They Will Hate You (be awesome anyway)
I’m just crushed,” she said.
I was talking with a woman who was crushed that so many people were opting out of her mailing list once she began to email more.
These were people who double opted in, got free stuff, then turned around and unsubscribed. Others wrote nasty notes on the way out.
Why am I sharing this with you?
They will hate you
Today I’m writing to tell you that no matter what you do in life, “They will hate you.”
Who are they?
- The ignorant.
- The haters.
- The cynics.
- The people who think they are better than you.
- The people who think you are better than them.
- The takers.
- The anonymous trolls on the internet.
- Your “friends”.
- Your family.
- Even people you’ve looked up to and admired.
There are plenty of “Theys" out there to go around for each creator, producer and game-changer.
The 10% Rule
I’ve used Amazon as a research for a lot of projects. One day it hit me, “The 10% Rule”. I noticed that as a rule of thumb, 10% of the people hate what you do.
No matter if it happened to be a block buster novel with 4000 5-star reviews. Sure enough, there will be 800 people there with 1 star reviews telling the world what a piece of excrement the novel you’ve poured 2-years of your life is.
Do something amazing, get it on video and post to Youtube. Sure enough, the scoffers and haters show up and spew poison all over your amazing feat of awesomeness.
Heaven help you if you do create a breakthrough that will change the world!
Two ways to avoid the haters
There are of course, 2 ways to avoid this…
Number 1: Just float along with the trash in the gutter, don’t swim against it, don’t raise your voice, just float and be quiet till your life gets washed down the drain and emptied into an ocean of could-have-beens and regret.
Number 2: Only surround yourself with “yes men and women”.
We all know a few leaders that do this. Insulate yourself from bad news and the rotten tomatoes of critics.
This lets you delude yourself that you are a popular leader.
The truth is this is the path of either a coward, a dictator, or both.
The one thing to do
So, if neither of those options is for you, then there is only one thing to do:
Get used to it…
“They Are Going To Hate You”.
So, put on your rain coat to help protect yourself against the pig-slop they’ll hurl at you. Especially against the hate filled spitters. Put a critic-proof-vest around your heart. And go out there and change the game.
Create your art.
Do your business your way.
Change your world.
Revel in the hate because it means your changing things, thinking about things in a new way and creating a better future.
This can help
It will help if you can find a group of creators, entrepreneurs, advisors that have been there, people that can encourage you forward in the face of hostility.
People that can give you a hand up when you stumble, a kick in the butt when you’re playing it safe from fear, give guidance on dangerous paths.
But even with that support, you are still going to hear the haters.
“They will hate you”.
Fine, now…
Go out and be awesome anyway.
