DREAM CHASER: The voices you should never listen to

The voice that says it’ll never work.

“The biggest difference I’ve noticed between successful and unsuccessful people isn’t intelligence or opportunity or resources. It is the belief that they can make their goals happen.” – James Clear

J.K. Rowling rose from being a jobless single mother living off government aids to one of the bestselling authors of all time. She could not afford a computer or the cost of photocopying her 90,000-word novel, so she manually typed out each version to send to publishers. The original ‘Harry Potter’ pitch was rejected twelve times until a publishing house in London gave it a second chance after the CEO’s eight year-old daughter fell in love with it.

Are things not going your way right now? No matter how hard you try, the pieces just aren’t fitting. In place of encouragements, you get discouragements. Clamp your ears and go la, la, la, la. Do not listen to that voice. Later is not Never. Great things are coming.

The voice that calls you a failure.

“It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all, in which case you have failed by default.” – J.K. Rowling

Have you ever been in a place where there are people from your past and many of them want to know what you are doing now, they want to assess how successful you’ve become and compare assets but you know you haven’t reached half where they are and all of a sudden this voice comes in a whisper: you are a failure?

While other kids his age could speak, Albert Einstein was unable to speak until he was three and it took him several more years after before he was fluent. He couldn’t read until he was seven years of age. Many people suspected him of being retarded, antisocial and even handicapped. In fact, many people believed Einstein would never succeed at anything. He was expelled from school and was refused admittance to the Zurich Polytechnic School.

Now, the word ‘Einstein’ is synonymous with genius. Einstein became a professor at the University of Zurich and afterwards, a professor of theoretical physics of Prague. He won a Noble Prize in physics in 1921.

Knowing it’s okay to fail allows you to take more risks in life. Don’t fear failure. It is inevitable. To finally succeed, after repeated failure, is one of the best feelings in the world.

More importantly, you might not be where others – friends, colleagues, sometimes siblings – are yet, but you are not a failure. You are not a failure. You are trying. Maybe once or twice, you’ve messed up; you’ll bounce back. You’ll bounce back better than before.

The voice that tells you to quit.

“Success seems to be connected with action. Successful people keep moving. The make mistakes, but they don’t quit.” – Conrad Hilton

As a kid, Michael Jordan couldn’t even make the starting lineup of his high school team. In his career, he missed more than 9,000 shots, he lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six times, he was trusted to take the game winning shot and missed.

He did NOT quit.

Michael Jordan is one of the greatest athletes of all time with career stats including 6,672 rebounds, 5,633 assists, and 39,292 total points according to NBA.com.

Be the person who makes things happen, irrespective of the challenges. Work hard for what you want and remember the goal is winning. As the saying goes, quitters don’t win and winners don’t quit. Don’t let go of this dream.

The voice that downgrades your best.

“I have no regrets because I know I did my best – all I could do.” – Midori Ito

Elvis Presley’s music teacher told him he had no aptitude for singing. After Presley’s first performance, his manager said, “You ain’t goin’ nowhere, son. You ought to go back to drivin’ a truck.”

By the end of his life, he was one of the biggest selling solo artist in history, with three Grammys under his belt.

At 22, Walt Disney was fired from Kansas City Star in 1919 because his editor said; he “lacked imagination and had no good ideas.”

Today, Walt Disney is the most awarded individual in the history of Academy Awards. He rakes in billions from movies, merchandise and theme parks around the world.

Ever heard your best called ‘not enough’? Well, don’t listen. An instant success is a myth. An overnight success is preceded by years of struggle and work. Giving in to the voice that downgrades your best is the worst decision you could ever make. Life is not easy. You can do this! It can be achieved!

The voice that calls you a disgrace.

“Losing is no disgrace if you’ve given your best.” – Jim Palmer

Robert Goddard, an inventor who successfully developed and fired a liquid-fueled rocket was mocked when he first proposed the idea of liquid-fueled rocket propulsion in space. Even a New York Times editorial ridiculed his idea. Almost every prototype rocket he flight-tested failed at one point or another.

His foundation of rocket research became the fundamental principles of rocket propulsion. Goddard is referred to as the father of modern day rocketry. Rockets are essential components for space exploration, fireworks, satellite communications and lots more.

Pay no attention to harsh criticism and mockery, it’ll only knock you off course. Your work is not a disgrace. You are not a disgrace. Defeat is not disgrace. There is only shame in not getting back up. It’s admirable, what you do. Shun scorns and malicious laughter, just keep on keeping on.

The voice that says you are not loved.

“Love yourself first, and everything else falls in line. You really have to love yourself to get anything done in this world.” – Lucille Ball

There are billions of antibodies flowing through your veins, which would die in other to protect you. That is how important you are. You are loved. The only reason you feel like you are not loved is because you don’t love yourself. And the first step to feeling unloved is comparing yourself to others. You have to value yourself. Do you know you’re being a terrible person to yourself by relentlessly comparing yourself to others? Stop meticulously looking for reasons why you don’t deserve to be loved.

You are wonderful.

You are unique.

You are enough.

So you made a mistake, why beat yourself up about it? Be kinder to yourself. Take care of yourself. Don’t waste time on what other people think, just do your thing. It’s time to upgrade how you think about yourself, you deserve your love and affection. It is the bravest thing you’ll ever do.

The voice that says God cannot forgive you.

“No matter what you’ve done, there is no sin beyond the reach of God’s grace once you have accepted Christ’s offer of forgiveness.” – Randy Alcorn

Humans forgive. How much more a Supreme being?

Lamentations 2:22-23 says, “It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is thy faithfulness.”

God loves you. He has known you before you knew yourself. He knows your frame – that you are formed from dust. He knows you’ll make mistakes and stumble in one area or another because He created the world and knows how everything works, and that is why he supplies us with daily dose of His mercies every morning.

Sin is like coming home to your son and he is covered in mud; do you hate him for it? I guess not. You might scold him, but you’ll have him change into something clean and move on. God forgives. No sin is too big or small. All you need to do is acknowledge and confess your sins to Him, declare ‘Jesus Christ is Lord’ and be saved. The amazing part is when God forgives, He remembers it no more. You are forgiven.

We’ve all had an encounter with one or two or all of these voices; and perhaps listened. It could be from parents, friends or haters and it may just be in your head. DON’T LISTEN.

It is a different level of peace when you are happy, stress-free, fake friends free, negative voices free and focused. At the point where you just got to be strong and hopeful, you just got to be strong and hopeful.

“The only person you should let put you down is no one. It’s your life. Live it. Enjoy it. Rule it.” – Wendra_Kim