Here's How to Keep This Negative World From Winning Don't let the fear stop you from becoming phenomenal in your life and business.
By Tim Denning •
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
There is so much in this world to be negative about. Our default response is often to fear the worst without knowing all the facts. Being an entrepreneur means that you are most at risk of this negative world.
You're a soft target because you have chosen to chase your dream and try to achieve the impossible. Who are you to think you can do something so amazing, buddy? Well, a better question is, who says you're not someone who can pull off the unthinkable?
Here are the six reasons why you shouldn't let this negative world win:
1. We have to rise up.
When it looks like our planet is in dire straits, it's time for us to rise up like never before. It's time for you to stop playing at life, with your business stuck in first gear. As people, we have unlimited potential, and we can unite in groups rather than divide as nations. Instead of building armies of troops, we can build tribes of entrepreneurs who lead the way toward change. As an entrepreneur, your only goal is to solve a meaningful problem that will change the world. By that very definition, you are phenomenal in every way, if you haven't already figured it out.
Related: To Find Meaning in Your Business, Know Your 'What' and 'Why'
To rise up is not to create violence but to fight against this negative world and to show everybody that positivity always trumps evil. All it takes is a single person like you to be unreasonable enough not to accept the mediocre negativity that we all can so easily get trapped in. It takes foresight, strength and resilience, and a passion for what you're doing to tear down walls and leave love behind, instead. You can win against this negative world as long as you don't veer off track and back towards darkness.
2. It's your time.
Now more than ever, it's your time to win against this negative world. I mean what else are you going to do? Sit around as your life ticks away and let the negativity seep in until you have a breakdown? Mind you, the breakdown is where the seed of transformation will come from, so even that is a positive, in and of itself.
The value you can provide is there; it's just buried deep inside of yourself. You've worked and studied so hard to get to this point, and if you haven't unleashed your potential, you will. See, the thing is you have to be patient. Changing the world takes time, and even though the friends you high-five when you go out drinking tell you that it should have happened already, they're wrong.
Related: How Google Has Changed the World
The success you have been waiting for and the change that is coming will only come when you arrive. You can't arrive until you understand yourself and how the negative world is affecting you, without you even realizing it. When you brush away the fear and stop at nothing to achieve good, you'll feel a sudden onset of momentum.
This momentum will knock down any perceived barriers, naysayers and individuals that are blocking you from making the most of your life. Only when you realize that people are your greatest asset and that they will follow when you have a cause that is worth following, will you bring about the great change that from a distance seems ridiculous.
3. Don't let people tell you, you can't.
It's the easiest thing to tell someone they can't do something. It takes no effort, expertise and brains to do so. Half the people who are bringing you and your entrepreneurial dream down have never achieved jack. You know this fact, and so do I. Stop taking advice from people who should've, would've, could've done something but haven't gotten around to it yet. Their advice is about as helpful as what you can get from a real estate seminar.
Often the feedback is obvious and heavily influenced by the negative world around you. If you give into others' opinion then what else are you giving into? If all it takes is a tap on the shoulder from someone with an opinion to make you lose your way, then you need to toughen-the-hell-up, soldier.
Not physically but mentally. Train your brain to acknowledge what is helpful to your cause, and block out all the extra information that is taking up storage space in your mind.
4. You're unique, even if you don't think so.
Everyone always tells me that I'm one weird dude. I drink stupid green juices, care about the environment, love motivation beyond what is normal, and hang out with some crazy cats. Sure, I'm different. You're different too.
Related: 50 Thoughts That Can Motivate You to Do Anything
This differentness is the advantage we have been given, which this negative world tells us we should change. Become more like everyone else. Settle for the life that everyone else has. I say, screw normality because it necessarily means you're going to get the normal results everyone else has, drudgery. That's not you: You're a dreamer like me if you're reading this. You dream of a day when the color of our skin becomes less relevant (if it's not already) and of the day when we can travel to space, like it's driving to the local shops.
5. The world is full of beauty and abundance.
Beyond the concrete jungle of our cities, there is so much beauty in this world. How can we possibly be negative about the world when we go and travel to the rainforests and mountains, and the ancient temples of Egypt? We're told that our resources are limited, but there is so much abundance all around us.
This abundance can only be shared amongst all of us; it's not designed to be all given to a lucky few. This is a subtle shift in thinking, and I believe it will change your perspective about this negative world, in a big way. It's not about what you can take from this world; it's about what you have to give, which will determine your rate of success.
6. Technology will take us where we want to go.
It's not difficult to see that our world has many problems that remain unresolved. Rather than be negative about these challenges, we need to understand that technology can resolve them a lot quicker than we think. The rate of change thanks to technology has now reached a level that increases tenfold every year.
We're on the brink of a whole new world, and technology will take us where we want to go. It's time to be excited about our world and leave behind the negative thoughts of the past. We can all be part of the change that is coming, and it's nothing to be feared.
