Have you ever told yourself no?
Im talking about thoughts like Why bother applying?
I doubt that school would ever accept me, or This business idea isnt going to work.
Im too old/too young/too inexperienced.
This post originally appeared onJamesClear.com.
Or maybe Hed never date me.
I might as well move on.
Or My boss wont promote me anyway.
Why should I even ask?
From what I can tell, we all doubt ourselves from time to time.
The problem, of course, is that telling yourself no prevents you from getting started at all.
When you decide not to act, you deny yourself opportunities.
Heres how it works and why you should use it.
They desperately want to avoid failure as long as possible.)
I think this is natural.
Nobody wants to fail.
On a smaller scale, you and I also want to prevent failure.
And thats why we come up with reasons for why we shouldnt do things that we want to do.
And its also why we abandon our ideas as soon as we get any bang out of negative feedback.
But heres the thing: No rarely means impossible.
No rarely means never.
Heres the rule:Dont give up at the first, No.
Maybe its you telling yourself no.
Maybe its someone else shooting you down.
Either way, dont stop the first time you hear no.
Negative feedback is a signal to adjust your idea, not to abandon it.
Theres no reason to act as if youre destined to fail.
Instead, use the word no as a trigger to tweak your approach.
Im not experienced enough.
Or, I need to learn more.
Or, I need to figure out a better plan first.
We do this because we want to succeed right from the beginning.
You dont need to be fantastic at the start, you just need tobe there at the start.
If you set your bar at amazing, its awfully difficult to start.
Seth Godin
When you start your first business, youll probably make a thousands mistakes.
When you write the first draft of your book, it will probably be terrible.
When you ask someone out for the first time, youll probably say something stupid.
When you go to the gym for the first time, youll probably feel out of place.
When you surround yourself with people who are better than you, youll probably feel untalented or unintelligent.
There will be plenty of time to become amazing.
Anything can happen once you get started, butonly if you get started.
Its not your job to tell yourself no.
Its not your job to deny yourself opportunities.
Its not your job to prevent your own progress.
There are enough people in the world who will do those things for you.
Your job is to embrace rather than ignore.
Your job is to pursue rather than prevent.
Your job is to tell yourself yes instead of no.
Image byDmitry Guzhanin(Shutterstock).
