Affirmation Feels Good.
But it isn't required to keep going.
“Affirmation feels good.
But it isn’t required to keep going.
When you’ve been on a mission for a long time, you’ll fond you hear more silence (even critics) than you do the claps you heard initially.
The goal isn’t external praise.
The objective is to fulfill the mission.”
-Ray Zingler on X
I was scrolling through social media the other day (if you’re wondering, my algorithm is a mix of entrepreneurship, deer hunting, and 90’s country music content) and kept seeing a theme in the entrepreneurial content realm.
I saw videos talking about support or lack thereof from friends and family when you start to gain traction in your business.
I saw another video talking about how friends and family won’t ‘like’ or ‘engage’ with your business on social, but strangers all over the world on the internet, will.
And all these entrepreneur bros were confused ‘why it’s like this’.
It’s not confusing at all.
It makes complete sense.
People in your own back yard often don’t/won’t support you for several reasons.
The two most common ones being:
1) Relativity – They’re close to you and you remind them that you’re doing it and they’re not. You’re a subtle reminder that you come from the same place with similar opportunities, and you took advantage of yours and they didn’t. You remind them of what they could have been in their own right. They’re not going to come out and say they’re jealous, obviously, but they’re not going cheer for you like they will Taylor Swift who is far enough away from their reality that clapping for her success doesn’t sting.
2) Low Self-Esteem – Support you? Most people can’t even support themselves. Where on earth do you think they’re going to manufacture bandwidth to clap for you when they can’t even clap for themselves? They’re not “haters”. They’re tired, often living the same 6 months in a row on repeat until they die.
While affirmation feels good, it isn’t required to keep going.
If you started a mission with the goal of seeking external praise, I don’t care what your mission is, I can promise you, you’re in it for the wrong reasons.
The goal isn’t for your old buddy from back home to tell you you’re doing a good job, or for your neighbor to like your Instagram post.
The objective is very simple and very clear.
Fulfill the mission.
That’s it.
Most everything outside of the mission is just noise.
Even if that noise is silence.
You should be doing it for Him, anyway.
Not them.