Let them laugh at you:

Let them laugh at you.

Let them make fun of you.

Let them tell you that you’re wrong or your ideas are stupid.

Let them doubt you.

Let them not believe the work you put in.

Wrote a tweet about how I’ve read 27 books in the first 2 months of this year; the fastest pace of reading I’ve ever done.

People don’t believe me. They think I’m busy reading summaries in the book jacket.

Ha. Ha. Ha.

You don’t have to believe me.

I have proof.

Wrote up my notes on the books and will put those out soon.

Regardless, they don’t have to believe you because they haven’t done the work.

Most of what I’ve done has been in silence and that’s by design.

Build the content then figure out distribution.

Told a few people about my goals to be a content creator and they all have doubts.

Content creation is tough. Being an artist is tough. Being a creator full-time is tough.

Guess what? Life is tough. 

Choose your tough.

The difference is I love what I’m doing.

I love what I’m creating.

I love the work I’ve put into creating what I’ve built.

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This is all for me.

I’m not doing this for money, status or fame.

I’m doing this because I’m trying to teach myself about the world.

I’m doing this to improve my thinking.

I’m doing this to be a better writer.

I’m doing this to teach my younger self about the world I’ve experienced.

If those things come as a byproduct of the work, so be it.

But I’m not doing it for others.

This is for me.

Does that mean it will be easy?

No.

It will be harder.

Once I decide to create full-time, the path will be more difficult.

The laughter will be even louder.

The criticism will come even stronger.

That’s fine.

Let them.

Let them not believe in your dreams.

Let them tell you you’re crazy.

You’re in the arena, they’re not.

You’ve put in the work, they haven’t.

You’re putting your reputation and opinion on the line, they aren’t.

Does that mean you’ll always be right? No.

But I’d rather go down swinging than not swinging at all.

Continue to fail in public.

Continue to show your work.

Continue to invest in yourself and your education.

Let them laugh at you because you’ll be the one laughing at the end.