I’m taking notes today in my favorite notebook. Here’s why.
If you’ve been following me on social media for a while, you know I’m a kindness extremist who proudly stands ten toes down on this kindness life. However, on days when things get tough, I need an extra edge to keep me going.
Case in point–eight years ago, in order to fully focus all of my energy on making my dream of creating a kinder world a reality, I decided to quit my full-time job as a healthcare administrator.
At my going away party at this job, I still remember one of my former colleagues snidely chuckling to their friend, “I give it three months before he comes crawling back here begging for his job back. He doesn’t have what it takes to run a successful business.”
Two years ago, I inquired about being a guest on a very well-known podcast, and was dismissively told by the host that my “following was too small” to be a guest and that I should target “more realistic podcasts”.
Last year, I was at a party and I was talking to an aspiring author. All was fine until I mentioned that I’ve had two books traditionally published and was working on a third. At that point, the person snidely said, “Seriously, YOU have written two books?? I guess there must be affirmative action for authors now.”
Here’s the thing, my friend—what gets me up in the morning is my dream of positively impacting as many lives as possible.
But I would be lying to you if I said that I didn’t use these mean-spirited and dismissive comments (and many more that I haven’t mentioned here) as motivation on the days where I’m exhausted and want to quit.
I know that the concept of using your anger as motivation may seem like a weird thing to do when you’re being underestimated (or for any reason, really), but done correctly, it can be incredibly useful.
And speaking of which, few things are more useful than using all of the motivational tools at our disposal:
👉🏾 Some people find motivation from their favorite song.
👉🏾 Some people find motivation after a hard workout.
👉🏾 Some people find motivation after reading their favorite verse from a spiritual text.
👉🏾 Some people find their motivation from the people/things in their lives who have deeply angered them.
All of which can be effective.
Whether you’re about to write a book, start a business, begin a new fitness routine, or enroll in college later in life–please trust that the haters and naysayers will have something to say about it as they happily underestimate you.
This may make you angry, but please don’t be like most people who use their anger to stay stuck in bitterness and resentment. Instead, use your anger as motivation to catapult you to a better life than you’ve ever imagined.
And if there’s still a part of you that wants revenge on the people who wronged you, just remember this:
The best revenge is a life well-lived ❤️.
(This amazing notebook is from WTF Notebooks 📕)