to state their opinions about you that go against you being you, then yeah just say the title of this entry.

Can you imagine when Obama first told the people around him that he was going to run for president? You think everyone stood behind him? I have no doubt there were a ton of people that told him he had no chance because he is part black. I don’t know if he uses the language I use, but there had to be part of his brain that said something similar and look where he stands now.

As great it is to have people supporting you, you won’t always have that in life. Sometimes you will only have you and that is all you need. For the ones trying to hold you back remind yourself of something. You know what to say.